Caples Lake (Hwy 88) to be partially drained

From the Stockton Record Outdoors reporter:
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/A_SPORTS03/808060312

Looks like I might have to head up there for a shot at one of those Macs once the water drops lower...maybe I'll actually get some AOTY points this year after all. 

Like shooting fish in A barrel. Dont sound to fun.

Caples is a cool spot that my in-laws introduced me to several years ago.  I've not fished there on my yak outside of a few casts in the shallows with a little lure.  I went in their tackle shop and saw the trophy Mack pics and thought how much I'd like to fish deep there.  This is just sad.

Thanks for posting the story, FT.

It truley sad to think that all the decades old mackinaw maybe lost and will take many many years to replenish them. With EID stating their predicted water levels of 11 feet,  I can't see much surviving with extreme water level tempatures from  being hot in september to freezing during the winter.

You'd think they'd stop the fishing access at some point in the name of saving the vulnerable stock of the lake and that would at least let it play out naturally with the best chance of some survival instead of the fish maybe dying by getting caught or the stress of others being caught around them in less and less water.  I'll bet if they just left them alone while they did this (like shut it down soon and open back up when water's back up to this level) then the fish would survive.  Are we going to see the ultimate short-sighted policy play out right before our eyes with the fish in this lake when they really should be closing it immediately?  I'm having a problem with this.   

Personally,

Get rid of the macs and turn that lake back in to a trophy brown trout lake again.

-Brian G

Less water doesn't necessarily mean easy fishing. I remember when the water level at Lake Berryessa dropped by like 80 feet in the 80's. And the fishing didn't improve as a result.

I might have to try and get up to Silver or Red Lake before Fall.

UPDATE 8/27

Thousands Of Fish Rescued From Caples Lake
KIRKWOOD, Calif. (AP) ― Thousands of fish -- including an 18-pound trout -- have been rescued from a Sierra lake that must be drained this fall to allow for dam repairs.

California Department of Fish and Game officials started zapping the fish in Caples Lake with electrical currents and netting them late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, department spokesman Harry Morse said.

A line of about 30 volunteers, working like a bucket brigade, handed the fish up a hill one by one to hatchery trucks that are transferring them to other nearby lakes.

So far, about 3,000 fish have been transferred out of the lake about 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe, including the 18-pound brown trout.

"It was a monster. It looked like a salmon," Morse said Wednesday. "We'll be fishing again tonight -- all night. We're bringing in four extra eloctro-fishing boats now that we've figured out how to do it," he said.

The water is being lowered so the El Dorado Irrigation District can make emergency repairs to the dam's outlet gates. The water level is expected to drop to a depth of 6 feet, which means it could freeze solid this winter.

Morse said when they started they didn't know if they'd end up with 1,000 or 10,000 fish.

"We're really happy with the first night of the operation with 3,000 fish. Hopefully we'll do better tonight and again on Thursday night. We're playing it by ear, but hopefully it will not be unrealistic to reach the goal of 10,000," he said.

Rainbow trout, brown trout and Mackinaw trout captured are being taken to Silver Lake while brook trout that are recovered are sent to Red Lake, he said.

Sweet...glad to hear that they had a recovery plan in the works!

  Thats good that the recovery is taking lace.  I didn't want to read of a massive fish kill on that lake.

Awesome!  That's great news.   

Just read that in last night's haul they transferred an 18 pound trout. Dang thats a biggun!!!!


Rich

The guys over at FSF have been organizing fish rescues. Same guys that rescued the delta fish at Prospect Island (or wherever that recent huge fish kill was). I can forward the organizers' info if you want to help.
Kudos to everybody who has helped with this fish rescue project at Caples. I guess it will be a good fall at Silver.