I doubt fishermen will ever see Kokanee in the creel again at Priest Lake 

The U. S. Fish Commission was established in 1871. By 1881 the Commission was known as the U.S. Fish and Fisheries Commission. In 1903 the name was changed to Bureau of Fisheries. In 1911, George Kemmerer and J.F. Bovard were sent by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to study Priest Lake to ascertain its suitability for mackinaw. The Spokane Chamber of Commerce, state and county game wardens, businessmen, and volunteers contributed time and boats to the effort.

In 1921, the study authors followed up with Spokane and Idaho residents and were informed that Deer, Loon, and Badger Lakes had plentiful mackinaw but no one had heard of any catches in Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, or Priest Lakes. In the period between 1890 and 1912, it was common for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to ship any species of fish to anyone who requested them, so mackinaw could have been introduced before the 1911 study or shortly thereafter.

It was 1924 when 100,000 Mackinaw eggs were shipped to the Sandpoint hatchery from Lake Superior. Until 1952, few if any, Mackinaw were caught at Priest Lake. A Dolly Varden (Bull Trout)fishing derby was held in the spring that year and one angler incidentally caught a large Mac. After no previous history of a Mac fishery at Priest Lake, 334 were caught that year for a total of 8,508 lbs - a 25 lb per fish average weight. In 1956 2,100 Macs were caught at the lake.

The large size of the Macs was attributed to the presence of Kokanee which had been introduced in 1942, 43, and 44. The Kokanee introduction is also believed to have caused the demise of the indigenous Rocky Mountain Whitefish but Kokanee were a more desirable fish for sportsmen and seemed to fill a previously unfilled niche.

Although the Cutthroat fishery had been on the decline since the 40's, "the bite was on" for Kokanee. Unfortunately,in 1965, 2 years after the Idaho Fish and Game pronounced the Kokanee and Mackinaw populations in excellent condition, Mysis shrimp were planted in the lake and the demise of the Kokanee soon followed.

Since 1990 or so, the IDF&G has promoted the theory that lake draw down in the fall desiccates Kokanee egg beds and that is the real cause of the decline of the Kokanee fishery. However, in his 1956 landmark study of Priest Lake, Ted Bjorn downplays the effect of lake draw down. In fact, Kokanee will expand beyond the limits of food and space in their habitat. The individual fish get smaller and smaller as opposed to cannibalizing their own population or reducing fecundity.

Thus, the formerly healthy populations of Kokanee at Priest Lake benefited from lake draw down since it limited the numbers of fish, leaving more food and space in the lake for the survivors. With the presence of Mysis in the lake, changing the lake draw down regime in the fall to benefit Kokanee won't change the ability of Mysis to out-compete Kokanee for food. The only chance Kokanee have is if the Mac population has grown enough to be a significant predator to Mysis, thereby leaving more food available for Kokanee. However, if a larger population of Macs limits Mysis to the benefit of Kokanee food supply, the same Macs will be predators to the Kokanee. I doubt fishermen will ever see Kokanee in the creel again at Priest Lake. My hope is enough Kokanee will populate the lake to keep Macs from feeding as much on Cutthroat and Dollies.