Here is the WDFW reply:
Mr. Fellows,
Thank you for your inquiry to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding kokanee stocking in Eastern Washington. To help answer the questions you raised, I have copied parts of your email (in black italicized text) and have addressed those pieces individually (in red text). If you have additional questions or comments regarding this issue, do not hesitate to contact me.
My understanding is that the Family has chose to lock the gates and deny access to Sportsman. The WDFW has worked on securing a launch but from everything I can find the talks have stalled and therefore a mute point.
You are correct in that the Family closed the old resort and has not allowed public access for several years. However, last year WDFW submitted and presented a Boating Facilities Program (BFP) project through the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). The funds for these projects will be awarded in June 2015. If RCO receives the level of funding they anticipate, the Chapman Lake BFP project will receive partial funding, but not enough to conduct the entire project. The WDFW is exploring alternative funding to compliment anticipated RCO funding as to complete the project. At this point, to say that talks have stalled is inaccurate.
My question since Sportsman Dollars fund the raising of fish to be planted in the lakes. Why are we funding a Private Fishery to the extent of a 100,000 fry a year in this lake. This resource is to be accessible to the sportsman to harvest.
Chapman Lake continues to be managed by the State of Washington to have a fishery available when WDFW secures long-term access. (More on that later in this response.) In the meantime, although motorized boats cannot be launched at the boat launch in the closed resort at this time, users are entitled to access the lake via foot traffic through the neighboring Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property and fish the lake during the open season. Although not ideal circumstances, limited access is still provided until an access agreement has been reached.
It seems that you have deprived the Sportsman of the State of Washington over 400,000 fish that should have been available to them and not to a Private fishery with no public access. You have also deprived the Local communities of the money that would have been spent to bolster their economy's.
Information about WDFW fish stocking processes will help you understand that this is not the case. District Fish Biologists plan fish allotments, or the number of fish to be stocked in each water, with hatchery staff. Once allotments have been decided, hatchery staff grows the required number of fish and stock them at the appropriate time in those waters.
The other kokanee lakes in this Region, such as Deep, Loon, Deer, and Pierre, are not deprived of fish, but receive the total number of fish that the District Fish Biologist has allotted for them. If the District Fish Biologist decides, at some point in the future, to cease kokanee stocking at Chapman Lake, those fish would not be raised, divided up, and stocked into those other lakes. Rather, the biologist would instruct hatchery staff not to raise those fish to begin with.
When I review the link:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/washington/species/9008/
This list's all of the lakes in Washington that are supposed to have Kokanees in them; even giving a detailed fishing time frame as to when to fish; Deer Lake in Stevens county doesn't reflect any opportunities what so ever. But back in the 1970's and 1980's Deer had a terrific Kokanee Fishery with some fish in a 3+ pound range. Davis Lake also used to have a Kokanee fishery that was remarkable.
The link you provided above directs you to our Fish Washington website. You are correct in that this page includes the lakes where particular fish species, such as kokanee, can be found. On each specific lake page, the fishing calendar provides information on when anglers can expect the best fishing to occur on the most popular species found in the lake. If a lake contains a species, but that species may not be the most popular, it may not receive its own line in the calendar, but will be mentioned as another “species you might catch”. Such is the case with kokanee in Deer Lake in Stevens County. On this website, lakes such as Deer, that list kokanee as a species you might catch, does not necessarily infer that fishing will be sub-par for that species.
I believe that the Sportsman of this state would be better served if the Stocking of Chapman lake was discontinued and those fish planted in lake where they will have access to this resource.
Kokanee populations are different than trout populations in that there is at least a two-year lag time between when kokanee fry are stocked, and when they grow large enough to be caught by anglers. Because of that fact, it is important to maintain consistent kokanee year class strength. One or two missing year classes could result in gaps in the fishery that would be extremely hard, if not impossible, to recover.
At this point in time, WDFW remains optimistic that anglers will have motorized boat access to Chapman Lake in the future. The kokanee that are stocked into Chapman Lake are fairly small (~200 fish per pound) and require little cost to raise (less than 2 cents per fish). This is a relatively low cost to ensure that when access is regained, an intact kokanee fishery will be present for anglers to enjoy. The WDFW has already suspended trout stocking in that lake. If public access cannot be worked out, kokanee stocking would also be suspended. As noted earlier, if kokanee stocking were discontinued at Chapman Lake, those fish would not be added to any other lake, but would simply not be raised in our hatchery to begin with.
Again, thank you for your inquiry.
Regards,
Randall Osborne
District 2 Fisheries Biologist
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
2315 N. Discovery Place
Spokane Valley, WA 99216
(509) 892-1001 ext. 302
trout_westwa - Copy
www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/washington/
509) 892-1001
