Salmon run a major local attraction at creeks in Bowmanville and Oshawa and across the region

For many city folk who don’t get out to the great outdoors much, the annual salmon run from early September to late October is the best time of the year to see the marvels of nature as thousands of salmon make their way upstream to spawn.

Bonus? Spectacular fall colours too.

Oshawa Creek, with vantage points at parks all along the creek in the city – including the bridge at the back of City Hall downtown and the Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens – and Bowmanville Creek at the fish ladder are some of the more popular spots to see the fish battle the current and various obstacles as they migrate to their spawning grounds to lay their eggs before winter sets in.

Crowds of people often gather to witness the spectacle, especially in Bowmanville where the salmon can be seen making the leap up the fish ladder, located just a kilometre north of the Baseline Road parking lot.

The drop in water temperature in the creeks to between three degrees and 18C is the trigger for the Chinook Salmon, Atlantic Salmon and Coho Salmon to head to their birth places from Lake Ontario.

There are other great venues for seeing the salmon run in Durham Region, including the Seaton Trail from Whitevale Park in Pickering, Duffins Creek in Ajax – especially at Greenwood Conservation Area, where the Toronto Region Conservation Authority offers free guided walks – and a half-dozen other creeks all the way to the border with Northumberland County.

Bowmanville Fish Ladder. Photo Drowzik Drones

The massing of fish also attracts poachers, however, and there was a much-watched video taken a week or so ago of a family illegally taking salmon from Bowmanville Creek that was widely circulated.

Reports from the Ministry of Natural Resources, which is responsible for dealing with poachers, are that arrests were made and that it was “all hands on deck” with officers patrolling rivers and creeks across the region during the run.

The Bowmanville Creek fish ladder has been one of the most popular spots to see the salmon run since it was installed, after years of fundraising and planning, in 2013.

An earlier passageway had been provided at the Goodyear Dam for trout but with the introduction of Chinook salmon into Ontario waterways it was soon apparent larger fish could not manage the jump, with estimates that just one per cent of the biggest fish making it up the creek to spawn.

Now the ladder makes it easier for the salmon to negotiate the creek and the public gets to enjoy the sight of hundreds of migrating fish passing through the new fish passageway on their way to their spawning grounds.