USFS helping mother nature in preparation for annual Fall Fish Festival

You'll soon be seeing red if all goes as planned.

The annual trek of the Kokanee salmon into Taylor Creek from Lake Tahoe should begin in the next week or so, but with the drought and a very active beaver population, the Forest Service had to step in and help.

"We didn't have a lot of fish last year," said Lindsay Gusses, the Taylor Creek Site Supervisor. "We are updating our strategies to have fish here during the festival."

The water levels at Fallen Leaf Lake are higher this year so ecologists and engineers are planning on letting out water at the dam around October 1 so the Kokanee will have plenty of water in which to travel up stream. Last year, according to Gusses, they let out water in small bursts, but the fish didn't come so they're trying something new.

"It is pretty impressive how they (the Kokanee) can wiggle through shallow water and rocks," said Gusses. "They have a one track mind." She said Kokanee don't jump in water as their Alaskan counterparts do so they need water to swim through for their forward progress. Even with their wiggle prowess, the fish will need the water help from Fallen Leaf Lake.

If the drought wasn't enough, the beavers are also adding some barriers to the Kokanee's trip upstream. The Forest Service has put notches in some of the beaver dams so the fish can "wiggle" through. In the larger dam on Taylor Creek, the Sierra Wildlife Coalition has put in "pond leveler devices." Gusses said these are long, black, six to eight inch tubes that go under the damn so the fish can swim through and the beavers won't notice anything different.

She said that wildlife is pretty adaptive, and the fish will figure out a way to head up stream even without a large entrance to Taylor Creek from the lake. Last year, some Kokanee spawned in smaller streams but they want to go back to where they came from and will do all they can to get there.

The annual Fish Festival is the sign of fall in South Lake Tahoe, with thousands of people walking along the Rainbow Trail to the stream profile to watch the Kokanee heading upstream to spawn. Each year during the first weekend in October (this year it will be October 4-5) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the U.S.F.S. hosts the free event for families with food vendors, interactive booths, the inflatable salmon from U.S. Fish & Wildlife, the "bear" from California Fish and Wildlife and more. Other events include a self-guided treasure hunt with prizes, fish print making, and crafts provided by the SLT Library. Tacos Por Favor and the Honeybee Ice Cream truck will serve the expected 12,000 people who attend the event every year.