02-21-2008, 08:10 PM
State wildlife director Jeff Koenings says he will talk with U.S. Forest Service leaders in Washington, D.C., two weeks from now about allowing a limited trout fishery in Spirit Lake.
The Clark-Skamania Flyfishers have been discussing with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Gifford Pinchot National Forest for five years about bringing sport fishing back to the 2,200-acre lake at the foot of Mount St. Helens.
The Forest Service is not receptive, countering there are other nearby places to fish, including Coldwater and Castle lakes.
"Spirit Lake is a large lake with large fish," Clark-Skamania conservation chair Craig T. Lynch told the state Fish and Wildlife Commission this month. "It's been closed to the public since the mountain blew" in 1980.
Koenings said the state already has approached local and regional Forest Service officials about fishing in Spirit Lake.
"It's my intent when I go back to D.C. at the end of February to have a discussion in D.C. as well," he said. "They're the landowner. We've got to have their permission if we want to have access unless by helicopter."
Peter Frenzen, scientist for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, said Congress set aside 110,000 acres following the eruption for natural recovery of the landscape.
He doesn't see a new fishery at Spirit Lake as part of that process.
"It's public land, and we understand state fish and wildlife has its view," Frenzen said. "There's an equally strong scientific and biological community who see it as a long-term resource and a place for research and recovery."
The north side of Mount St. Helens, including the Spirit Lake basin, is considered the highest value area for research and most ecologically sensitive, he said.
Sampling has found Spirit Lake full of large rainbow trout, some the size of steelhead, said John Weinheimer, a state fish biologist.
Spawning success in the lake appears intermittent, with the trout using springs on the lake bottom and bits of tributary streams, he added.
"There's a certain sense of urgency to getting some public opportunity at the lake," Weinheimer said. "As we have seen at Castle Lake, the size of fish at Spirit Lake is going down over time. As the lake and stream habitat stabilizes the number of fish increases. There is going to be more competition for food."
In 2001, the average size of a rainbow trout was 4.2 pounds. In 2007, it was about 2.8 pounds.
"It would be nice for the public to experience catching these fish at this large size while they are still available," Weinheimer said.
State officials have considered a permit-only, catch-and-release fishery open Saturdays between Memorial Day weekend and Oct. 31 with no angling from shore or a floating device equipped with a motor. Permits would be limited to 10 per Saturday.
Sportsmen would have to check in and out at the end of an access trail and record data on the fish they catch and release.
Frenzen said there are safety concerns about allowing anglers in float tubes or rubber rafts on Spirit Lake.
"Those logs on the surface are large and shift with the wind," he said. "I'd not go in there in a float tube or raft. It's hazardous enough in an aluminum boat. Those are 3- and 4-feet diameter logs."
Harmony trail No. 224, which is one mile with 700 feet of elevation gain, is the only point where the public can get to the shore of Spirit Lake.
Frenzen said the management strategy always has been to provide recreation at accessible locations such as Coldwater Lake, not at remote places such as Spirit Lake.
The Clark-Skamania Flyfishers have been discussing with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Gifford Pinchot National Forest for five years about bringing sport fishing back to the 2,200-acre lake at the foot of Mount St. Helens.
The Forest Service is not receptive, countering there are other nearby places to fish, including Coldwater and Castle lakes.
"Spirit Lake is a large lake with large fish," Clark-Skamania conservation chair Craig T. Lynch told the state Fish and Wildlife Commission this month. "It's been closed to the public since the mountain blew" in 1980.
Koenings said the state already has approached local and regional Forest Service officials about fishing in Spirit Lake.
"It's my intent when I go back to D.C. at the end of February to have a discussion in D.C. as well," he said. "They're the landowner. We've got to have their permission if we want to have access unless by helicopter."
Peter Frenzen, scientist for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, said Congress set aside 110,000 acres following the eruption for natural recovery of the landscape.
He doesn't see a new fishery at Spirit Lake as part of that process.
"It's public land, and we understand state fish and wildlife has its view," Frenzen said. "There's an equally strong scientific and biological community who see it as a long-term resource and a place for research and recovery."
The north side of Mount St. Helens, including the Spirit Lake basin, is considered the highest value area for research and most ecologically sensitive, he said.
Sampling has found Spirit Lake full of large rainbow trout, some the size of steelhead, said John Weinheimer, a state fish biologist.
Spawning success in the lake appears intermittent, with the trout using springs on the lake bottom and bits of tributary streams, he added.
"There's a certain sense of urgency to getting some public opportunity at the lake," Weinheimer said. "As we have seen at Castle Lake, the size of fish at Spirit Lake is going down over time. As the lake and stream habitat stabilizes the number of fish increases. There is going to be more competition for food."
In 2001, the average size of a rainbow trout was 4.2 pounds. In 2007, it was about 2.8 pounds.
"It would be nice for the public to experience catching these fish at this large size while they are still available," Weinheimer said.
State officials have considered a permit-only, catch-and-release fishery open Saturdays between Memorial Day weekend and Oct. 31 with no angling from shore or a floating device equipped with a motor. Permits would be limited to 10 per Saturday.
Sportsmen would have to check in and out at the end of an access trail and record data on the fish they catch and release.
Frenzen said there are safety concerns about allowing anglers in float tubes or rubber rafts on Spirit Lake.
"Those logs on the surface are large and shift with the wind," he said. "I'd not go in there in a float tube or raft. It's hazardous enough in an aluminum boat. Those are 3- and 4-feet diameter logs."
Harmony trail No. 224, which is one mile with 700 feet of elevation gain, is the only point where the public can get to the shore of Spirit Lake.
Frenzen said the management strategy always has been to provide recreation at accessible locations such as Coldwater Lake, not at remote places such as Spirit Lake.