Chopaka and Other Okanogan Lakes

[Will Atlas]

I heard alot about low water levels in the Okanogan Area, that Chopaka and Ell were off because of low water last year. I had two questions; will that effect the fisheries long term and will the water be low again this year. Also is early June too late to fish the Okanogan Lakes? Also one last thing...there was alot of talk about chopaka lake being rehabbed because of bass and panfish over populations is that happening this year?

Thanks Gang,
Will

[BOBLAWLESS]

Low water is definitely bad for trout or all species for that matter. It reduces the littoral area of the lake--that is, the shallows are gone and it is here that most of the aquatic food for trout is found, bugs, leeches etc. No food means starving fish that tend to stress so bad that they move around very little and hole up in deep water. You would think that they would bite like mad but they don't. Years of big water are always a boon to flyfishermen.

Early June can be OK but the best fishing is in May, even if it snows. When the water warms, the fish stress again and go deeper than most guys can get or fish effectively.

Lakes do have to be poisoned to get rid of pan fish and trash fish, even bass. They litterally choke the lake and eat everything in sight, leaving little for the trout to feed upon. Check with WDFW and ask about the rotenone schedule. Sometimes they won't say anything for fear of protests.
But they might give you a hint if you come on as someone who wants them to do something about the spiny rays. Unfortunately, rotenone is not selective and everybody has to die. But lakes seem to recover quickly and are much the better for it in my opinion.

Hope this helps you.

Bob, the I love the Okanagan Lakes and particularly Chopake right near the ramp.

[Salvelinus]

I have only fished Chopaka once, so I can't really comment on any decline. I returned this June on a Wednesday and the parking area/campsites looked like Bellevue Square after Thanksgiving so I left. I can say that I fished Ell in mid June of 2002 and knocked them dead; it was fantastic fishing. The water was extremely low then and the boat launch was about 20 feet from the water's edge if I remember it correctly. I came back this June and the water was a little higher, but the fishing was abysmal. I threw everything at them and didn't touch a fish, and the only fish I saw rising seemed under a foot long. I am not sure what happened to Ell, and I would be interested to know if anyone else fished it with little or no success this year. I am in favor of rehabilitating Chopaka for the reasons Bob mentioned, and because my blood boils every time I fish for trout and catch a puny bass. Anyway, I have only fished up there in June and it has very good, with the exception of Ell Lake this past summer.

[Kent Lufkin]

If I understand correctly from similar threads on another board, Chopaka also serves as a reservoir for the watering needs of local ranchers and its level is controlled by a wooden weir at one end. The top board of the weir was removed by ranchers last year to increase flow from the lake thus lowering the level and increasing the summer water temperature. Fortunately it is a big lake at about 150 acres and deep at over 70 feet, so there is still substantial cool-water holding area for oxygen-deprived fish.

The bass and other spiny rays are presumably the result of clandestine bucket planting by locals who find fishing for them preferrable to trout. Some of the more radical FF guys practice spiny-ray eridication programs by tossing caught ones on the bank.

Sigh.

K

[IveofIone]

I fished Ell Lake (or I Lake as it is now known) twice this year and it was pretty grim. In May I caught nothing but it was really a half-hearted attempt due to the low water and weed growth. I stopped by again in October and caught a bunch of rather smallish and uninspired fish. The problem seems to be consecutive low snow years in the area with the lakes getting little opportunity to replenish. Closer to home the lakes on the Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge are suffering the same fate and getting lower year by year. Add to that the fact that we are having another miserable snow year and the prospects are not good at all.

I no longer fish Chopaka as the crowds are a huge turnoff. And by the time the crowds are gone in the fall so many other lakes are fishing well that it makes little sense to go there. You have to drive right past some real good lakes to get to Chopaka and many of those lakes you can have all to yourself.

It is hard for me to fathom why anyone would drive up that miserable road with a bucket of panfish and foul the lake with them. With Palmer Lake and Whitestone so close by there is plenty of spinyray fishing to be had in the area. I would like to see rotenoe used up there to restore the fishery. At the least it would offer a few seasons of superb fishing before the same problem cropped up again.

