Thanks Rod. Living blind, I agree, 60,000 fish does seem like a lot of fish for such a small, cold, unproductive lake. It is only fairly recently that the upper Chilliwack River (Dolly Varden) has been enumerated by overflights and stream walks. In the 70's and 80's only the beaches were checked and sporadically at that - I know this as it was myself and Buck, (until he went to dark side and started working at the hatchery) that did these counts. Back then we might have recovered a few hundred a season. Was the river population strong back then as well? we will never know but I doubt it. Chilliwack Lake sockeye migrate in the Fraser the same time as Early Stuarts, and that stock has been protected from commercial fishing for decades. Other than minor FN fisheries, Chilliwack fish are fully protected from interceptions. It has also been suggested Chilliwack sockeye smolts have increased at the expense of kokanee, as that population is a fraction of what is was in the 70's. The good news is this lake now has a much higher profile with DFO Science and it is being monitored on a regular basis so some answers should be forthcoming.