Henrys Lake Newsletter – Summer 2024

Current and Upcoming Projects

Creel Survey: This year (6/1/24 - 6/1/25), we are running a creel survey! Twice a week, creel clerks will be out interviewing anglers about their fishing trip that day. These data are vital for estimating total fishing effort, harvest rates, angler demographics, opinions, and much more! If you encounter one of our creel clerks, the survey should only take a couple of minutes and we greatly appreciate your participation. If you're interested in getting involved, volunteering as a creel clerk is an easy way to do just that! Send me an email at [email protected] and we'll get you trained up.

Lower Targhee Creek: Over the past two years, IDFG, Henrys Lake Foundation, and other partners have been working with motivated landowners on lower Targhee Creek to plan, fund, and implement a large-scale restoration project. Targhee Creek provides incredibly valuable spawning habitat for wild YCT in Henrys Lake, as well as thermal and oxygen refuge during critical periods for fish survival. We're breaking ground on Phase 1 of this project this year, which will include re-connecting a southern channel of Targhee Creek that was historically cut off for agricultural purposes. This phase will provide ~1.5 miles of additional spawning habitat for YCT in lower Targhee Creek, as well as improve hyporheic flow, groundwater recharge, wetland function, and expand oxygen/thermal refugia for trout in Henrys Lake. This project would not have been possible without generous contributions from both the landowner and the Henrys Lake Foundation, so they deserve a huge shout out here!

Fish Stocking: In June, we stocked 201,012 sterile hybrid trout in Henrys Lake (Figure 6). In September we plan to stock ~1.2 million YCT fingerlings, as well as ~100,000 BKT. Approximately 70,000 of our YCT fingerlings have been set aside for tributary stocking (Targhee Creek, Duck Creek, Howard Creek, and Timber Creek). These fish will be used as part of our tributary stocking evaluation, where we will monitor comparative recruitment between lake-stocked fish and tributary-stocked fish. We won't be able to see the results of this study until the fish stocked this fall get big enough to be caught by our gillnets (likely 2026), so stay tuned!

Electric Fences: Back in June, we installed miles of electric fence along the riparian areas of several of the Henrys Lake tributaries (Howard Creek, Targhee Creek, Duck Creek, and Kelly Creek). These fences protect the stream and riparian areas from habitat degradation. Throughout the summer, our IDFG Henrys Lake seasonal crew continually maintains these fences to ensure they remain "hot" while livestock are in the area. At the end of the season when cattle are moved elsewhere, we take down the fences for the winter to allow wildlife to freely move around the lake and tributaries.

Fish Screen Maintenance: IDFG manages and maintains several "fish screens" located on irrigation diversions drawing water from Henrys Lake tributaries (Howard Creek, Targhee Creek, and Duck Creek). These fish screens prevent fish from being lost from tributaries, and instead, return them to the creek where they came from via underground pipes. During the runoff season, sediment builds up in the fish screens that must be dug out weekly to ensure proper function of the screens.

Ask a Biologist

At the end of each newsletter, I like to have an "Ask a Biologist" section where I can help answer/explain a timely and important question I receive about Henrys Lake or the surrounding watershed. Please send me any relevant questions you may have! My email is [email protected].

Question: What's that big yellow buoy out in the middle of the lake for?

Answer:

Water quality monitoring! In June, we deployed a water quality monitoring sensor in the middle of Henrys Lake under a large yellow buoy (pictured below). This sensor will monitor things like water temperature, oxygen concentration, algal blooms, nutrients, and much more! These data will help us identify factors important for trout survival in Henrys Lake, and help inform our stocking practices.

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