Back to the water problems, it looks like California is getting most of our storms this year. I have heard reports of 8' of snowfall in just a few days in parts of the Sierra. Over here in eastern Washington 8'' would be a big deal about now. Usually by this time of year my road looks like a tunnel with several feet of snow down each side and a narrow track between them. Right now I just have a little berm on each side and the road is almost full width. My take from this so far is to be ready for an early start on the season and schedule your trips a little earlier than usual if things don't improve. Ive

[Guy Gregory]

I don't know about the irrigation thing...Chopaka really has no outlet other than the gravels. There's another little lake just north of there, a short hike, but it's probably dry by now.

And I think all drywells should be grouted up and anyone caught bucket-biologizing should be summarily executed...I don't throw trout in walleye lakes, and the bass didn't walk to Chopaka.

Yeah, the crowds are kinda a pain, but they are generally friendly. It has not been a solitary fishing experience for 20 years or so that I know of, though you used to have pretty good odds in late June or September of a reall good time. I like it when its mostly canadians, especially on their memorial day, usually good fellowship, shared whisky, lots of hooting and hollering. I like it least when the Seattle Fly Clubs show up. Hmm.

By the way, Ive is right...it is now and is gonna be a very dry year, (driest since 84 maybe?). Dry means hot water, so us drysiders probably ought get used to the idea of staying out of the smaller streams in late July through September, and getting used to hatches being a couple of weeks early.

guyg
spokane

[Chromer]

"I would like to see rotenoe used up there to restore the fishery".

Does rotenoe kill scuds? If so, can they be reintroduced?

[Taxon]

"I would like to see rotenoe used up there to restore the fishery".

Does rotenoe kill scuds? If so, can they be reintroduced?

Chromer-
Good question. Yes, generally speaking, Rotenone is as toxic to aquatic invertebrates as it is to fish. However, aquatic invertebrates have the advantage of being able to burrow in the substrate in order to get away from the Rotenone effect. As I recollect, scuds have two life cycles per year, so they should be able to re-populate fairly quickly. However, Dragonflies might be another story.

[Chromer]

Those bass in Chopaka are not typical largemouth. The ones I've destroyed are all green, even their eyes. They are hideous.

[Will Atlas]

I'm not actually sure that retone kills all aquatic life. I think it has something to do with how the chemical reacts with the gills of the fish, and I think it leaves insects alone. The chemical is nutralized in the water in a matter of days. I know this because I fish a lake in this state that once had VERY large trout in it, but because of the spiny rays they had to retone it. I fished it last year, one year after retone and the aquatic insects were just as rich, although the fish were smaller as they had only been in the lake for a few months. I'm gonna head back this spring and see how the little guys have grown up!

[Kent Lufkin]

Rotenone is as toxic to aquatic invertebrates as it is to fish.

True in the lab, but in the field the degree of lethality depends on how much rotenone is introduced into a given body of water. Due to cost considerations, WDFW usually uses only enough to kill only fish and even then only relatively large fish in relatively shallow water. By the time the rotenone has completely dispersed (and quickly biodegraded), its dilution is usually not lethal to smaller fish let alone invertebrates like scuds. At large lakes like Nunnally, the amount of rotenone required to completely eridicate those pesky pumpkinseeds would probably bankrupt WDFW.

K

[Taxon]

Kent-

Good points.

[Birdsnest]

Anybody fish Aeneas Lake? How has fishing been there?

[Diehard]

Those bass in Chopaka are not typical largemouth. The ones I've destroyed are all green, even their eyes. They are hideous.

They are Smallmouth bass. I have caught quite a few of them at Chopaka. All though they are not supposed to be there, they are a blast to catch. Pound for pound, they are some of the hardest fighting fish in fresh water.

From what Kent says, it sounds like the Rotenone is just a temporary fix. If it is not getting to all the fish, then the spiny rays will just keep coming back.

[WT]

I've been going up to Chopaka for the past four or five years now and I don't see the bass as a problem yet. In fact as long as the fishing is as good as it has been I don't care how many bass are in there( altough they provide a good excuse for a bad day). I'm much more concerned about the water level. I'm almost afraid to see how low it will be this spring. Until then I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for lots of snow in our corner of the world.
WT