Kokanee Make Comeback at Lake Pend Oreille

HOPE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says northern Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille is seeing a rebound in kokanee. The Coeur d'Alene Press (http://bit.ly/TEAKdw ) reports that about 200,000 of the land-locked sockeye salmon have returned to Granite Creek to spawn this winter.

That means that next year will mark the first time since 1999 that fisherman are able to keep some of the kokanee they catch. Workers with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game use a fish trap at Granite Creek near the town of Hope to harvest the kokanee eggs.

John Rankin with the Cabinet Gorge Hatchery — where the eggs are taken — says it's all part of an effort to bring the fishery back for sportsmen.