As of Wednesday morning, there had been one (that’s one) sockeye counted over Tumwater Dam on the Wenatchee River, according to state Fish and Wildlife district fish biologist Travis Maitland. But anglers shouldn’t write off the possibility of a recreational fishing season on Lake Wenatchee.
Maitland said with the river high and cold, he suspects sockeye are holding below the Tumwater Canyon, waiting for less rigorous conditions before attempting the tough uphill fight.
“It’s looking like a later, compressed run,” he said, “but the numbers being counted at Rocky Reach and Rock Island dams on the Columbia are positive, and I’m still optimistic we’ll get our fish.”
The spawning escapement goal on the Wenatchee is 23,000 sockeye, plus 2,000 or 3,000 more for a harvest fishery.
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