FishingThePacNW
3/27/2013 9:51:00 PMI love that you can hook 29 in a week and i cant even get 1 in a year!!
Tesla
3/28/2013 12:20:00 AMNice, and every wild you lay your hands on swims away and lives happily ever after? UW offers a great ichthyology course if you care to get educated on mortality of C&R. It's not 100% survival.
fishermick
3/28/2013 1:00:00 AMTesla, pretty idiotic comment. Not really sure what you are suggesting but they sure have a much better chance of survival C&Ring than sticking them in the gut. Those are some beautiful steelies FF...
Anonymous
3/28/2013 6:02:00 AMNice job! I too am discusted by people killing natives. Our state has it's head up it's #@%. when i started floating the Peninsula in the early eighties doulble digit native days were pretty common. We need to stop. No one that can afford to go over there and fish is that hungry.
Tesla
3/28/2013 8:07:00 AMHere's a suggestion, if you don't want to see them harmed - stop fishing them. Until then your part of the problem, not the solution.
Anonymous
3/28/2013 9:25:00 AMA sore lip is a lot different than a big stick between the eyes. I fight them with the right gear, land them quickly and never net them or remove them from the water. When i do let go of them they are blasting back into the water. I know it's not 100% survival and i agree that people do need to be educated on handleing procedures.
jpjames14
3/28/2013 10:23:00 AMNothing more said than awesome job, those are beautiful fish. As most of this thread including the author clearly have issues with my last report on this river, so let me note that I personally, have not retained a wild steelhead... ever... I regret posting my dads fish because now it was just putting him in harms way of the critics. He was at liberty to do what he wanted with it - and I'm not going to beat up nor verbally assault my father over a fish. The smile on his face holding that thing up after I got back from the car (after tripping and falling into the water mind you) was more satisfying.
Regardless, I wanted to include some education here on what our state has done. And most importantly, a link to the site on how to help, and share your concerns. There is always room for improvement, but there is a host of issues that contribute to threatened salmon/steelhead populations. As angling does have an impact, our concerns should also be directed elsewhere with just as much "enthusiasm" as we see on threads and reports like this. If there are supporting facts and evidence, I am guessing our state will in fact make another change as they have before. There goal is not to destroy our fisheries, and they've done a pretty decent job over the last 10 years showing that with salmon.
So, don't like wild retention? Do something about it. I personally am all for it because let's be honest - it's one less fish a year... but I'm still not going to degrade anyone for doing what they are legally entitled to do.
http://www.fishingrssfeeds.com/node/9669 - the history of Feb. 16
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/steelhead/how_to_help.html - Act on it
Regardless, I wanted to include some education here on what our state has done. And most importantly, a link to the site on how to help, and share your concerns. There is always room for improvement, but there is a host of issues that contribute to threatened salmon/steelhead populations. As angling does have an impact, our concerns should also be directed elsewhere with just as much "enthusiasm" as we see on threads and reports like this. If there are supporting facts and evidence, I am guessing our state will in fact make another change as they have before. There goal is not to destroy our fisheries, and they've done a pretty decent job over the last 10 years showing that with salmon.
So, don't like wild retention? Do something about it. I personally am all for it because let's be honest - it's one less fish a year... but I'm still not going to degrade anyone for doing what they are legally entitled to do.
http://www.fishingrssfeeds.com/node/9669 - the history of Feb. 16
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/steelhead/how_to_help.html - Act on it
theDrifter
3/28/2013 12:19:00 PMEven if the C&R mortality rate was extremely high, a released fish has a chance to survive. Interesting is that the Alaska F&G did a two-year study on C&R mortality of King Salmon on the Kenai River and found that the overwhelming majority of the fish survived to spawn.
Abstract.—Short-term (5-d) mortality of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha caught and
released in the Kenai River was assessed with radiotelemetry. From 1989 to 1991, 446 adult
Chinook salmon were tagged with radio transmitters in four experiments. Overall hooking mortality
averaged 7.6% and ranged from 10.6% in 1989 to 4.1% in 1991. Mortality was highest for small
males (<750 mm mid-eye length) compared with large males and all females. Wound location
and bleeding were the factors principally associated with mortality. Survival of chinook salmon
that were hooked in the gills or were bleeding was significantly reduced; however, the frequency
of these injuries was small in all experiments. Most mortalities occurred within 72 h of release.
These results support the use of hook-and-release regulations in similar freshwater chinook salmon
fisheries to reduce sportfishing mortality effectively and achieve spawning escapement goals.
The entire study is at:
http://www.fishsciences.net/reports/NAJFM_u-d_6-28/NAJFM_13_p540-49_Hooking_mortality_chin_sal_released_Kenai.pdf
Abstract.—Short-term (5-d) mortality of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha caught and
released in the Kenai River was assessed with radiotelemetry. From 1989 to 1991, 446 adult
Chinook salmon were tagged with radio transmitters in four experiments. Overall hooking mortality
averaged 7.6% and ranged from 10.6% in 1989 to 4.1% in 1991. Mortality was highest for small
males (<750 mm mid-eye length) compared with large males and all females. Wound location
and bleeding were the factors principally associated with mortality. Survival of chinook salmon
that were hooked in the gills or were bleeding was significantly reduced; however, the frequency
of these injuries was small in all experiments. Most mortalities occurred within 72 h of release.
These results support the use of hook-and-release regulations in similar freshwater chinook salmon
fisheries to reduce sportfishing mortality effectively and achieve spawning escapement goals.
The entire study is at:
http://www.fishsciences.net/reports/NAJFM_u-d_6-28/NAJFM_13_p540-49_Hooking_mortality_chin_sal_released_Kenai.pdf
RiverChromeGS
3/28/2013 3:52:00 PMGood information here. Anyone who justifies it by saying mortality rates are high on released steelhead that are properly handled are simply trying to bring you down to there level. Its B.S. Mortality rates on released fish are low if you handle fish properly, where as a dead fish is a dead fish. Release wild steelhead!!!!
solducsteve
3/28/2013 4:55:00 PMlooks like a excellent adventure , remember to pick up the garbage :), way to go , good to see ya out here
Mike Carey
3/30/2013 4:55:00 PMSince the comments are starting to get rather personal and rude they are being locked. Obviously a hot button topic...