3,500 Steelhead Count at Winchester Fish Cam

Another great day to watch several hundred winter steelhead move upstream through the fish ladder at Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River. With almost 500 fish counted on February 10th and more observed yesterday, the 2026 steelhead return is now over 3,500 and not even halfway through the normal run timing for this population. There is no winter steelhead hatchery program for the North Umpqua and only a very small number of fish stray from the South Umpqua River hatchery smolt release.