American Steelhead/Smolt?

[Darian]

From a sporting, rather than biological or conservationist perspective, it's good to leave the smolts alone so that we get a better return of adults to fish for in subsequent years...

I'm curious how the above quote applies in light of the fact that a fixed number of viable eggs can be guaranteed each year by DFG staff??? Doesn't DFG obtain eggs from other hatcheries during drought or low return years?? I do recall a DFG staff member at Natoma Hatchery during the drought years of the 70's saying that they could guarantee a fixed number of annual smolt production regardless (assuming no diseases and the river didn't dry up).

[Mike O]

Never understood the guides who brag about the 30 10" stelhead they catch a day. Seems pretty misleading to clients.

According to DFG, aren't they trout until they reach 16"?

[STEELIES/26c3]

I'm curious how the above quote applies in light of the fact that a fixed number of viable eggs can be guaranteed each year by DFG staff??? Doesn't DFG obtain eggs from other hatcheries during drought or low return years??

It's true that the number of returning adults needed, at the hatchery, to reach the quota of eggs is always reached regardless of sport take...

I was referring to the population of naturalized steelhead which returns to spawn in the river below the hatchery.

And even that is grossly limited by its human-altered carrying capacity... yet if a smolt hatched on a redd at Upper Sunrise is harvested at Howe Ave. it's one less non-hatchery-bred fish which makes it...

[Wing Blue]

.....Caught a bunch of trout May/June whilst shad fishing this year... 8-12"
fish... 100% of said fish which came to hand were fin clipped.
Just food for thought....

[shawn kempkes]

according to the Hgmp for nimbus hatchery .http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=15323


They release approx. 450,000 hatchery steelhead smolts at Garcia bend on the Sacramento.
they probably need less than 300 breeding pairs of fish to get the egg quota.