Quote Originally Posted by Rossflyguy View Post
I’ve witnessed steelhead spawning on the American last weekend and they were no where near the basin. Salmon spawning throughout the American.
Yes there are salmon spawning in the river throughout. The problem is that the number of offspring those fish will produce is extremely minuscule and the amount of those which will make it to the ocean and back will be less than minuscule.

1-2 out of 5,000 Chinook eggs survives to return as an adult to its river of origin. We likely had a return of 10,000 salmon and perhaps 1,000 females (probably much less) will have successfully spawned in the river by the time the carcass count surveys are completed. 1,000-2,000 additional kings is not sustainable considering in 2003 we had 163,000 return to the Nimbus Hatchery alone...

As for steelhead... How many adult steelies have you caught over the years? and I don't mean smolts, young of year or 2-year residualized fish... I mean true adults 3-5 years in salt 28"-34".

Out of thousands of ADULT steelhead I have caught in the American River over the last 30 years, I can tell you I have caught only a few dozen with adipose fin intact (not counting Folsom and Natoma footballs which plunge over the spillway/s at Folsom/Nimbus.

What Avidangler said is spot-on.

Instead of trying to make the American River something it cannot possibly be, why not at least make it what it can be...