Outdoors Briefs

Washington Fish and Wildlife officials are taking another look at Liberty Lake, once among the top three trout fishing waters in Washington.

Twenty years ago, Liberty produced 40 percent of the rainbow trout fishing in Spokane County, department officials say.

But opposition to using rotenone to kill infestations of sunfish and other non-trout species foiled department attempts to maintain the trout fishery in 1979 and 1984.

As populations of perch and bass grew, fisheries biologists experimented with stocking fewer but larger rainbows, plus brown trout, which feed on young perch.

Still, the fishery is limping along, said Bill Zook, the department biologist working on proposals for improving the fishery.

Although yellow perch are abundant, their average size is so small that fishers don’t want them, and the average size of largemouth bass has not been boosted because they have not preyed enough on the perch, said Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman.

Among the options being considered:

Introducing a new predator such as land-locked chinook salmon, tiger muskies or walleye to reduce the number of perch and boost their average size as well as providing a new opportunity to catch big fish.

Applying rotenone, a natural organic substance that kills fish, and restocking to re-establish a rainbow trout fishery or some other species combination.

Changing the current late-April through September fishing season to year-round to allow for increased use of fish now available.

Zook said the department would like to restore Liberty as a trout fishery, but is keeping an open mind to proposals to introduce walleyes.

The proposals will be discussed during a public hearing next week at a location that has been changed from previous announcements.

The hearing is set to begin at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Otis Orchards Elementary School gymnasium.

Written comments will be accepted at the department’s Spokane office, N8702 Division, through Sept. 18.

Whirling disease found

Dreaded whirling disease has been detected in Racetrack Creek, near where it empties into the Clark Fork River south of Warm Springs, the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced Monday.

Biologists tested 66 brown trout up to two years of age from 13 pools and found fish were infected in nine of the samplings.

Whirling disease is a parasitic and potentially fatal infection of trout and salmon for which there is no known cure. It is particularly damaging to wild rainbow trout populations. Brown trout often are carriers of the parasite but do not succumb to it.

Affected fish whirl in the water, disrupting their feeding patterns and making them more prone to predators.

Road, campground to open

With construction nearly finished, the road and camping area near Roman Nose Lakes in the Idaho Selkirks is scheduled to be reopened on Sept. 8, U.S. Forest Service officials said Tuesday.

Debbie Norton, Bonners Ferry District ranger, said delays in material shipments have prevented the contractor from completing work on the new campground area before the Labor Day weekend.

“If it is any consolation to folks,” she said, “the huckleberries up there are pretty sparse, and are just starting to get ripe.”

Ecological issues discussed

Bruce Howard of the Washington Department of Ecology will discuss high risk issues involving the Little Spokane River at a public meeting of the Little Spokane Council Tuesday, 7 p.m., at the Nine Mile Falls Fire Station meeting room.

Sturgeon update

Sturgeon fishers on the Columbia River and its tributaries below Bonneville Dam cannot keep sturgeon after Friday, but can still catch and release the fish.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife made the emergency rule change, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, because too many sturgeon are being caught.

The fishing will be catch-and-release until Dec. 31, with fishers able to keep the sturgeon again beginning Jan. 1.

Record numbers of anglers and high catch rates have produced the greatest harvest of sturgeon since 1987, officials say.

The department had set an allowable harvest guideline of 40,000-50,000 sturgeon for the year.

The sturgeon catch through August is estimated to be 48,000 fish and could have exceeded 60,000 by the end of the year without the rule change.

Grant awards announced

The Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation has announced Grant Awards totaling $36.8 million for 47 projects around Washington.

All projects will be implemented by local and state agencies.

Spokane County will receive $500,000 to help purchase 680 acres in the Dishman Hills Natural Resource Conservation Area. The County, through its Conservation Futures program, will be required to match the state funding.

The land contains whitetail deer winter range, elk habitat, red-tailed hawk nesting areas, several rare species of butterflies, the spotted frog and an ecologically diverse riparian corridor.

The grants were made under the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, which funds high-quality, urgently-needed recreation and open-space facilities.