What are half pounders ? MR COLEVO PLEASE

[Mike R]

DPLee,
Thanks for posting that. That is what a half-pounder is.

I can hear it now: "Yeah But, Yeah But, Yeah But, Yeah But...."

See ya, Mike

[stevie steelhead]

Whenever I catch a steelhead smaller than 20 inches, my fishing buddies have been calling them "half-pounders", and I have been claiming that over 15 inches are adults.
I think that now I will bet them and use this thread to win big!

[Covelo]

Carl -- Covelo is a small town in Mendocino Co so no slight to me. Great summer run fishing there in May.

The three rivers that have native half pounder runs are the Eel, Trinity/Klamath, and the Mad, though there was some questions about the Mad historically since Eel River stock was also introduced through the Mad River Hatchery. The Smith does not have a half pounder run which is odd since they occur north and south of it. The Russian also is not known to half a half pounder component though it would be curious to know if some are being caught there now since Eel River fish are drawn up the Russian due to the Lake Pillsbury water that is pumped up and over the hill. Steelhead with clips from the Van Arsdale hatchery have been recorded in the Russian River in the past.

Genetic studies have shown that steelhead are more related to the in basin resident trout than they are to out of basin steelhead. This shows that there is more gene flow with the trout than from out of basin strays. So trout and steelhead are the same species basically with different life histories.

[wjorg]

So what makes all this information true? Who swims with the so called "half pounders" from birth to death. What makes a percentage of fish followed with transmitters representative of a vast diversity within genus/species? Humans view and classify species based on reductionist viewpoints, not accumulation of the totality of each individual within the focus group. Fish are so difficult for us to follow how can we ensure accuracy to the theories presented? Im just curious, not argumentative. I prefer the scientific method.
When I fish for mountain landlocked trout, I find big head little body fish......adults with small bodies because of food restriction. When I fight a 12" fish that puts a bend or two in my 8wt....and has a big a** mouth for its body, along with dime chrome scales 35 miles plus up a river system......that to me is a fish that was hanging in or near the salt or brackish water.....thats a halfpounder to me.

[Covelo]

wjorg -- I do not know how the research was conducted. References were supplied (Snyder 1925, Kesner and Barnhart 1972, Everest 1973, Barnhart 1986) so you should be able to investigate further.

When I fish for mountain landlocked trout, I find big head little body fish......adults with small bodies because of food restriction. When I fight a 12" fish that puts a bend or two in my 8wt....and has a big a** mouth for its body, along with dime chrome scales 35 miles plus up a river system......that to me is a fish that was hanging in or near the salt or brackish water.....thats a halfpounder to me.

I doubt that was the type of scientific method employed!

[matt johnson]

Here is an example of a 1/2 pounder:



Sorry, I can't tell you where it was caught! Matt

[Fats]

So what makes all this information true? Who swims with the so called "half pounders" from birth to death. What makes a percentage of fish followed with transmitters representative of a vast diversity within genus/species? Humans view and classify species based on reductionist viewpoints, not accumulation of the totality of each individual within the focus group. Fish are so difficult for us to follow how can we ensure accuracy to the theories presented? Im just curious, not argumentative. I prefer the scientific method.
When I fish for mountain landlocked trout, I find big head little body fish......adults with small bodies because of food restriction. When I fight a 12" fish that puts a bend or two in my 8wt....and has a big a** mouth for its body, along with dime chrome scales 35 miles plus up a river system......that to me is a fish that was hanging in or near the salt or brackish water.....thats a halfpounder to me.

Why does it really matter? If you catch an 18 " rainbow that stayed in the stream, it is going to be just as big as the 18" 1/2 pounder that got salty for a bit. Either way... nice fish!

[huntindog]

The problem is affectingly referred to by some as the O. mysiss conundrum.

DP Lee

The O. mykiss conundrum I am facing is where to go catch one this weekend...i have a spot in mind...