Tony Buzolich
04-12-2013, 03:11 PM
Feast or Famine
Let me start out by saying that this is meant to be a “Striped Bass” post but the more I thought about it the more I think it should go out to everyone especially those that have a primary interest in Salmon and Steelhead.
For the last few weeks stripers have been coming into the upper river system with more frequency. Some days have been good, some even great, and then for whatever reason you’ll have a dead period with few if any being caught. But, you keep trying and you stay at it because you just know,,,,, that on your next cast,,,,, you’re going to a fantastic grab and it’s game on. Time and time again, the grab is everything. And it’s addictive as any drug. You’ve got to have just one more. Then you want something bigger,,, and then more of that too. What a wonderful addiction striper fishing is.
The last couple of weeks fishing has gotten better and better,,,,,, until today. Two days ago we had one of the best days ever and today it was tough to get three fish to the boat.
Yes, I know,,,,,,,,, that’s called fishing. But why? Well, here’s the answer.
During the last few trips there have been lots and lots of small minnows dimpling the surface and with each trip there seemed to be more. My buddy Jim said he thought they looked like smolt. I thought they had to be baby squawfish because they already dumped smolt back in February. Well, Jim was right. He called to say he saw a F&G tanker truck running up Garden highway after dropping it’s load at Boyd’s. Hmmmmm? That’s fine but what about all the millions of other minnows we see swimming in the river ABOVE Boyds? On the way back to the ramp this morning we see another F&G tanker leaving the parking lot after dropping its load.
This has me puzzled. Why are they dumping smolt now? They already dumped smolt in the river two months ago. I decide to call the hatchery in Oroville and talked with a very nice lady who answered all of my questions and gave me a new outlook on the salmon / steelhead vs. striped bass controversy. Here’s what she had to say.
First off, yes they have been dumping smolt at Boyd’s for the past week and they only have one more small load for next week and they are done.
I asked why they dumped smolt two months apart? She said what they are dumping now are SALMON smolt. What they dumped in February were STEELHEAD smolt.
I asked also about the size of the smolt in February being much larger that those they are dumping now. She said, the hatchery keep and raise the steelhead for fourteen months before releasing them into the river system. This lets them get stronger and bigger in size and they have a better survival rate.
The Salmon smolt are considerably smaller (about 3 inches) when being released as they are this past week. “ Why so small when released ?” I ask. She said it’s so they mix and blend in with the natural downstream spawn that is happening now too. I told her we’d been seeing smolt all over the river way above the dumping site as they seemed to be everywhere. “These” she said, are all “natural spawned” smolt that hatch from the river bed and migrate downstream just like they have for thousands of years”.
That kind of made me feel good. Here’s a few of the hors d’oeuvres that came from one predator’s stomach this morning.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/smolt_zps5f35858b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/smolt_zps5f35858b.jpg.html)
I now asked about their timing of release in relation to the upstream migration of striped bass. Don’t they know that these smolt become a prime food source for the stripers and squawfish and merganser’s, and cormorants, and every other predator up the food chain?
She responded casually by saying this is just a natural food chain and has survived this way with striped bass for over a hundred years. She did not come across as having any negative feelings for the striped bass. This is a natural occurring spawning migration for the salmon just as it is for the striped bass. Some of the BEST salmon and striper seasons we’ve had in the past have been when they co-mingled together BEFORE all of the dams and water diversions altered these migrations.
So, with all of this newly enlightened information, I have a better feeling about striped bass being mistakenly called or made out to be the bad guy. They aren’t the BAD guys that are reducing the salmon / steelhead population, it’s the WATER guys. The water diversions that are headed south. The reduction in natural flows is the real culprit.
Stripers and salmon CAN survive together.
Tony
Let me start out by saying that this is meant to be a “Striped Bass” post but the more I thought about it the more I think it should go out to everyone especially those that have a primary interest in Salmon and Steelhead.
For the last few weeks stripers have been coming into the upper river system with more frequency. Some days have been good, some even great, and then for whatever reason you’ll have a dead period with few if any being caught. But, you keep trying and you stay at it because you just know,,,,, that on your next cast,,,,, you’re going to a fantastic grab and it’s game on. Time and time again, the grab is everything. And it’s addictive as any drug. You’ve got to have just one more. Then you want something bigger,,, and then more of that too. What a wonderful addiction striper fishing is.
The last couple of weeks fishing has gotten better and better,,,,,, until today. Two days ago we had one of the best days ever and today it was tough to get three fish to the boat.
Yes, I know,,,,,,,,, that’s called fishing. But why? Well, here’s the answer.
During the last few trips there have been lots and lots of small minnows dimpling the surface and with each trip there seemed to be more. My buddy Jim said he thought they looked like smolt. I thought they had to be baby squawfish because they already dumped smolt back in February. Well, Jim was right. He called to say he saw a F&G tanker truck running up Garden highway after dropping it’s load at Boyd’s. Hmmmmm? That’s fine but what about all the millions of other minnows we see swimming in the river ABOVE Boyds? On the way back to the ramp this morning we see another F&G tanker leaving the parking lot after dropping its load.
This has me puzzled. Why are they dumping smolt now? They already dumped smolt in the river two months ago. I decide to call the hatchery in Oroville and talked with a very nice lady who answered all of my questions and gave me a new outlook on the salmon / steelhead vs. striped bass controversy. Here’s what she had to say.
First off, yes they have been dumping smolt at Boyd’s for the past week and they only have one more small load for next week and they are done.
I asked why they dumped smolt two months apart? She said what they are dumping now are SALMON smolt. What they dumped in February were STEELHEAD smolt.
I asked also about the size of the smolt in February being much larger that those they are dumping now. She said, the hatchery keep and raise the steelhead for fourteen months before releasing them into the river system. This lets them get stronger and bigger in size and they have a better survival rate.
The Salmon smolt are considerably smaller (about 3 inches) when being released as they are this past week. “ Why so small when released ?” I ask. She said it’s so they mix and blend in with the natural downstream spawn that is happening now too. I told her we’d been seeing smolt all over the river way above the dumping site as they seemed to be everywhere. “These” she said, are all “natural spawned” smolt that hatch from the river bed and migrate downstream just like they have for thousands of years”.
That kind of made me feel good. Here’s a few of the hors d’oeuvres that came from one predator’s stomach this morning.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/smolt_zps5f35858b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/smolt_zps5f35858b.jpg.html)
I now asked about their timing of release in relation to the upstream migration of striped bass. Don’t they know that these smolt become a prime food source for the stripers and squawfish and merganser’s, and cormorants, and every other predator up the food chain?
She responded casually by saying this is just a natural food chain and has survived this way with striped bass for over a hundred years. She did not come across as having any negative feelings for the striped bass. This is a natural occurring spawning migration for the salmon just as it is for the striped bass. Some of the BEST salmon and striper seasons we’ve had in the past have been when they co-mingled together BEFORE all of the dams and water diversions altered these migrations.
So, with all of this newly enlightened information, I have a better feeling about striped bass being mistakenly called or made out to be the bad guy. They aren’t the BAD guys that are reducing the salmon / steelhead population, it’s the WATER guys. The water diversions that are headed south. The reduction in natural flows is the real culprit.
Stripers and salmon CAN survive together.
Tony