Salmon could be no show at Salmon Festival

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE -- It's probably warm temperatures keeping kokanee salmon from making their yearly exodus from Lake Tahoe to Taylor Creek to spawn.

Or it could be a bum year in the salmon cycle, said Jeff Reiner, an aquatic biologist at the U.S. Forest Service. But the 14th Annual Kokanee Salmon Festival will happen this weekend whether fish show up or not.

The last time the agency had the free, education-driven festival without fish was in 1997, said Gay Eitel, an employee at the Forest Service's Taylor Creek Visitor Center.

"One year in the mid-'80s we had a run of a few hundred," Reiner said. "Their cycles are boom and bust, especially at Tahoe because the water is so sterile. We want the lake clean, but that means there's not a lot of food for fish. But I'm still hopeful (fish will show up). I've seen this happen before."

Reiner remembers one year when the creek contained only a couple hundred fish, but by the next day thousands had arrived to spawn.

The number of fish which spawn in the creek has increased over the years. A typical run now ranges from 40,000 to 60,000 fish, said Mike St. Michel, whose job at the Forest Service is to help people understand nature.

"We need some frosty nights; hopefully that will trigger it," St. Michel said. "It's always hard to have a salmon festival without salmon. We've got our fingers crossed."

The water in Taylor Creek may look low but it always does this time of year, St. Michel said. It's actually flowing slightly stronger than normal. Still, on Wednesday, the Forest Service plans to release water from a dam at Fallen Leaf Lake which feeds Taylor Creek. This is to make sure the fish have room to mate. Fallen Leaf's cold water may also help trigger a kokanee run, Reiner said.

Reiner snorkeled in Lake Tahoe two weeks ago to look for silvery blues and reds of the kokanee. He didn't see the fish schooled in the lake off Taylor Creek the way they normally are at a depth of about 60 feet. He did see some schools near Cascade Creek. Reiner said he plans to snorkel again on Wednesday.

The festival this Saturday and Sunday is a chance to learn about the life cycle of the kokanee. Every October, kokanee that are 3- or 4-years-old swim from the lake to the creek to spawn.

Kokanee were introduced to Lake Tahoe in 1944.

The festival typically draws about 5,000 people a day.

If you go

What: 14th Annual Kokanee Salmon Festival

Where: The Visitor Center at Taylor Creek on Emerald Bay Road, three miles north of South Lake Tahoe

When: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cost: Free