Wednesday March 25, 2009
The onset of spring means juvenile Chinook salmon smolts will begin outmigrating from many west coast salmon streams. These Chinook parr are utilizing submerged vegetation for protection, while relying on the current to supply them with drifting zooplankton and other invertebrates for food. Good cover and plenty of food will enable them to grow rapidly for their downstream migration to the ocean. Interestingly, when larger rainbow trout invade their space the juvenile Chinook scatter, but they quickly resume feeding with the trout occupying the same habitat.