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Edited EID Press Release

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Second fish rescue: DFG and Volunteers move another 1,000 fish from Caples to Silver and Red Lakes

Second fish rescue: 20,000 fish moved from Caples Lake

CA Fish and Game contemplates third rescue next week

September 24 -- Placerville, CA -- Twenty California Department of Fish and Game employees [and ten volunteers recruited by CSPA, ed.] braved the early morning chill and cold water to capture more than 20,000 [1,000 ed.] fish during the second fish rescue at Caples Lake. The fish were carted in water-laden buckets and trash cans across the lakebed and up the side of the main dam at the lake to waiting hatchery trucks. They were then transported to nearby Silver and Red lakes.

Brown, rainbow, and lake (Mackinaw) trout were relocated to Silver Lake, while the 300 captured brook trout were taken to Red Lake. In addition to the trout, numerous Sacramento suckers were also captured and moved. The fish ranged from one inch to 24 inches in length.

The rescue took place Monday, September 22, from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm in the area between a newly installed temporary “bladder” dam and the Caples Lake main dam. Fish and Game [CSPA ed.] recruited a small number of [9 ed.] volunteers to assist in carrying the buckets to the trucks and sorting the fish. Approximately 90 [80 ed.] volunteers were on hand for the first rescue, which occurred over four days during the last week of August. For safety reasons, the number of volunteers for the second rescue was kept to a minimum. The muddy, low-water conditions prohibited the use of boats and required Fish and Game personnel to exercise extreme caution as they worked the area between the two dams.

During the rescue, El Dorado Irrigation District dam operators slowly lowered the remaining water level between the two dams. The area is now almost completely dewatered and as it dries, crews are inspecting the lake bottom and readying it for repairs to the main dam outlet works.

Fish and Game officials said that they will examine the lake behind the temporary dam early next week and determine whether a third rescue is feasible.

Installation of temporary dam and pumping system

On Saturday, September 20, two days before the second fish rescue, crews installed a temporary bladder dam behind the main dam at Caples Lake. The temporary dam—actually two bladder dams for safety purposes—will hold back water to protect workers as they make major repairs to the outlet works of the main dam.

Water from the area behind the temporary dam is now being pumped through a three-quarter-mile-long pipe to provide flows downstream of the main dam for the Caples Creek fishery. When the temporary dam is removed after the repairs are completed, the water will be drawn down during the winter months through the main dam outlet for the downstream fishery.