Fish & Game seeking lower winter pool

SANDPOINT - The Idaho Department of Fish & Game is recommending Lake Pend Oreille should be dropped to its lower winter elevation of 2,051 feet because of a limited population of spawning female kokanee.

Fish & Game tends to request the lower winter pool if there are less than 70,000 spawners. This year available spawning population is estimated to be about 31,000 fish, said Chip Corsi, Fish & Game's Panhandle region supervisor.

"We'll have plenty of spawning habitat available for the fish that are out there," said Corsi.

The higher winter pool elevation of 2,054 feet expands the amount of gravel spawning habitat for kokanee, which are struggling due to an overabundance of predators such as lake and rainbow trout.

Although the spawning population climbed from last year's count, the improvement wasn't significant enough to justify requesting the higher winter pool, said Corsi, adding that the deeper drawdown cleanses shoreline gravels and improves spawning habitat for subsequent years.

The lake level request is expected to be discussed today by a technical management team composed of representatives throughout the Columbia system.

Corsi expects federal fisheries managers and regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Corps of Engineers to adopt the request.

The lower lake level is good news for embattled chum salmon downstream in the Columbia River, which benefit from more downstream water.

The rate of the drawdown was not immediately clear on Monday, although Corsi anticipates the winter pool should be achieved by mid-November. Fish & Game built some flexibility into its request to account for early kokanee spawners.

Corsi said kokanee spawning is usually wrapped up by Nov. 20, but the fish have been spawning as early as Nov. 8, creating concern that kokanee redds could be exposed during the drawdown.

"Not knowing for sure what to expect this year, we kind of put some language in this that provides for putting the brakes on the drawdown once the fish show up," Corsi said.

Kokanee survival rates are rebounding from last year, according to Fish & Game.

The survival rate for 1- to 2-year age class improved from 10 percent in 2007 to 29 percent this year, Corsi said. The survival rate for fish in the 2- to 3-year age class was at 4 percent last year, but is now at about 54 percent.

"It's really encouraging news, but we're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. But it's much better than the numbers like we saw last year," he said.

Free fishing seminar

SANDPOINT - The Lake Pend Oreille Fishery Recovery Task Force is hosting a free fishing seminar and fish fry on Thursday.

The seminar starts at 6 p.m. in the wildlife building at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. The seminar is preceded by a "social hour" and followed by a question-and-answer session.

The in-depth seminar focuses on tips for catching lake trout and rainbow trout, but there will be also information on catching lake whitefish.

Featured presenters include Bill Hawkins, Tom Anderson, Roy Stokes and Kevin Sawyer.

Chip Corsi, Idaho Fish & Game's Panhandle supervisor, will provide an update on the Angler Incentive Program, which offers inducements for cutting into the lake's predator trout population.