History

Prior to the Albeni Falls Dam being built in the 1950s, Fishermans Island did not exist. All the area property was private, consisting of wide fertile meadows and a higher hill, and was owned by various settlers and farmers at the time. The land became public after the rising water upstream of the dam flooded the meadows and made an island from the hill. The US government purchased the land from locals, including the submerged lands they had lost.

In the early 1900s, before the shoreline rose, there was a steamboat landing on the shore just southeast of where the island is now. The Northern Pacific Railroad line ran along the shoreline past the steamboat landing, along what is now Sunnyside Road.

Once the island was formed, locals used it to fish for Dolly Varden trout. The world-record Dolly Varden trout was caught on Lake Pend Oreille, only to be re-identified as its close relation, the Bull Trout. Bull Trout have been a crucial part of the Pend Oreille ecosystem, providing a sustainable food source for the local tribes prior to the arrival of settlers. Bull trout are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and must be released if caught.