Officials May Reopen Kokanee Season

Idaho anglers might be able to fish for kokanee salmon at Redfish Lake this summer.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was waiting on Thursday for a decision from the National Marine Fisheries Service that would allow anglers to catch and keep kokanee.

The problem is that Redfish Lake, near Stanley and at the headwaters of the Salmon River, also contains the endangered sockeye salmon. The lake has been closed to fishing for the look-alike kokanee since 1992.

But preventing anglers from taking kokanee has backfired. Kokanee populations have doubled or maybe even tripled in recent years, and the fish are competing for food and living space with the sockeye.

So Fish and Game proposed to the federal agency in charge of salmon recovery to allow a two-week catch-and-keep kokanee fishery in Redfish Lake.

An answer from federal officials could come late today, said Sharon Kiefer, Fish and Game’s anadromous fishery coordinator. In anticipation, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission met by conference call on Thursday to approve a kokanee season in Redfish Lake from Saturday through July 31.

Fish and Game spokesman Jack Trueblood said if federal approval comes through, the limit would be six kokanee per day. Any fish with the adipose fin missing would be a sockeye and must be released immediately.