A Native Fish Story
Lake Casitas has an amazing collection of mostly non-native fish. They include channel catfish, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, crappie, carp, sunfish, and bluegill. The Ventura and Santa Clara rivers have lampreys, tidewater gobies, killifish, suckers, sticklebacks, and arroyo chubs.
But the real fish story in Ojai and Ventura County is the federally endangered Southern California Steelhead - Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus.
Steelhead are rainbow trout that swim downstream in rivers to the ocean. After spending time in the ocean, they swim back upstream to spawn in freshwater creeks. The creeks must have particular gradients and bottom composition. In the past, fishing on Sespe Creek and the Ventura River drainage yielded large catches of large fish. Steelhead can grow up to 36 inches long and weigh 15 pounds.
What you can do to help steelhead:
But the real fish story in Ojai and Ventura County is the federally endangered Southern California Steelhead - Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus.
Steelhead are rainbow trout that swim downstream in rivers to the ocean. After spending time in the ocean, they swim back upstream to spawn in freshwater creeks. The creeks must have particular gradients and bottom composition. In the past, fishing on Sespe Creek and the Ventura River drainage yielded large catches of large fish. Steelhead can grow up to 36 inches long and weigh 15 pounds.
What you can do to help steelhead:
- Support dam removal and fish ladder projects such as the removal of Matilija Dam.
- Conserve water.
- Join and support conservation and restoration organizations working to protect rivers, streams, and habitat.
Sespe Creek steelhead, 1911
Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
Steelhead in the Ventura River
Photo: Mark Capelli |
Cartography: Vickie Peters
Steelhead are threatened by climate change and drought. Barriers across rivers keep them from suitable spawning grounds. The dam on Matilija Creek blocks steelhead from swimming into the streams in the West Fork of Matilija Creek to spawn. They will regain their historic spawning grounds when the dam is removed. Dam removal will also benefit other riparian species. Likewise, Casitas and Piru dams, and the Santa Paula Creek diversion dam, block fish from swimming upstream. The Freeman diversion dam on the Santa Clara River has a fish ladder, but it is largely ineffective. Its operator, United Water Conservation District, has been ordered to build a new fish ladder by the court. Water releases and minimum river flows are important to steelhead and other riparian species. They are a significant part of the recent lawsuits over water rights in the Ventura River system and Ojai-area groundwater basins.