Special triploid fishery on the Columbia did its job

Published 12:01 am Saturday, September 3, 2011

The special fishery for triploid rainbow below Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia closed Aug. 26. State biologist Jeff Korth in Ephrata said anglers did the job intended by removing fish that had escaped from a net pen on Rufus Woods Reservoir in June.

The state agency was concerned that the trout, described as “voracious” eaters, would pose a threat to juvenile steelhead, many of which are listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Korth said “Anglers demonstrated they could distinguish a steelhead from a triploid trout and were diligent about releasing the few steelhead encountered during the fishery.”

One would hope so. If you can’t tell one of the football-shaped, ragged-tail triploids from a slender steelhead, you probably don’t know which end of your rod to point toward the water.