Every year my family and I take a camping trip to the Lake Chelan State Park, we hike, we swim, and sometimes we fish. This last summer I was basking in the warm sun rays, laying on the dock relaxing, when I heard commotion. I jerked up and saw a fast approaching excited group of fishermen swarming in on their boats. I kept an eye open as they docked and started unloading their captured treasures of the day. I was in shock when I saw a man take out a 25 pound HUGE fish. It was unbelievable; it was one of those fish you’d expect to maybe encounter in the ocean.
When the man pulled out the fish, he could tell I was intrigued. I could see the huge freaky mouth on the fish, it was no cutie. The fish was a Mackinaw, also known as a lake trout, a serious predator in the lake. It was introduced in 1982 to control the overwhelming Mysis shrimp population, another foreign creature introduced to the lake by scientists, and also to provide additional big fish recreational opportunities such as fishing. However, the Mackinaw not only ate the shrimp, but the native fish as well. As a result, there have been huge drops in the native fish population, seemingly because outside species have been introduced without proper research and testing.
Chelan, translating to deep water in Salish Indian, is fed by streams flowing from the Cascade Range. Lake Chelan has maximum depth of 1,486 ft (453 m) making it the third deepest lake in the country and the 24th deepest in the world. 55 miles long with an average width of one mile, there’s room for a lot of unexpected water creatures. There are about 16 native aquatic species in Lake Chelan. In 1916 outside species began being introduced to the lake - about 6 species have been introduced since then (including the Mackinaw and Mysis Shrimp), complications have since then arisen.
The Mackinaw lives near the bottom of the lake, around 200-350 feet under the surface. That however does not stop it from preying on the fish swimming higher up. As a result shallow water fishing has become far less successful. There used to be a limit on how many Mackinaw could be caught, but in 2001 WDFW removed the limit in an effort to try and keep the restore the fishery balance.
Fishing for Mackinaw is a skill that must be practiced. The skill is called “trolling”, the fisher must use a good smelling bate (because there is little light so the Mackinaw prey with scent), and then drop it down to the bottom as close as possible using technology that helps with approximating distance, and then travel at a speed that will entice the fish.
The Lake Chelan state record for fish size is currently 35 pounds 7 ounces, most fish average 2-7 pounds. When I saw the 25 pounder, I had no idea what to think, and I definitely did not imagine it to be such a savage predator and villain in Lake Chelan.
Mackinaw caught at Lake Chelan
I found this to be a very interesting and informative article. You used the narrative very well and I was able to paint a picture of the event in my head. Content wise, you were really good about that. I did however notice a few spelling errors here and there. i.e. bait*
ReplyDeleteOther than the spelling errors, there isn't much that I could say would make the article a lot better. Overall, you did a really good job
I agree with Will. The structure of the article is very good, and I like how you integrated your own voice with some facts about the lake. Aside from a few spelling errors there is nothing to fix.
ReplyDeleteFor your next post, I would try to submit it without any personal voice. I think that it would not work as well, but would still be interesting to see how effective the article is without it.