News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The fish rescue operation is an annual tradition for Blake. As soon as the Squaw Creek Irrigation District closes the gates that divert water from the creek into the canal that runs to Cloverdale, Blake dons waders and grabs a net to catch the fish left stranded in the swiftly diminishing waters of the canal.
Blake returns the netted fish to Squaw Creek, below the diversion.
"No one takes responsibility, state or federal, to clear out the irrigation canals," Blake said. "It's strictly a volunteer effort."
Blake, an avid fisherman and restorer of cane fly rods, acknowledged that his motives are "somewhat selfish." But, he believes, someone has to take responsibility for the fish left to die in the ditches every October.
"To me, it's just a total disregard for the fish to serve people with water," Blake said.
During the spring and summer irrigation season, Blake said, fish swim into the canal from Squaw Creek and travel as far as the irrigation district's distribution pond behind the KOA campground. Blake said the fish can't make it back into Squaw Creek, and when the water to the canal is shut off, they have nowhere to go.
Blake took on the chore of rescuing fish after a large fish kill in Squaw Creek in 1991. Some years he has taken just 70 fish out of the canal; one year he rescued 500. It all depends on how fast the water goes down and the weather conditions.
This year Blake started work on Thursday, October 17. He pulled out 63 fish that day and 70 the following day, but the early snowfall Friday night reduced Saturday's haul to 17.
"I think the cold wiped out quite a few of them," Blake said.
The biggest live fish he found was about 9-1/2 inches; most were last year's spawn and came in at one to two inches.
The relative plenitude of fish living in the creek and the diversion is a good sign for Blake.
"The stream, for being the sterile stream it's thought to be, produces a lot of fish," he said. "This could be a hell of a resource for fishermen. If we had water in this year round we'd have a fishery."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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