Yesterday was a historic day and a sign of the times.
The main stem of the Truckee river has been disconnected from Lake Tahoe since last October. Below the spillway is a large pool below the Hwy 89 bridge. The bridge is dubbed Fanny Bridge because tourist lean over it to look at the HUGE trout that have lived in that hole for decades. Fishing is not allowed within 1,000 feet and they have become a major tourist attraction. I have started many a guide trip by stopping there to let people look at and feed the massive fish. There used to be fish pellet dispensers where you could buy a handful of fish food for a quarter.
Because the pool has had no flow for so long the temperatures were already climbing and the dissolved oxygen was getting low. The water was super murky and brown when it should be crystal clear. Local guides and conservation organizations took drastic measures and talked the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Tahoe City into letting us rescue the fish and put them into Lake Tahoe. The pool is too deep to electro shock and too wide to seine net, so we decided to go with hook and line sampling. Local fishing guides and Trout Unlimited volunteers turned out to help in the effort. Thirty fish were caught all together, the biggest being the one I caught, shown here.
Sad day for the Truckee but good to see these fish relocated to some better habitat for the time being.
– Mike Wier, CalTrout Fly Fishing Ambassador
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.