Got one!

Today we are spawning kokanee salmon.

We take the eggs from the females and strip the milt from the males, and then fertilize the eggs.

We stock the kokanee at fingerling size.

They grow in the reservoir, and then three years later, they return to the traps.

Lake Nighthorse is one of nine different brood stocks that we have in the state of Colorado, and collectively, we try to capture anywhere from 9 to 10 million eggs to bring into our hatcheries.

Cooperate!

This salmon was actually brought to Colorado from Washington.

As a matter of fact.

We wanted to provide a recreational angling opportunity but then also initiate our own spawning.

They are water pelagic species, meaning that they live kind of in the middle of the lake or in the deeper parts of the lake, and not necessarily by shore.

They grow for three years, and then that's when they reach sexual maturity and they go through the spawning cycle.

That's the end of their natural life.

Got one!

Once that is complete, the kokanee salmon die just like you'd see other natural salmons.

The salmon that we do spawn and hold in net pens for our giveaway is a great way we can give back to the community and providing food fish for folks that are, you know, in need or have an interest.

There are three kokanee giveaways, typically that we can count on having each year.

We have quite a few to give away so hopefully you guys have lots of cooler space.

To participate in the giveaway.

People need to have a current fishing license or a tribal membership card.

We give them out as fresh as we possibly can.

The kind of fun thing that people can do is look into the trap and see the kokanee swimming as we give them away.

So these salmon are actually quite delicious smoked.

They're not quite as firm right now, flesh wise.

And they've kind of gone through this spawning body change, the spawning morphology in which their muscles begin to slightly deteriorate, making them very well suited to smoking.

It looks like we got about 25 fish today.

They're a little smaller than I was expecting, but they'll be perfect to eat.

We're going to cook some fresh.

And then the rest were planning on canning.

I love that they actually opening it up to the community.

And if you have a fishing licens all you do is come get some.