Coho salmon return to Waymire Creek!

Coho, like all salmon, are anadromous - meaning that they spend most of their life in the ocean and then return to freshwater streams to reproduce. The coho salmon life cycle begins in winter or early spring when eggs hatch in stream gravels. For their first few months, young coho remain in these gravel nests (redds), first as eggs for 6-7 weeks, then as alevin (hatchlings with yolk sacs) for another 6-7 weeks. Once they absorb their yolk sacs, they emerge to feed on insects and plankton in their freshwater home for 1-2 years, often seeking refuge in off-channel sloughs during winter.

As smolts (3.9-5.9 inches long), they develop silver scales and migrate to the ocean between March and July. Most spend 1-3 years at sea feeding on fish and plankton before returning to spawn, though some males, called 'jacks,' return after just two years. At spawning time, the males develop distinctive hooked snouts and turn dusky green above and on their head, bright red on their sides and blackish below. The females turn a pinkish red on their side after they enter freshwater.

Coho salmon in the Willamette Basin are showing a promising recovery trend. Once nicknamed 'ghost fish' for their unpredictable appearances, coho have established more consistent runs in the past five years. Unlike struggling chinook and steelhead populations, coho are thriving, possibly due to their ability to find better ocean feeding grounds and utilize different spawning habitats than other salmon species.