Between 40,000 and 60,000 kokanee salmon will make a mad dash up Taylor Creek this month to spawn, according to estimates by the U.S. Forest Service.

It's turning out to be one of the largest runs for the non-native fish in recent years, drawing thousands of visitors to South Shore to watch a fascinating yet grisly scene.

After five or six years dodging sport fishermen in Lake Tahoe, the kokanee have less than a month to find a mate, have babies and live happily ever after before becoming food for crawdads.

It's a rough life, but all salmon have the spawn-till-you-die instinct, risking life and fin to scale waterfalls and brave wildlife to return to the breeding grounds where they were born.

As they return to the creek, their silver skin turns bright red and the males grow a hooked jaw, thought to help them compete for females. Soon after they deposit their eggs or sperm, they will die. All their stored energy is expended in this last reproductive effort.

Crawdads the size of lobsters crawl the creek, devouring an entire decomposing fish in less than an hour. Other scavengers include minnows, gulls, ducks, bald eagles and raccoons.

The spectacle is on display for all who visit the Forest Service's Taylor Creek Visitor Center, which has seen upwards of 10,000 visitors each weekend this month and 2,000 to 3,000 people per day during the week.

"This is a good year. We've got a lot of spawning fish," said Jean Norman, lead interpretive ranger at the visitor center. In recent years, numbers have averaged a third as much, around 20,000 kokanee.

The kokanee are expected to be around until the end of the month. Fall colors are at their fullest, enhancing the tour along the creek.

The kokanee are the landlocked version of sockeye salmon, which roam the ocean off the Pacific Northwest and spawn inland. They ended up in Lake Tahoe in the 1940s when thousands of young fish escaped from the Tahoe Hatchery. The majority of all fish in Lake Tahoe are non-native, Norman said.

Kokanee now provide good stock for Tahoe's sport fishing industry and a unique educational opportunity, Norman said.

A stream profile chamber allows visitors to watch the salmon in their natural environment. The viewing room is below the ground, cut directly into the side of the stream.

As fish accumulate in the creek, the California Department of Fish and Game harvests fish eggs and sperm to take them to a hatchery, where they are used to restock Lake Tahoe and other areas.

"We don't have enough territory for the fish to successfully reproduce," Norman said. "We are artificially keeping the population at optimal level, primarily because of sport fishing; (the kokanee are the) No. 2 catch in Lake Tahoe."

The fish don't make good fishing or eating after they've transformed to spawn, as their flesh has already begun to die, turning from bright pink to gray.

How to see the kokanee salmon

Where: Taylor Creek Visitor Center

3 miles north of the "Y" on Highway 89

When: Stream profile chamber: open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, 7 days a week

Visitor center: open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except on some weekdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m for environmental education classes