IFG: Kokanee spawning totals see a big year

COEUR d’ALENE — Fishery managers collected 9.25 million eggs from spawning Lake Pend Oreille kokanee that returned to Granite Creek this winter.

“We got the target number of eggs without any trouble this year,” Jim Fredericks, regional fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said Tuesday. “In fact, the crew completed the egg-take operation before Thanksgiving, and in the past they’ve often gone well into December.”

The eggs are transported to Cabinet Gorge Hatchery in Clark Fork and placed in incubators for a few months. By June they are 2-inch fry and are ready for release. Most go into the lake and some go into Sullivan Springs, which merges with Granite Creek before flowing into the lake.

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