Fish Restoration begins at Arrowrock Reservoir

The first steps towards providing quality fishing at Arrowrock Reservoir are now in the works. Nearly 17,000 catchable rainbow trout (eight- to 11-inch fish) were stocked in the reservoir in late April, with plans to stock more fish in the reservoir throughout 2004. The stocking effort is part of a mitigation package agreed to and paid for by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency overseeing management of Arrowrock Reservoir and Dam. The reservoir was drawn down last year so workers could replace some aging valves at the base of the dam. Because the reservoir was drawn down to less than two percent of capacity, nearly all of the reservoir's game fish ended up in Lucky Peak Reservoir, the next stop below Arrowrock. Normal fish stocking in Arrowrock averages about 150,000 fingerling trout annually. But the Bureau of Reclamation agreed to pay for extra stocking to make up for the fishing opportunity lost as a result of the drawdown. In 2004, plans call for the stocking of 140,000 catchable rainbow trout, 180,000 fingerling rainbows, and 77,000 fingerling kokanee. "The catchable rainbows will provide some immediate fishing opportunity," Fish and Game fish manager Jeff Dillon noted. "Next year, when the fingerlings have grown to catchable size, we should see some great fishing at the reservoir." For more information regarding the restocking effort at Arrowrock Reservoir, contact Fish and Game's Nampa office at 465-8465.