put the small ones back?

[akitaone]

I dont get to go out as much as i would like,and know that everyone spends alot of money to chase these salmon around the lake.my question is why is there so many small fish in the 7-15lb range being kept?is it too hard for these fish to be released because the strain put on them bringing them to the boat?i know very little about the fishery but i would think like all fish if you put them back they will just get bigger.whats your thought?

[ray koziatek]

best eatin size...,the little ones come right in so ,No to the fight strain...at 7 to 15 their ready to hit the happy hunting grounds (spawn) they dont put on much weight after that but they will double their size when they bloat up.

[jekyll]

Unlike other fish that spawn numerous times, keeping kings, small or large, has the same impact on breeding. All lake-caught kings are caught before they have their one and only spawn. With that out of the picture, it comes down to the dinner plate. I know lots of people who only eat kings under 10lb.; they prefer the meat and, there is less mercury in smaller fish. Creel limits are creel limits. IMO, there is not much difference to the population whether you take 3-10lb fish or 3-20lb fish. Most all die after 3-years in the Lake. For me, 10 to 25lb kings get filleted and frozen while those larger than 25lb go to the smoker.

[W.W.IV.]

What Ray and Jekyll said. Good eatin.

[bluewater]

Unlike other fish that spawn numerous times, keeping kings, small or large, has the same impact on breeding. All lake-caught kings are caught before they have their one and only spawn. With that out of the picture, it comes down to the dinner plate. I know lots of people who only eat kings under 10lb.; they prefer the meat and, there is less mercury in smaller fish. Creel limits are creel limits. IMO, there is not much difference to the population whether you take 3-10lb fish or 3-20lb fish. Most all die after 3-years in the Lake. For me, 10 to 25lb kings get filleted and frozen while those larger than 25lb go to the smoker.

[akitaone]

i guess i was thinking that the small fish under 15 are what? 1-2 yrs old.so if we put more of them back there would be more 20-30lb 3 yr olds next yr. so what is the average age of a salmon when they go up the rivers?

[ray koziatek]

or going to jail......

[jekyll]

Lots of 5 lb Jacks run the river with the big fish and end up dieing. Lots of 4 year olds are only 15 lb. If you fish the rivers in the fall, you will soon realize we don't hurt the population much by what we take on the Lake. 10s of thousands run the rivers and die without successfully spawning.

If a fisherman is happy to keep a smaller salmon than, the goal is met. I don't begrudge any fisherman for keeping a legal fish after he has spent hundreds or thousands of his hard earned dollars reaching for the prize. Somebody recently told me they saw fresh, line caught salmon for $28 a pound in the local Piggly Wiggly. That is a steal compared to what we pay per pound! So keep all the small fish you want within the creel limit. You paid dearly for each pound.

[akitaone]

i dont have a problem with keeping small fish i kept two under ten saturday,i just wanted to know if i was to throw them back what was the chance they would pack some pounds on and ad to the population of big boys out there.thanks for the replies

[G-Daddy]

We will be up for our first trip of the season on Thursday. We hope to catch some fish to keep. Regardless of what we catch, I doubt we will keep a limit - never do. But we plan to keep some and it will be a mixed bag of year classes depending on what we catch. I am sure the few fish we catch and keep do no harm to either the population or average size. Lake O is such a fantastic fishery and we are grateful to be able to participate in it i even though we are from PA. Many thanks to Capts Rick Hajecki and Bill Ruth for teaching us enough that we can do this. And many thanks to all who post trip reports so that we occasional visitors at least have a starting point.