Volunteers Rescue 188 Striped Bass This Afternoon

by Dan Bacher

The first fish rescue this afternoon by an enthusiastic crew of volunteers was a huge success. One dozen volunteers rescued 188 striped bass, ranging from 5 to 12 pounds, from Prospect Island and put them into Miner Slough, according to Bob McDaris, owner of Cliff's Marina in Freeport.

"The rescue went spectacularly well today, with no mortality," said McDaris.

None of died or went belly up when put back into the water. The Department of Fish and Game's concerns about fish mortality were apparently unfounded, as evidenced by the 100 percent success of this afternoon's rescue operation.

"We set up the logistics this afternoon and tried different methods of rescuing the fish," said Gary Rios, a retired West Sacramento fire chief and an avid angler. "Now we got a system in place for our operation tomorrow."

The volunteers net the fish and put them into 55 gallon tanks. Rather than using ATVs, which get bogged down in the thick mud, the rescue volunteers are using an Arctic Cat to transfer the fish over the levee. Then other volunteers take the fish from the tanks and put them through a pipe back into Miner Slough.

McDaris said they will begin their operation around 8:00 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 1). He said they have enough volunteers for the morning shift, but still need people for the afternoon shift. Waders are needed and people should be in reasonably good shape because walking through the thick mud can be difficult.

Jeff McCracken, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman, and Mike Chotkowski, Bureau fishery biologist, accompanied the volunteers. A DFG warden was also present.

For more information, call Bob McDaris, owner of Cliff's Marina in Freeport, cell 916-769-8047 or office 916-665-1611. You can go to http://www.rescuethefish.org and http://www.fishsniffer.com for updates on this rescue effort and the fish kill.