FRIENDS OF HATCHERY LAUNCH RAINBOW RESCUE.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

KERNVILLE - The Friends of the Hatchery stepped up to save the Kern River Fish Hatchery.

Now, those who kept the hatchery from the Department of Fish and Game's chopping block eight years ago are trying to make a second save. The hatchery is attempting to breed the Kern River rainbow trout, a species that exists only on the Kern.

``We're trying to catch the (fish) before it reaches the point of the golden trout,'' said Greg Kollenborn, the hatchery's only full-time employee, referring to a fish that is considered imperiled. ``We're trying to be proactive and plan instead of being reactive. We'll have to wait and see.''

This year, Kollenborn and hatchery volunteers trapped wild rainbows, and for the first time in four tries, successfully coaxed the fish to breed. Fingerlings now swim safely in DFG storage tanks and Kollenborn feels he has enough fish to create a broodstock.

``This is experimental,'' Kollenborn admitted. ``Without the money to test fish, this is probably as close to a wild (Kern rainbow) species we're going to get. There are still a lot of unknowns. We don't know how the fish will react when the water gets lower and warmer.''

Another search party will be conducted later this summer to nab more wild trout and, hopefully, enhance the broodstock.

Kollenborn says the restoration project could not go on without the 50 volunteers of the FOH.

``It's neat to think that we're helping save a fish that was being caught 200 years ago,'' said Covina resident Jeff Hale, a member of the FOH.

Kollenborn admitted he does not know the population of the Kern rainbow; just that they're not plentiful. But his restoration project is one of the few that California hatcheries are undergoing.

``We've made great strides'' he said. ``We're doing abnormally well. We're still knocking on wood and keeping our fingers crossed.''

The last time the hatchery tried creating a broodstock two years ago, all the fish died when the males refused to cooperate.

Hale said males were only slightly better at reproducing this time. Kollenborn said there were 29 females and he had no idea how many males initially would be needed.

``It's really exciting because we're getting groups like Trout Unlimited and fly fishing clubs interested in what we're doing,'' he said.

Volunteers, many of them Kernville residents transplanted from the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, hold Wednesday work parties that keep up and improve the hatchery grounds.

The efforts have left many hatchery managers envious.

``It is quite impressive what they have accomplished,'' said Mike Haynie, the manager for Eastern Sierra hatcheries.

``They're doing a great and very important job,'' Kollenborn said. ``They have a sense of ownership and do a lot around here.''

Petitions and the formation of FOH prevented the closure of the hatchery in 1994. The hatchery is only 14 acres in area, too small to have massive broodstocks, which nearly all California hatcheries have. So the San Joaquin hatchery, north of Fresno, trucks 120,000 pounds of fish (roughly 360,000 rainbow trout) to the Kern Valley and offload them into two of the three runways.

The third runway is set aside for the FOH's trophy trout program. Each October, the hatchery saves some of the San Joaquin fish and lets them grow to five and six pounds before releasing them somewhere along the Kern. The project is funded entirely from donations.

Kollenborn said dropping fish off at his hatchery saves DFG employees from working 13 to 16 hours a day. Because he does not need the extra driving time, he is able to stock more areas of the river, allowing anglers a better chance to catch fish. The watershed is stocked year-round.

``It's a big job,'' said FOH president P.J. Prejean, a former Mission Hills resident. ``We try to find funding from wherever we can. It's not easy to do the trophy program, do repairs and keep everything in working order with such a limited budget.''

The funding primarily comes from yearly dues and an April hatchery open house.

Former El Monte resident Mike Cunningham wanted to volunteer when he retired to Kernville a few years ago. A former employee in the aviary at the L.A. Zoo, Cunningham wanted to do something different than work with birds; there is an active birding association in the area and bird sanctuary east of Lake Isabella. He works between 40 and 60 hours a month at the hatchery.

``This is working with more than just fish,'' he said. ``We have groups of people who are special because they spend all their free time working here.''

Covina's Hale can't attend the Wednesday work sessions because he still works, in Arcadia. But he spends nearly every weekend helping out at the hatchery.

``I do whatever they ask,'' he said. ``Whatever Greg says, we will do it.''

The hatchery is one of the most elaborate in the state. In addition to the trout runways, there is a natural area history and fish cultural center and a pen holding llamas, which once were used to pack equipment into the Golden Trout Wilderness Area. Docents work Fridays through Mondays.