Published April 16 2014
The city is seeking volunteers to watch for peamouth, a native fish that travels from Lake Washington to Kelsey Creek each spring to spawn. A peamouth patrol training workshop will be Thursday, April 17, 6:30-7:30 p.m., at City Hall, room 1E-112.
Attendees need to register with streamteam@bellevuewa.gov or call 425-452-5200. Volunteers are asked to attend the training, check streams at least twice a week for 15 minutes through mid-June, fill out a data sheet of their observations and call if they see fish.
Each spring thousands of peamouth suddenly show up in Kelsey Creek to spawn. For 24 to 48 hours, masses of peamouth deposit millions of eggs near rocks in the stream. Then, as quickly as they came, the peamouth return to Lake Washington. In about a week, the peamouth eggs hatch in Kelsey Creek, and the juvenile peamouth become an excellent food source for other fish and wildlife, such as salmon, blue heron, wood ducks, river otter and bald eagles.
One of the best places to see peamouth is in Kelsey Creek near the Wilburton Trestle. Last fall, the main trail at this location was improved with new steps and a railing that leads all the way down to the stream. New interpretive panels were also added to help visitors learn more about what happens in Kelsey Creek all year long.
Find out the best places to see peamouth or sign up for peamouth alerts at Peamouth Minnows.