October 04, 2005
Byrne Creek Patrol Oct. 4
With other streamkeeping groups reporting the appearance of salmon returning to lower-mainland creeks in the last few days, Yumi and I decided to do a thorough patrol on Byrne Creek this morning.
We covered the area from Byrne Bridge (Tag 507), through the spawning habitat, and upstream as far as Tag 518 in the ravine. We didn't see any spawners, but there were hundreds of cutthroat trout and coho smolts throughout the area, with concentrations in the spawning channel pools, the sediment pond, and pools in the ravine.
We found a dead cutthroat in the sediment pond. We pulled it out and inspected it. It had no visible signs of external injuries and measured 20cm from nose to fork.
We also drove down to Foreshore Park where the creek empties into the Fraser River, however we didn't see any salmon at the mouth. Perhaps the rain forecast for later this week will trigger some spawners to come up the creek.
As we circled the artificial pond just west of the creek in the Glenlyon development, we were surprised to see hundreds of small golden-coloured fish ranging from about 2-4cm in size. More invasive species?