Just got done reading the draft for cleaning up the Skok River. The fecal count is way too high. One of the problems is the fisherman taking care of “business” on the banks of the river. The first solution they are going to try is to put portables along the river to use. If that doesn't work the next step is stop all parking along highway 106 and the Purdy Cut off road. Should be interesting if it comes to that.

Fishhead5

Gee, it couldn't be because of the constant flooding, multiple times per year, which drains houses and trailers and possibly septic systems into the river could it?
Not aimed at you by the way.

How 'bout that nice little feedlot operation just down from the bridge on the left bank in the floodway - all that cow shait gets rinsed off into the river pretty regular, looks like. Several more farms upstream doing the same thing. Those cows live there all year, not just one month like fishermen at Purdy Creek. Add up the poundage and it's pretty easy to see the problem. But no, gotta be the sport fishmermen Sheesh

This may be very old 'history,' but remember the cattle operation behind the Prison in Monroe, WA .

There are day break and thousands of gallons of cow 'sh..' were dumped in the river every morning. That still going? Rather doubt it given the level of "stuff" dumped day after day, after day, after ....
fae

I didn't know they raised so many politicians over there...

Stlhead,
They keep trying to blame part of it on septic systems, but they can't seem to find many that are failing. My parents is covered when it floods, but it never seems to quit working. If the water got down into it, wouldn't it quit working?

Fishhead5

If it is a newer septic it should have an alarm, if enough water gets in the float raises and the alarm sounds. If it is an older septic it may not have an alarm and water may get in and then slowly leak out into the drain field. Of course if to much water were getting in you would think it would back up into the house through the toilet. Our at least this is how it was explained to me when I went through my septic tank nightmare on my new house that was having the alarm randomly go off for no apparent reason. Turned out to be a nick in a wire.

Sounds like a lot of Bull $hit to me!

That's almost laughable if you think about it. If the "fecal" problem is supposedly coming from the fishermen doing their "business" there; could you even imagine what the "fecal" count must then be at "Blue Creek"?

For sure, one never wants to wonder off the trail there!


Cowlitzfisherman

I am sure the reel problem is the flooding.To blame on the snaggers is nonsense.

Fishhead5
We should hook up and see what we can find?

I don't know about the Skok, but I have collected fecal samples on the Satsop for 1 1/2 years on a monthly basis, and can talk about it. DOE wants the fecal count to be reduced by 29% to reach a target goal of 95 colonies per 100 ml. The last time they tested was in 1993, since then I know of 11 1/2 miles of fencing that was installed and the only dairy closed in 1997.
Our tests showed that from Dec. through April the surface water count was in the teens some even at well quality, and this was when the river was open to fishing. Our highest counts came from timber/wildlife.
After our study DOE ran our numbers and states that the numbers show a reduction from their estimates of 75%.
This was just FYI.
Banock

It doesnt matter if your septic is failing or not. when a drainfield is is covered with flood water it wont perkilate down, your duky juices are flowing right into the the river. but in the skoks case the problem is most likely from hunter farms and the farms up obove on your way to browns creek with cows horses and organic fertilizers. There no reason use tax payer dollars to tag and radio collar fishermen for a hershy squirt study! sounds to me the anti fishing groups are looking for a new angle on shutting us down.

You know, just hearing all this...I dont think I'm ever going to fish in the Skok... Or the Satsop for that matter. Geez the things these fish probably eat... And then WE eat...

Fishhead,

Truth is stranger than fiction, it seems. Whose draft is this, and who is the they that is proposing sanicans as the first step in the solution? This seems like a government study designed to entertain, rather than solve problems. The Skok is the most frequently flooded river in the state, and the information provided in other posts rederencing livestock and septic systems provide the connection between fecal coliform and river pollution.

If the pollution is truly unacceptable, "they" better plan on eliminating or reducing the non-point sources in the form of livestock and septic systems on the floodplain, cuz the flooding ain't going away. Thanks for the entertaining thread.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.