Couldn't help but notice while fishing the fishless Stilly last weekend that some of the spots I've scored steel in before now play host to dozens of suckers eagerly digging and sifting through the gravel. Some of them look to be 5# or better. Does anybody know where I might be able to read more about these fascinating and beautiful fish? I know some anglers kill them on sight...I've been releasing them but if they're eating steelie eggs I'd think differently. How long do they live? When do they spawn? Do they really taste like chicken? lol

They eat steelhead eggs.... Kill them.

Eagles eat steelhead too. Shoot them on sight.

Don't we selll steelhead eggs to the asian market for their consumption? Uh oh, better drop the bomb on them!

Actually, do suckers root up and eat steelhead eggs? Sure, they'll eat the dead and dying eggs on the bottom, but I don't think they root for eggs. I'd ask someone here in Fisheries, but I don't know of anyone doing sucker research!

Personally, I say leave them suckers alone. They clean up the river bottom. Personally, I have more of a problem with the people that litter and leave fish carcasses on the banks then I do with suckers.

[ 06-26-2001: Message edited by: parker ]

My gut feeling is that killing suckers because of a perceived predation on steelhead eggs is about as bright as cannery owners and commercial fishermen killing bears, eagles, seals, and orcas in the past.

Even if there is some predation, I doubt it is much. Suckers, even large ones, lack the physical ability to root deep enough to get into a redd. All they are likely eating are the eggs that drifted out of the redd, which aren't going to hatch anyway.

Don't let predation from natural competitors sway you from the real reasons for the decline of our wild salmon and steelhead: overharvest, habitat destruction, poor hydropower practices, and faulty hatchery operation.

Are you saving a few fish by participating in the squawfish bounty? Probably, maybe even quite a few, as far as smolts go. Are they a major problem? Probably not. Obviously no dams would be the best solution, but that's not going to happen. Better fish passage facilities, and better flow regimes, would go a long way towards taking squawfish predation out of the mix.
Pointing the finger at squawfish takes some of the concentration off of the real problems. (BTW, I'm not saying to not participate in the squawfish bounties. They are fun, if you're good you can make a few bucks, and some fish will be saved. All I'm saying is don't let it lead you astray from what the bigger problems are).

Perhaps most importantly, don't forget the parts you play in this game, both good and bad.

It's easy to point fingers at commercial fishermen, or treaty fishermen, but what are your harvest habits? Do you routinely kill wild fish? Do you kill more than you need?

We all gripe about strip malls and factories along our rivers, but how conscientious are we about where our oil goes when we change it in our trucks, or what type of or how much fertilizer or pesticides we put on our lawns and gardens? All this ends up in the water eventually.

As fishermen who care about the fish we catch, we should push for marking off all hatchery fish, and for seasons to harvest them so that they don't spawn outside of the hatchery. We may also have to agree to take a smaller plant of fish, or no plant in some places, so that the native fish aren't adversely affected.

Obviously we don't have individual says in how to run dams. We do, however, have the ability to limit our water and power use.This can make it easier to keep more water behind the dams in times of plenty so that it can be released at the proper time to assist upstream and downstream migrations.

Once we all build houses out of bricks of integrity and credibility, then we can legitimately chuck stones at glass houses!

Thanks for letting me go off for a bit, it's been a while and this topic touched the tip of my iceberg. This is obviously about a lot more than just suckers in the Stilly, but everyone who knows me knows I only need a little push to really get going.

Fish on...

Todd.

Wild Steelhead Coalition

I have a simple question. Many people refer to a lot of different fish as "suckerfish." Do I take it that the fish we are talking about is "mountain whitefish?" If so, yes, there are a lot of them in pools throughout the Stilly, and they take well to small pheasant tails. I give them two thumbs up!

Wow, if they're mountain whitefish I'd leave them alone. I've heard that mountain whitefish are much rarer than lake whitefish.

When I speak of suckerfish I am referring to those fish that have their mouths on the bottom of their chin like sturgeon.

Guess I've always killed them under the (false) information that they are detrimental to salmon and steelhead eggs. Guess I'll be letting those homely little feesch go from now on.

I used to boink suckers all the time, until a fisheries buddy of mine made a few simple points:

1. They keep the rivers cleaned up
2. They have "fry" also, and they are a food source for predator fis and mammals. Would you rather have a steelie smolt or a baby succker in the belly of a squawfish, walleye, mink, or racoon.

Leave em alone, kids don't care what they catch, and they are a great source of recreation for kids, old people, and guys struggling to get a steelie to bite. Oh by the way, they love chartruese yarn cut down to the size of a pea. Peace

I beleive they are called bridgelip suckers, at least I think I remember reading that somewhere. I have no clue if they are good or bad but they've been a part of the ecosystem as long as my dad can remember fishing these rivers in the 70's. It's the squawfish that he doesn't remember in the #'s we have today.