Early spawn?

[Paul B.]

I caught a post spawn steelie today on the A. Am I wrong or is this a bit early. I would have thought mid February.?

[STEELIES/26c3]

Some strains on the American R spawn as early as November. The majority of the winter fish do in in late January through February.

For the Eel River strain of fish (we are all waiting for greater numbers to show up) it would be considered early.

I caught a 28" female in the first week of December 2014 which had been spawned in the hatchery the previous winter and she had RE-ripened in the American River for the second time in a calendar year.

Did you happen to see if the tail had a V notched in it? That is how I knew my fish had been up the ladder since no steelies made it up the ladder during salmon spawning last fall...

The other possibility would be (under NORMAL circumstances) that your fish had already been spawned this season by the hatchery but since there have been fewer than 20 fish come up the ladder so far this winter, that is a highly-unlikely proposition.

The American River steelhead (and salmon) fishery is one of the most poorly-managed fisheries in the state so little surprises me anymore...

Back in the Ron Ducey days, CDF&G actually cared about the resource and kept it alive and well. Nowadays, the agency can't even get its own name right (CDF&W) nor can it keep water in the river, much less fish ;)~

[Paul B.]

I didn't notice a notch but I didn't look either. I'm wondering if I might have picked a fish up off a redd? It was at least 50' away when it hit so too far to see.
Shame about the CDF&G or W. This type of nonsense has been going on for too long.