Unalaska, AK – The final escapement counts for the 2010 salmon season at McLees Lake are in, and the numbers are higher than they've been since 2004. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports that 32,842 reds passed through their weir. Last year, only 9,370 sockeye salmon were counted

The season started slowly, and Fish and Game actually kept Wislow closed through the month of June. But then, numbers picked up at the end of the month allowing a July opening.

Fish and Game has monitored the weir for a decade now. When it first started monitoring escapement, the count hovered around 40,000. In the years that followed, they skyrocketed and exceeded 100,000. But since 2005, the numbers have been low. Now, they seem to be picking up again and are back at around 2001 levels.

"If you look at the numbers, it appears that there might be a cycle," says Derek Hildreth, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Jennifer Shockley went fishing at Wislow this summer, and she says that this summer was the best she's seen yet.

"We had the net in the water for I think about an hour and 15 minutes and up with about 35 fish in that time," says Shockley. "And this is with a net that's only 12 fathoms, so that's only 70 feet long."

While Shockley was eager to go out fishing this summer, she supported Fish and Game's decision to keep the area closed until escapement numbers started to look better.

"We've had so many poor years in a row that I personally think it's a great idea to get the escapement that they need first before opening it to fishing," says Shockley. "Waiting a week or ten days to go out and fish is not that big a deal if it means we get to fish again next year, and the year after, and the year after that."