Rainbow Results
Rainbow (steelhead) fry from the Feather River Hatchery were planted at Ponderosa Way in 1987, 1988, and 1991. Unknown numbers of hatchery rainbows were also planted by a local landowner, accounting for the the very large ones seen in 1990. The rainbow population at both upstream sites seems relatively stable since1991 except for loss of most of the 1995 year class probably as a result of the large storms that year. The population at both upstream sites is also higher than pre-treatment levels. The slightly smaller size of young-of-the-year fish in recent years suggests that they may be mostly offspring of resident rainbows, rather than steelhead. High winter flow seems to have had little or no effect on rainbow populations at these sites.
