Half Pounder's

[Bryan Morgan]

I think I'll fish for Stripers!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It would be cool to find out where and how the name "Half-pounder" actually came from.

Myself and others I fish with have used that word to refer to smaller Steelhead, usually anything 12 to 18 inches or so, for 50 years now.

I don't think that it was that they weighed 1/2 a pound.


One of our guesses was that at times the small fish you caught were talked about in 1/2 incriments?

2 1/2 or 3 1/2 pounds.

Noboy says I caught an 8 1/2 pound Steelhead.

It is usually 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 pounds after you get over 4 pounds or so.

__________________________________________________ __________________

Our old friend and retired CA DF&G biologist Dennis Lee has writen a book on "Half-pounders" that is over 50 years of data on the fish from most all the rivers that have them on the west coast.

According to these hard figures any steelhead over about 14 inches or longer is an adult fish that has been out to the salt for a short time. These are refered to as adult fish or one year or first year returns.

All fish under 14 inches have not left the river yet at the biologist call these fish under 14 inches "Half-pounders" or premigrants.

It is OK to call a 16 inches fish a Half-pounder but it has actually gone out of the river to the salt.

I think I am close to correct on repeating Dennis' findings but I think we will have his book in our shop some day so we can read about the studies.

.

[DAVID95670]

I agree with Win amp and Bryan..... who cares what to call these fish ... they are in the rivers and it is time to get a new switch rod from Kiene get off the couch and fish for them .....

And Salmon as well they are in there as well ....

My wife is already moaning about my fishing for Steelhead aka Trout aka FUN TIMES

[DAVID95670]

Speaking of new rods .... someone said they got a 2 wt spey how did it work out? Are there many 2 wt spey rods? Is a 2 wt spey basically a 4 wt switch but 1 ft longer then 11 feet?

[bubzilla]

Bill,

I have not read the book you mention. If it’s 50 years old, though, it was written well before most of the major studies of half-pounder life history were completed.

Since the 70s scientists have had this basic understanding: fish on certain rivers go through the smoltification process, enter salt water and remain for only a few months, and then come back to freshwater for a short period of time. They are not drawn in by spawning instinct like adults, and do not resemble jack salmon in that respect either. Basically, a fish leaves its home river as a smolt in the Spring, let’s say of approximately 8”, goes out to the ocean for 4 to 5 months, and then comes back to freshwater that Fall. Having only been in the ocean a short time, it has not had the chance to put on a lot of size, and as a result is likely not that large—perhaps 12” to 14” in length. The next Spring, they go back out and then come back as adults.

The theory has gone that there is something about a certain area of the ocean that causes these fish to act this way. That is, the behavior was thought to be localized to Northern California and Southern Oregon, and it was believed to be driven by something occurring with ocean conditions. Many have theorized that what is known as the “Humboldt Effect”, which occurs off the coast of Northern California each year, causes the ocean to be so unfavorable to the young steelhead that they seek refuge in freshwater for a short time.

Based on the above, it would be highly unlikely for a fish of any size to be a half-pounder. Why? Because the timelines would not add up. That simple. If the fish is, for example, 20”, then it was either in the ocean longer than 4 to 5 months, or it went out to salt water at a much larger size than is typical for smolt. Theoretically either are possible, but they do not fit with what is the accepted scientific paradigm. Perhaps someone has established that fish can smolt later in their life history than normal (something the study of the fisheries in Russia has suggested), thereby being much larger than the normal smolt, and then still go through the process of coming back on a half-pounder run? This would support the idea that there is something going on in the ocean causing these fish to seek shelter. Or, perhaps someone has established that fish can come in on more than one half-pounder run, allowing them to have the benefit of additional months at sea and therefore be of greater size.

There are some very intelligent and well-read people that fly fish. Some of them frequent your board. I threw out the question hoping someone might know of some evidence or theory that I am not aware of regarding half-pounder life history. There is a lot of research being completed all the time, and some people who love and respect steelhead try to stay on top of that for obvious reasons. I do not get to read nearly as much about fish and fisheries as I would like, but some people here—particularly a couple that are retired—are great resources.

Why anyone would take umbrage with this kind of discussion quite frankly baffles me. If someone wants to focus solely on techniques and reports of current fishing there’s nothing wrong with that. So what is the problem with those of us for whom techniques and current reports are not of any value having additional discussion? It amazes me how much effort there is, not just on this board but in this country, to avoid any form of logic or science based discourse. No one is insulting a 20” fish by saying it’s likely not really a half-pounder. What is the rub? "Who cares what these fish are called"? That misses the point by so much that I am quite frankly sad.

At any rate, thanks for the board Bill. I have not participated much in the last few years primarily because there has not been a lot of value to me, but there was a time when this, and a couple other boards, allowed me to meet and fish with some really great people.

[Mark Kranhold]

David , check your pm on 2wt

[Jeff C.]

Bruce and each caught a halfpounder around 15-16 inches on a float today mid-river.

[ycflyfisher]

Bubzilla,

Thanks for the link. I just paged through it, and that’s the largest scale analysis data set I’ve ever seen for any watershed. Agree totally with your points in post #35. Particularly the second to the last paragraph.

[ycflyfisher]

It would be cool to find out where and how the name "Half-pounder" actually came from.

Myself and others I fish with have used that word to refer to smaller Steelhead, usually anything 12 to 18 inches or so, for 50 years now.

I don't think that it was that they weighed 1/2 a pound.


One of our guesses was that at times the small fish you caught were talked about in 1/2 incriments?

2 1/2 or 3 1/2 pounds.

Noboy says I caught an 8 1/2 pound Steelhead.

It is usually 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 pounds after you get over 4 pounds or so.

__________________________________________________ __________________

Our old friend and retired CA DF&G biologist Dennis Lee has writen a book on "Half-pounders" that is over 50 years of data on the fish from most all the rivers that have them on the west coast.

According to these hard figures any steelhead over about 14 inches or longer is an adult fish that has been out to the salt for a short time. These are refered to as adult fish or one year or first year returns.

All fish under 14 inches have not left the river yet at the biologist call these fish under 14 inches "Half-pounders" or premigrants.

It is OK to call a 16 inches fish a Half-pounder but it has actually gone out of the river to the salt.

I think I am close to correct on repeating Dennis' findings but I think we will have his book in our shop some day so we can read about the studies.

.

As mentioned previously in this thread, the term ”half-pounder” was coined by John Snyder in the 1920’s in a work entitled: The Half-pounder of Eel River; A Steelhead Trout.

That was the first time this rather unique life history was ever described in the scientific literature. Also, as previously mentioned in this thread the revised “definition” of the word, commonly used by anglers to describe some definitive, yet somehow, a sliding scale size range, has absolutely nothing to do with the term’s originally intended definition whose sole purpose was to describe a life history trait. Real half-pounders defined by the life history trait, average about a foot long. A 12” salmonid weighs a bit more than a half-pound (~0.6-0.7lbs). I’d say the term “half-pounder” is appropriate and is a relatively accurate description of the fish Snyder originally described. There’s really not any mystery involved.

[burl51]

Dennis
Thanks for the history lesson. Please let us know when your
book is published. I believe many of us would be very interested. (I am sure Bill or Jeff
will keep us posted.)

thanks Burl