Lower Grande Ronde smolt trap monitoring. Annual report 1996

The authors sampled downstream migrating salmonids at Boggan's Oasis in the Grande Ronde River with a screw trap during 1995 and a scoop trap during 1996. Sampling began in March and terminated early in June. Wild spring chinook and wild/hatchery steelhead were collected and marked to assess migration patterns and timing. Fish were marked with tags in order to obtain downstream migration data with minimal fish handling. Observations were recorded when a fish swam through an interrogation monitor at hydroelectric facilities downstream. The second year for monitoring smolts leaving the Grande Ronde River was completed in 1995. The authors continued to pursue moving to a permanent location downstream for 1997 because of the limitations for trapping smolts at Boggan's Oasis. This involved reconnaissance surveys of several potential sites near the mouth of the river from 1994--1996. During February of 1996, a water velocity and bottom topography assessment was completed. Results of the assessment were used for siting the anchoring tower structure upstream approximately 1.2 miles from the mouth of the Grande Ronde River