Salmon River news

[Has Been]

I heard , and don't know if it's true ,that the contingency plan is to have all concerned parties pray for rain.

[salmonboy41]

I know the dec will say they don't have the money but i think its about time we get another hatchery maybe on the niagara river? but, seems like every other year there is some sort of issues and one of these times its going to be more then just an issue

[Tim Bromund]

Last I knew the natural spawning success rate is less than 3%. The water level is not an issue for the fish to make it to the hatchery. 200-300 cfs is plenty but at that level its like shooting fish in a barrel. A percentage of the salmon river fisherman are totally in it for there own personal pleasure and they could care less if it hurts the fishery. However I don't think many of the anglers are educated on the science of the spawn that they could understand how they are impacting it. In a low flow year they should consider managing the king fishery like they do in Alaska. Up there they end the season when needed to assure that enough fish get to the spawning grounds. I hope there are folks at the Dec that understand this as we'll as some of us on this board.

[ Post made via Android ]

I'm pretty sure it is closer to 40%

You guys are talking about 2 entirely different issues.

bandrus1, you are talking about the overall estimated population of wild vs hatchery fish in the system. What Chinook1981 was talking about is the percentage of wild hatched fry that recruit to the fishery. 3% is a long standing accepted percentage.

What that means in real numbers is, the DEC test nettings in the Salmon River in the spring indicate that in a normal year, the Salmon River alone produces 5-10 million wild king salmon smolts. At the 3% recruitment rate, that would translate to between 150,000 and 300,000 wild salmon recruiting to the lake's salmon population a year. Add to that a significant wild population in many of the North Shore tributaries, and that's how we see the 40% average wild fish in the lake population.

Tim

[Legacy]

I heard , and don't know if it's true ,that the contingency plan is to have all concerned parties pray for rain.

[Has Been]

If it truly is going to be real low , how hard would it be at the right time to run the water a day, shut it down the next get a bunch of guys ,heard the fish to nets, throw them in the tank truck & bring them up to the hatchery? If they need more,rinse & repeat. Maybe I am over simplifying it, but they are just fish and they are pretty hearty fresh run.

[GAMBLER]

If it truly is going to be real low , how hard would it be at the right time to run the water a day, shut it down the next get a bunch of guys ,heard the fish to nets, throw them in the tank truck & bring them up to the hatchery? If they need more,rinse & repeat. Maybe I am over simplifying it, but they are just fish and they are pretty hearty fresh run.

If it was not the DEC's idea, they will not go for it. Don't they use nets in Alaska's rivers to net kings for studies?

[FISHIN AGAIN?]

Back in 2007 the Salmon were not getting to the Hatchery cause of the low flows. It could be the same this year. Netting fish and bringing them to the hatchery would increase tne number of fish that could be spawned. However as mentioned before increased water temps as well as additional handling of the fish will increase sress on the fish and decrease the eye up of the fish. This happens with all salmonids not just Salmon. As for those who say the clipping rate is below what the State is saying that is not true. It is backed up with the information from the head hunter crews who most of you have seen at various tournaments. Natural Salmon are recruiting at upwards to 40 percent in the lake,although some of us refuse to believe it. The fishing the past few years has been fantastic and hopefully it stays this way. Baitfish numbers and size seem to be holding their own. Take a look at what is happening in Lake Michigan right now. Baitfish populations have crashed and stocking will be cut 50 percent. We are far from that scenario and hopefully will never get there. Hopefully we will get some much needed rains and we will get healthy fish to the Hatchery. Time will tell.

[rdebadts]

I really really have trouble believing that suddenly 40% of the kings are natural. I have been fishing for 12+ years here and only in the last 2-3 years have I seen so many unclipped "natural" fish. Weird. I wonder what has miraculously changed recently to allow a fishery to take off so much after being here for 40+ years.... I may not have fancy tracking methods but I do log every fish I catch every trip every year...

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[LongLine]

Nat Repro has been known about since the mid ninties. It's only recently that formal studies have been undertaken by DEC. Back in early 2000's a prof at E.S.F. (w/colleagues) published a paper saying Nat Repro was highly variable and could vary as low as 10% & up to 85% in lake Ontario.

I also have a problem believing the catch is 40% natural. I'd say it's closer to 60% this year & hopefully going to be higher next as the hatchery egg success wasn't very good this year.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Gill-T]

Something happened in the rivers three years ago as most of the great adipose-present catches this year have been coming from the massive amount of three-year old Kings. Perhaps the answer to the possible drought conditions could be catch and release on the Salmon until the egg quota is met? Maybe they could let out more water during certain times during the night to move fish over the shale drops.

[BSmaster]

I was fishing in a snagging hole in May. I was not snagging. I am simply saying that in October this hole is surrounded by snaggers daily. I thought I saw a steelhead or 2 from the wall and dropped down to try it. I chose angle worms for bait. I caught a lot of suckers and about a dozen King par of about 5 inches before I finally caught a steelhead. Judgin by what I have been told, I thought most reproduction was done by the hatchery or the salmon river. I know the water is good enough for them to grow to 5 inches. I do not know how many of them get through to the lake. All I am saying is that the fish are spawning successfully. How much of the young are a forage fish is what I do not know.