PENDLETON — Anglers fishing for trout in McKay Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River, soon could encounter a salmon or steelhead.

Salmon and steelhead haven’t spawned in McKay Creek for nearly 30 years, according to a press release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. But an experimental study is allowing salmon and steelhead access to the lower 6 miles of McKay Creek below McKay Creek Reservoir Dam.

Fishery co-managers ODFW and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation along with the Bureau of Reclamation in July dropped the left-hand side of an adult weir that’s been in place since the 1995 blocking passage. (The right side remains up as the project is also an experimental study to determine the weir’s effects prior to its full removal.) Fish now can pass above the weir.

The adult weir was installed at the mouth of McKay Creek to keep anadromous species out of this section due to flows being shut off during the winter months to retain water in the reservoir for contracted irrigation storage. In 2004, a federal mandate under the Endangered Species Act was issued, requiring the BOR to release 10 cubic feet of water per second in the nonirrigation season months to protect any juvenile ESA listed summer steelhead or bull trout that might have migrated into McKay Creek.

In 2019, fishery co-managers outplanted adult coho above the adult weir to look at migration and spawning in the lower 6 miles of McKay Creek, according to ODFW. They found evidence of both.

“Anadromous fish will now be able to use the lower 6 miles of McKay Creek while fisheries managers study habitat usage, migration and spawning,” according to Taylor McCroskey, ODFW Umatilla District fish biologist.

McKay Creek represents about 25% of suitable steelhead habitat in the Umatilla River Basin, with the majority of this habitat above McKay Creek Reservoir, which lacks fish passage. The reservoir discharges mostly cold water into the creek, making it ideal spawning/rearing habitat.

These efforts are part of a larger scale study in which fisheries managers are working toward possible reintroduction efforts into the upper McKay basin above McKay Creek Reservoir Dam.

Anglers who catch a steelhead or salmon should safely release it as this area is closed to salmon and steelhead fishing under permanent regulations, according to ODFW. Anglers also should take care not to fish in the area of spawning fish (look for fish paired together or actively digging redds). Fall chinook and coho typically spawn in late October and November, while summer steelhead spawn in April and May.