Eagle Lake Spawn - "Close Call"

Picture by Val Aubrey ~ eaglelakefishing.net

Thanks to my antennae at the lake, Val Aubrey (http://eaglelakefishing.net/index.php) kept me in the loop on this year's spawn which was a close call. The health of the fishery derives from CA Fish & Game collecting eggs as the fish enter Pine creek and attempt to spawn, the fish are trapped and the eggs are hatched in the following weeks and returned to Eagle Lake the following year in the 12 inch class. Historically these fish used Pine Creek without help to spawn and the creek flowed naturally. This year little rain reached the lake, and upstream cattle diversions by 5 Dot Ranch took away much of the original flow that should have gone into Pine Creek. The creek started running around the 20th of March and some storms rolled through to help, but it was still only a trickle. The flow picked a little on the 31st and it was enough of a scent to lure the fish staging out in the lake and tell them that it was time to swim upstream. April 7th saw 6 fish enter the trap, 2 of which were ripe hens. Numbers like that are not going to cut it. DFG launched their rescue/special operation plan in times of need like this one, and in the following week they netted over 200 hens to get enough eggs for Eagle Lake with some extra to go around! Whew! Close call! If your concerned as I am about saving the heritage trout, you can help and join the Eagle Lake Guardians by clicking the link and become a member for $15  http://www.eaglelakeguardians.org/ or download the membership application and send it in. http://eaglelakeguardians.org/imagecp/pdf/EAGLE%20LAKE%20GUARDIANS%20MEMBERSHIP%20APPLICATION%202012.pdf