Prospect Island Update: There are still live fish at Prospect Island!

by Dan Bacher

Bob McDaris and I went to Prospect Island yesterday afternoon (November 28) to find if there were any live fish to rescue. The good news is that we found that there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of striped bass still alive in the section that we investigated. There were also many dead striped bass in the muddy wallow that we waded through.

The bad news is that we saw fish dying as we were there. And although DFG and Bureau of Reclamation staff have removed most of the tens of thousands of dead fish, I took photos of a massive, putrid pile of fish that included thousands of native Sacramento splittail minnows, carp and largemouth bass.

We were accompanied by Jason Smith of Full Speed Fishing, Jeffrey Nash of Full Speed Fishing, Gary Adams, president of the California Striped Bass Association, two Fox 40 TV News reporters and Mike Chotkowski, Bureau of Reclamation fishery biologist.

After seeing the live striped bass, McDaris was encouraged that there are still fish that we can rescue from Prospect Island, although time is of the essence.

The aerators are in place now, so hopefully this should also help save some of the remaining fish.

As I write this, Bob McDaris is still planning to organize a force of volunteers to rescue the fish on Sunday. However, he is trying to get permission to do the rescue even earlier because of the fact that fish are still dying as you read this.

For more information, call Bob McDaris, owner of Cliff's Marina in Freeport, cell 916-769-8047 or office 916-665-1611.