Quote Originally Posted by Troutsource View Post
OK, so in layman's terms: the 18"-20" hatchery fish I caught probably originated from somewhere other than the American -- because (a) summer conditions on the A are very tough for trout survival, and (b) scales for larger spring mykiss on the A indicate that they never went to the ocean -- but rather grew larger upstream on the Sac (and then somehow ended up on the A, perhaps after falling downstream to the Delta, the migrating back up into the A).

Did I get it right?
Sort of, 1) An adipose fin marked trout caught in the American River came from one of the anadromous fish hatcheries, i.e. Nimbus, Feather River or Coleman, however, most likely from Nimbus regardless of size. Hatcheries today release juvenile fish near the facility resulting in much less straying, 2) Unmarked fish, either steelhead or trout caught from the American River most likely did not originate in the American due to the river producing very few wild smolts, 3) The scales from fish I have caught in the spring from the American River, similar to pictures posted on this forum do not demonstrate both freshwater and ocean growth periods, typical of steelhead, indicating they did not migrate to the ocean, where they go is a guess, 4) This does not mean that some unmarked fish caught from the American River could not have migrated to the ocean and returned as steelhead. Physical appearance of the fish is not an indicator of life history.

Dennis