This is just a quick update for local folks who would like to see large red fish jumping, fighting, digging, laying eggs…all the behaviors that make Coho Salmon so charismatic. The time is now! My colleagues and I were just out at the Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area and before I even closed my car door I saw salmon splashing in the creek below. Between the parking lot and Peters Dam (1/3 of a mile upstream) we saw 32 salmon. Across the street, at the small waterfalls called The Inkwells, we watched dozens of salmon jumping, which was the most I’ve ever seen there.

Tonight’s rain will raise stream flows and the salmon may pause their jumping until flows subside a bit. The spawning will continue in any event, and hopefully salmon will be visible jumping through the weekend. Happy salmon viewing!

- Eric Ettlinger, Aquatic Ecologist

Image: Male Coho Salmon jumping at The Inkwells. December 15, 2021.

Photo by Jaclyn Sherman, Marin Water.