Looking for Sockeye Salmon at Redfish Lake

This is Redfish lake in Idaho.  It got its name from the Sockeye salmon returning from the Pacific ocean to spawn and turn bright red afterwards.  There were so many of them that the lake would turn red.  What a sight that would have been.  I know that hasn't happened for a while because of the population decline of this amazing creature, but they are still returning to this lake and I wanted to witness this incredible event.  Can you imagine seeing these fishes jumping over waterfalls to get to their spawning ground?  I did my research and I had five different areas that I could possibly see them. 

little Redfish lake

The first place to check was where the Salmon River connects to Redfish creek.  Didn't see any of them there. The second place they suggested was Fishhook creek.  According to my reading this was an excellent spot and they suggested that I have my camera ready to capture them.  So there I was standing by the creek and waiting for them.  I waited and waited some more, but no fish were in sight. 

A creek by Redfish lake

Fishhook creek

Fishhook creek

We waited by the creek for a while then decided to hike up along the creek a little bit to see if we could find a better viewing area.  The weather was great and we saw some aspen trees turning colors.

Here is my husband who goes along with my crazy ideas.

We didn't see any fish, so instead of wandering around to other suggested areas we decided to check with the visitors center and ask them where all the Sockeye salmon are.  

A very friendly visitor center employee told us that basically there are no fish to see.  She said because they are an endangered species Fish and Game captures them when they reach Redfish creek.  Then they transfer the fish to a hatchery where they will spawn.  The fish hatchery people will look after them for about two years and when the fish are ready to travel to the ocean they will transfer them to Redfish creek and release them so they can come back to Redfish creek.

As you can see in the picture below only 427 of them returned to Redfish lake this year.  The article I based my hope of seeing these amazing creatures on was written in 2014 which was a really good year.   

       

The friendly visitors center employee told us that we can see some Kokanee salmon in the area.  They are like a cousin of the Sockeye salmon.  They are smaller in size and do not travel to the ocean.  The good place to see the Kokanee salmon was right behind the visitors center.  They are not bright red yet, but their color will change as it gets closer to spawning time.

The sockeye Salmon swim 900 miles to return to the lake.  I guess it is unpredictable how many sockeye salmon would return to the lake each year.  According to Idaho Fish and Game they had a great year in 2014, but in 2015 99% of them got killed in the Columbia River due to the high water temperatures. I hope one day I will be able to see these amazing creatures returning to the lake without human's assistance and make Redfish lake red again. 

  

(photo by JB Mellquist)