The stray rate is not as bad as previously calculated. Someone mentioned that the fish go up stream and back down… of the 131 pit tagged fish released from Lake Wenatchee that went over Rock Reach Dam, and some Wells, 88 have made it back to Tumwater.

There is a lag now at some of the dams for raw PIT data, while the summary report gives total #s. I only looked at the raw data available for Hatchery tagged fish and the stray rate has reduced from an original calculation of ~30% to ~10%. I expect that to be even less as the data is made available, and also considering that fish “just looking” upstream may have been caught or perished that may have returned downstream to the Wenatchee.

The fish lost to fisheries and natural causes have equaled out this correction fairly closely though. The # my excel work sheet calculated for the 25th over Tumwater was 20557 and the Tumwater Dam count was 20715.

Anyway my boat has 10 so far…

Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery opens Aug. 1

Action: Lake Wenatchee opens for sockeye salmon fishing

Effective date: Aug. 1 through Aug. 3, 2010. Opens one hour before official sunrise.

Species affected: Sockeye salmon.

Daily limit: Two sockeye 12 inches in length or greater.

Location: Lake Wenatchee (Chelan Co.)

Reason for action: The 2010 return of sockeye will be sufficient to provide for the Lake Wenatchee spawning escapement goal, and additional sockeye will be present to provide for sport fishing opportunity.

Other information: Selective gear rules and a night closure will be in effect. Bull trout, steelhead, and chinook salmon must be released unharmed without removing the fish from the water. Legal angling hours are one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.

Release sockeye with one or more holes (round, approximately ¼? in diameter) punched in the tail (caudal fin) of the fish. These fish are part of a study and have been anesthetized; the FDA requires a 21 day ban on consumption of these fish.

After the fishery closes, WDFW fishery managers will assess the catch and determine if additional fishing opportunities for sockeye remain. Any announcement will be posted under Emergency Fishing Rules on the department’s website at http: //wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations.

Information contact: Chad Jackson, (509) 754-4624.

Possible Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery looming on the horizon

Posted by Mark Yuasa

While it hasn’t been made official yet word has leaked out that Lake Wenatchee could open for sockeye fishing as soon as this Sunday (Aug. 1).

A spokesman at the state Fish and Wildlife public affairs department in Olympia said an official press release was coming out sometime today (July 29).

If all goes according to plan, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist in eastern Washington reported that the Lake Wenatchee fishery will be open Sunday to Tuesday only with a two sockeye daily limit and a minimum size of 12 inches.

Once this three-day fishery has concluded sport catches and the number of sockeye returning to Tumwater Dam would be reevaluated to see if more openings are possible after those first initial three days.

Through July 25, 20,715 sockeye have passed Tumwater Dam. In Lake Wenatchee, 23,000 are needed for spawning escapement, and 24,000-plus are needed for any type harvest.

The wild juveniles tagged at Rock Island bypass (from all Upper Columbia out migrating fish) in 2008 are “turning left”, so far (potentially increases every day), at 9.23% = 35,645

There are 375 hatchery and 122 wild-tagged 4yr olds and 3 hatchery 5yr olds over Tumwater as of the 26th. Lake Wenatchee tagged fish stray rates are staying constant at 29.5% hatchery and 13.9% wild (tagged fish). ~60% of the Tumwater run has passed. Pit tag estimates, extrapolated from tagged fish over Tumwater, should put us around 21,745 on the 27th. Updated calculations have put the season estimate at 39,840. ~1800 down from my original figure.

Water daily maximum (DADMax) temps are holding at or below 18 C (22 C) presents a potential thermal barrier. Flows are ~30% higher for this same date over last year.

The gap # between RI & RR dams is 44667 with ~1000 fish a day moving through each dam now, so given a 10% loss, with relatively lower temps <19 C (for a few more days?), we should be looking at around 40K for the season!

A run of between 37000 and 48000 looks good to me. Heck even if your calculations turn out to be off by 10% we will still be fishing for sockeye.

Have any of you ever fished the Brewster Pool on the Columbia river? They are doing really good on Sockeye there right now. Lots of 6 fish limits. Been thinking of taking a nice 8 hr truck ride with my boat to try it.