Aug 27, 2008 4:39 pm US/Pacific
Thousands Of Fish Rescued From Caples Lake
KIRKWOOD, Calif. (AP) ―
Thousands of fish -- including an 18-pound trout -- have been rescued from a Sierra lake that must be drained this fall to allow for dam repairs.
California Department of Fish and Game officials started zapping the fish in Caples Lake with electrical currents and netting them late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, department spokesman Harry Morse said.
A line of about 30 volunteers, working like a bucket brigade, handed the fish up a hill one by one to hatchery trucks that are transferring them to other nearby lakes.
So far, about 3,000 fish have been transferred out of the lake about 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe, including the 18-pound brown trout.
"It was a monster. It looked like a salmon," Morse said Wednesday. "We'll be fishing again tonight -- all night. We're bringing in four extra eloctro-fishing boats now that we've figured out how to do it," he said.
The water is being lowered so the El Dorado Irrigation District can make emergency repairs to the dam's outlet gates. The water level is expected to drop to a depth of 6 feet, which means it could freeze solid this winter.
Morse said when they started they didn't know if they'd end up with 1,000 or 10,000 fish.
"We're really happy with the first night of the operation with 3,000 fish. Hopefully we'll do better tonight and again on Thursday night. We're playing it by ear, but hopefully it will not be unrealistic to reach the goal of 10,000," he said.
Rainbow trout, brown trout and Mackinaw trout captured are being taken to Silver Lake while brook trout that are recovered are sent to Red Lake, he said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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