Your PUD
News Release
Visit Rocky Reach for best fish viewing of the year
Chelan County PUD
News Release
7/13/2009
Right now is a good time to look a salmon in the eye at Rocky Reach Dam.
A large run of returning summer Chinook salmon is now passing the dam, offering exceptional fish viewing at Rocky Reach Visitor Center.
"Over the first weekend of July, more than 17,000 sockeye and 2,770 Chinook salmon passed by the viewing window at Rocky Reach Dam," said Steve Hemstrom, Chelan County PUD fishery biologist. "The chance to see salmon passing the dam will be excellent throughout July."
The best time of day to see the big fish is 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Hemstrom added.
The fish are making their way up the Columbia River to their spawning grounds.
While fish runs are unpredictable, good fish viewing should continue at Rocky Reach for about two months, Hemstrom said. Summer and fall Chinook will be the primary travelers for the next month. There will also be some sockeye salmon during July and steelhead during August, he said.
The Visitor Center, seven miles north of Wenatchee on Highway 97A, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day through Oct. 31. Information about other things to see and do at the Visitor Center is on the PUD Web site at www.chelanpud.org.
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Christy Shearer
Deputy Public Information Officer
Chelan County PUD
509.661.4258 office
509.421.4258 cell
509.661.8117 fax
christy.shearer@chelanpud.org