Should you be able to fish for downstreamers ?

[bigtj]

Thanks.

-John

PS Jay I hope you had fun skiing in March. Also I have the feeling this is the year I need to get back to the Rogue, it's been too long. I'll be picking your brain about summer runs some time soon!

[Tattooed1]

Obviously we have two questions on the table here, one is wether or not we should be allowed to catch spent steelhead and the other is wether C&R of wild steelhead can and will contribute to the restoration of our fisheries?

On the question of catching spent steelhead, in rivers such as the Russian and others where there are other species and runs that are legal and sporting to fish for out side of the generally accepted migration period of winter steelhead, it would be difficult to separately regulate fishing for spent fish. As for wether it is sporting to fish for these fish I have caught spent coastal steelhead that were in much better shape and far better game fish than alot of the fresh fish that I've caught in longer rivers such as the Trinity or Klamath. With the small percentage of fish that actually spawn multiple times I don't belive fishing for spent fish has a large impact on the fishery.

On the question of C&R of wild fish, I'm sure we can all agree that, to what ever degree, it is a good thing. I think the important thing to understand is that there are far more important problems with our wild steelhead fisheries than fisherman. If you think all you have to do is release the fish you catch and it will all be better you are going to be sadly mistaken. The last question I want to hear is, " grandpa what were steelhead? "

[bigtj]

Tatooed1,

Welcome the board. Great first post. Well thought out and articulated.

Cheers,

-John

[sculpin]

Welcome to the board Tattooed 1.

Hey guys about the C&R, I'm in the "it works for me camp." All I have to use for evidence is 28yrs of fishing the same stretch of river and seeing the improvement in the quality of returning summer steelhead after the regulations changed to C&R only for Native fish. As much as I like to eat fish, I would hate to go back to the way it was even though my catch rate is about 90% Native fish.

Mark

[nrthcsteel]

As far as the question should you fish for downstreamers I would say if a person is specifacly targeting downstreames then for sure NO! On the small coastal streams in my area they usually dont open up until the first good flushing. Thus by the time the rivers are fishable the first run of fresh fish are well on there way up these short rivers. Then throughout the rest of the season you get sporadic fresh waves of fish coming in and certainly a fair amount of downstreamers. An oldtimer told me of one small river "dont bother fishing there until after the super bowl" and sure enough I fished there the week after the super bowl that year and there were a lot of good fish in the river. But on that same river for the last two years I have hooked fresh fish on the same day March 20! 10 days before the close of the season. Now I also hook the occasional downstreamer its almost unavoidable and I am certainly not targeting those fish. On that same day I hooked a downstreamer he was only on for maybe twenty seconds but the three wild jumps I got from the fish and from the dark coloring it was obviously a downstreamer, hell of strong fish though! I think it just depends on what type of system you fish. Some of the bigger longer systems it may be easier to recognize the fresh runs are done and its time to pack it up and let them get back to the ocean unmolested, but for the rivers I frequent and the experiences I have had its worth it to me to fish til the closing bell because the last couple of years have proved to me that there are still freshies to be had. Just my two cents. Very interesting thread! Kevin

[lee s.]

Lotta good points.
If we are promoting fishery restoration, would it not make more sense to abolish fishing for pre-spawn fish instead? What with the lactic acid issues and "dead fish don't spawn" and all?
....lee s.

[Darian]

OK, here we go again.... (no disrespect meant.) Actually, I've wondered about whether t'is better to fish for downstreamers rather than pre-spawners for many years but decided that posed too many conflicts to resolve. The same question could be raised about all anadromous species. At any rate, I'm staying out of this one....

[jbird]

Mark and I went steelhead fishing a few days ago. We caught a mixture of uppers and downers. The downers were absolutely chrome bright...brighter than the uppers. Onece they finish spawning, they quickly return to mint condition here on the rogue. The only way to tell is their belly is caved in.
Regarding the subject just brought up about the impact on fishing for upriver fish....All I can say is, you guys argue that one out amongst yourselves, while you are trying to figure out new inovative ways to NOT fish for steelhead...I'll be on the river, fishin for steelhead

Cheers!

Jay

[Tattooed1]

Digger, where can we find info on this recovery workshop?

[Digger]

Digger, where can we find info on this recovery workshop?

The workshops I've attended are focused on the Southern Steelhead species (geographically from Monterey to San Diego)

http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/index.htm

if you're interested in northern areas, try the NW regional site?