Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1997 | 1:57 a.m.
While the number is still small compared to last year's robust run, biologists expect more salmon to fight their way up the stream by midweek, following a heavy release of water from Fallen Leaf Lake.
The new channels carved by this year's floods are expected to do little more than confuse the kokanee for a short time.
"I have faith in the evolutionary drive of the fish. It's amazing what these fish will go through to spawn," said Jeff Reiner, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
The relatively late run - last year the fish were schooling in the Creek by mid-September - is not unusual, and probably due to recent warm weather, Reiner added.
When they return, the spawning salmon will find a Taylor Creek that is radically different from the stream where they were born two to four years ago. The New Year's Day flood of 1997 scoured out the main stream channel, leaving some spawning beds high and dry, but improving the habitat in other areas.
"It's a pretty nice looking stream," said Reiner, who has walked its length three times in recent weeks removing debris from the stream channels. "The new channel has more cover, so when the eggs hatch out, the fry won't be exposed to as many predators. There's probably about the same amount of spawning ground, but it's in different places."
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