Community Corner
Chinook Salmon Sighting In Napa: Photos Of The Day
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NAPA, CA — Residents of a Napa neighborhood were treated to a rare sighting Sunday: Chinook salmon.
Patch reader Chris Sithi captured photos of the fish around 1:40 p.m. Sunday off Solano Avenue and Luke Drive in a small river that runs along Solano Avenue.
"I loved seeing a rare sight of these salmon in the river and the excitement it brought to the neighborhood," Chris wrote in an email to Patch. "It was sad to see that they were stuck there, though, and would not have a chance to continue downstream."
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Great photos, Chris! Thanks so much for sharing.
Chinook Salmon In Napa River Watershed
According to the Napa County Watershed Information and Conservation Council, spawning season for Chinook salmon in the Napa River Watershed is usually in November and December, with the activity peaking around Thanksgiving.
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The organization's website states that the Chinook salmon typically enter the Napa River to spawn in late September and early Octrober. They will "hold in the lower river and estuary for a month or more, waiting for the first rains of the season. In some years, when these first rains do not arrive until early winter, salmon migrations are completely blocked and the fish presumably perish in the estuary or swim back out to the estuary to try another stream."
In a more typical year, "adult salmon swim immediately upstream with the first rains and stake out suitable spawning areas. Salmon quickly find mates and construct spawning nests (i.e. redds) in the streambed gravels and cobbles, typically within a day or two. After spawning, spent salmon will remain in the area for up to several weeks, protecting their redds until they ultimately die."
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