Fish Update - extra help wanted!!

Good morning,

Now that we can officially say that spring is here, I wanted to reach out to you all about our sampling plans for Williams Lake this year. I included a short bullet list of the most important activities we are planning below. Coming up first, we will be installing a small picket weir on the inlet of Williams Creek (Lake Creek) around mid-April (tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 17) to get an estimate of how many spawning adults are running up the creek. Each day, my field crew lead, or another staff member, will be driving up to the lake in the morning to check the trap box, weigh and measure the fish, and insert tags. Fish will receive two tags, one PIT-tag, and one T-bar anchor tag. We will be implanting PIT-tags because once the bulk of the run is over, we will replace the weir with a PIT array, allowing us to detect when the fish drop back down from the creek and return to the lake once finished spawning. The T-bar anchor tags will then allow us to estimate a harvest rate from the fishery, as people catch them and report the tags. That said, if you all catch a rainbow trout with an orange tag sticking out, please call and report the number! You are welcome to harvest the fish or catch-and-release, however, if you do release the fish, please remove the tag, and still report the number.

Whoever is interested in helping and observing the process at the weir, please let me know! We can always use extra hands to work up fish, record data, etc., especially this year because my crew and others in the office are short-staffed.

2023 Williams Lake Sampling Schedule:

• April – Rainbow Trout weir installation and operation on the Lake Creek inlet.

• May – Install PIT array to replace the weir and track out-migrating Rainbow Trout.

• June/July – Bridgelip Sucker netting for population estimate.

• October – Gillnetting surveys to assess trout densities.

I look forward to working with you all this year!

Brett

Brett Kelly

Regional Fisheries Biologist

Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Salmon Region

99 Hwy 93 N.

Salmon, ID 83467

E-mail: brett.kelly@idfg.idaho.gov

Office: 208-742-7050

Cell: 864-941-7287