Pass Lake Winterkill?

[Bosco]

Heard some rumblings that there has been some pretty savage winterkill at Pass the last few winters. Wondering if anyone could give some more details. How severe was it? How many of the fish were killed?

Most importantly, when will it be back to its former self?

[Trout Tramp]

Last winter Pass suffered a complete winterkill . They re-stocked it , so it will probably be a couple of more years before any legal size trout appear. As for returning to its previous state , I would say "good luck" , it receives far too much pressure now with the easy access. Hopefully it doesn't get hit too hard for the next couple of years, & if that's the case we may start to see some bigger fish in 4-5 years. The last couple of years before it winterkilled, I actually saw ice fishing holes on it when doing my spring checks, for ice off .

[Pat AV]

it is nutrient rich so give it 3-5 yrs and you will have a quality fishery, if it is buggy they will grow....

[Roughingminor]

In addition to the 3000 Pennask trout they stocked in the spring, they dumped 1000 catchable-sized Fraser Valley triploids in as well. There might be a few decent sized fish in there in the spring.

[Trout Tramp]

Talked to a very well respected fresh water fisheries guy from the area, shortly after the stocking records came out and he figures those catchables will be some what respsectable by fall 2010. If Bosco is referring to the hogs that came out in the previous years , particularly the last 3 years before it winterkilled, that will take quite some time and may never reach those levels again , due to the increased pressure it receives. The majority of those trout where 6-8 year old triploids , and there weren't great numbers of them. The pressure was also considerably less up until about 3-4 years before the winterkill took place. Fortunately , there are several other lakes in the area that are once again producing good numbers of excellent pennask rainbows , thanks to the efforts of the fresh water fisheries in the area.