The first of those positive things #0068 encountered was the fish ladder at NorthWestern Energy’s Thompson Falls hydroelectric dam. Built a decade ago, it’s given passage to an estimated 33,000 fish, said NorthWestern fish biologist Jon Hanson.

“We first encountered the fish when it entered the fish ladder at Thompson Falls,” he said. When it reached the top on March 25, it was fitted with a bright pink “floy tag” atop its dorsal fin with its new number — and a phone number that anglers could use to report its whereabouts.

In recent years, fish-watchers along the Clark Fork River have opted to track fish by tagging them en masse, rather than fitting a few with radio transmitters, Knotek explained.