Hip waders buckled up, Larry Martin wades into Penticton Creek on a lukewarm Wednesday morning.
He's here today to count fish and do a little maintenance.
Martin is with the Penticton Flyfishers. Every year in the late summer, they set up a fish trap, not far from the art gallery.
The purpose is to trap kokanee salmon as they swim upstream. The fish swim into the trap, then humans like Martin pick them out and count them. Then they're freed to continue their spawning-focused journey.
On Wednesday, Martin was at the trap with fellow Flyfishers Ken Baker and Kevin Gabriel. For the entire duration of the kokanee spawning season, the three of them, along with numerous other volunteers, will work at the trap every day. They'll count the fish, then they'll painstakingly clean the mesh fence that runs alongside it.
The fish count is just part of the ongoing Penticton Creek restoration. It's essentially a two-part project that involves both flood protection upgrades and fish habitat restoration. This Saturday, you're invited to see what's been going on so far and chat with a bunch of the people responsible.
The first segment of the project was completed in 2015 and is now called the "showcase." The second phase went ahead in 2018, finishing the section between the Ellis Street and Nanaimo Avenue bridges.
This year has been one of monitoring, planning, and fund-raising before the next phase, upstream from the Nanaimo bridge, begins in the next couple years.
Still, says Bryn White of the Penticton Creek Restoration Committee, this year's "Restoration Walk" will be well worth your time.
"What people will be seeing this year are the restored sections, and they'll get a good look at the intended next restored section," White said.
"It will have its own design, but the same principles apply. They're looking to deepen and widen it slightly to be able to put in more habitat features for the protection of fish, and they also want to reinforce the flood protection. This will also be a great opportunity to get a close look at the fish in the creek."
Now, a lot of those fish are stopping and spawning in the revamped sections, where pebbles and rocks and logs have taken the place of concrete.
"We did see fish using the new areas in both projects, right away," said White.
She says patience is the key.
"None of this is being rushed. We're looking at the long game. We're searching and seeking all the time for funding to be able to plan it, design it properly, and go forward with the construction. It's unfortunately something that can't happen overnight."
Meanwhile, out at the fish trap, the Flyfishers continue their work.
"Our concern is for the fish and to have more fish come through. But there's also the flood control," said Martin.
"So you have to have a balance. It's a great project overall, right in the city where people can come down and see it. We get people here every day asking us about it."
Martin also gave us a bit of a history lesson.
"Okanagan Lake was once known for large kokanees (over 5 lbs), but we haven't seen those since the mid 80s," he explained.
"There are lots of reasons for it, including fertilization and mysis shrimp (a shrimp that was introduced to the lake to help feed the kokanee but also began gobbling down the same food sources)."
"Fish that spawn in the rivers are generally larger than the lake-spawning fish, but the population of river-spawning fish has really crashed. Work is being done on all the creeks feeding into the lake."
You can learn much more tomorrow. The Restoration Walk begins at the fish trap, near the entrance to the Ikeda Japanese Garden, at 10 am.
