09-04-2003, 06:32 PM
[cool]Just a wild guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if more than a few wipers (and others) hadn't sneaked out the back door. As much water as they dumped and pumped, there had to be some fish sucked out along with it. Whereever that water is going is likely to have some fish lying dead in the fields. Saw that a lot in the Sacramento area when they pulled major water out of the Sacramento River. Once saw a fifty pound salmon thrashing around in a two foot ditch. And a farmer once captured a huge sturgeon in a rice field.
As low as the remaining water is, the wipers gotta be feeling stressed. They typically need more depth to operate in, and move up and down in the water column according to clarity, light intensity and temperatures. You guys can only hope there is enough inflow to oxygenate the reduced water pool through the winter. Otherwise, a general ice sheet over the lake and you can kiss off the whole fishery.
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As low as the remaining water is, the wipers gotta be feeling stressed. They typically need more depth to operate in, and move up and down in the water column according to clarity, light intensity and temperatures. You guys can only hope there is enough inflow to oxygenate the reduced water pool through the winter. Otherwise, a general ice sheet over the lake and you can kiss off the whole fishery.
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