Your PUD News Release

See a record-breaking fish run at Rocky Reach Dam Visitor Center

Chelan County PUD
News Release
7/21/2010

Right now is a great time to look a salmon in the eye at Rocky Reach Dam.

The largest run on record of returning sockeye is passing the dam on their way upstream to spawn, offering non-stop fish viewing of large Pacific salmon at Rocky Reach Visitor Center.

"Since July 1, more than 247,000 sockeye and 17,549 summer Chinook salmon have passed by the viewing windows at Rocky Reach Dam," said Steve Hemstrom, Chelan County PUD senior fisheries biologist. "As for the adult salmon run this year, about all I can say is – wow! Seeing a salmon pass through the viewing windows at the dam throughout July is almost a sure thing."

The best time of day to see the sockeye and Chinook is between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Hemstrom added.

The fish are making their way up the Columbia River to spawning grounds in Columbia River tributaries. Chelan PUD provides passage upstream for adult salmon and steelhead through its fish ladders at Rock Island and Rocky Reach dams. In the spring, young salmon and steelhead pass the dams on their migration to the ocean with help from a combination of spill and the one-of-a-kind fish bypass at Rocky Reach Dam.

Fish viewing should be excellent at Rocky Reach for about two months, Hemstrom said. Sockeye and summer Chinook will be the primary travelers for the next month, and steelhead numbers will increase in August.

Visit www.chelanpud.org/fish-counts.cfm for daily fish counts.

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The Visitor Center, seven miles north of Wenatchee on Highway 97A, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day through Oct. 31. Information about other things to see and do at the Visitor Center is on the PUD Web site at www.chelanpud.org.

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VisitRockyReach.

Christy Shearer
Deputy Public Information Officer
Chelan County PUD
509.661.4258 office
509.421.4258 cell
509.661.8117 fax
christy.shearer@chelanpud.org
www.facebook.com/VisitRockyReach