THROW THE BIG ONES BACK

Along the same lines as the importance of nutrients in a river system ... a study shows that letting big fish spawn creates bigger offspring down the road ... hmmm, haven't we been trying to pass this idea along for years to those who feel like they have to bonk everything, especially the bigger ones???

Bob -
You are certainly corect - fisheries management is not rocket science. What is tough is to get anglers to apply what has been learned and use some common sense. This issue of big fish producing big fish is a perfect illustration. I can't begin to count the number of times over the last year that have seen fishing reports on this and other sites that fly in direct conflict of the ideas put forward in the above article.

Typical example would be from last fall and it would go something like this: "Bubba and I fished zipper lip #2 yesterday - fishing was hot. Brought 20 coho to the boat and kept 4 all over 15#"."

What is especially interesting is that the folks that are most likely to complaint about the state of current fisheries management are the very ones that tend to produce such reports. They might complain about hatchery coho being small but then go out and bonk only the largest they catch or only the biggest females etc. DUH!! As I said the biggest trick in fisheries management is the application of common sense by both the managers and the anglers. Greed trumps common sense way too often!

Tight lines
Smalma

Ive never understood why people want to always keep the big ones. If for eating purposes Id take a 10 pound king over a 30 pound king anyday. Same with Coho. THe little guys just have better meat.

I absolutely agree Rich.

A 8-10# silver or 15# King has much better meat on it. My Father has worked in the Fishing industry for 40+ years, and when he speaks about this topic he always refers to some of the distributors that sell to Sushi Houses. They will always opt for Salmon that fall within the 8-13# range versus a monster. Easier to Filet and tastes much better.

So to all:
Get a Picture of that Big'un and keep the medium- sized fish for the Barby!

Bob, how can you preach the importance of releasing big fish while you have numerous pictures of BIG halibut on this site as well as promoting the Homer halibut derby?
I applaud you're efforts on the releasing of wild fish but I think you need to get off your high horse and quit looking down on others who might keep a big fish as long as your going to post pics of all those 100+lbs. butts and promote a derby.

Smalma-
Excellent point!!!

btw-I got a question for 'ya. I landed an unspawned native winter-run buck on the Stilly today...I have once before seen a winter-run this late year snagged by poacher Joe Brown out of Picnic. And I also know others have encountered winter-run steelhead this late in the year as well.

My question is, is it guarenteed that these bucks will find a female to spawn with?? It seems that all these 'super late' winter-runs are bucks...is there an equal amount of females around at this time of the year as well or are the bucks just hanging around to be assured that every female finds a male to spawn with?

I do know that the bucks will tend to hang around for a longer period of time to spawn with other females and guard the redd but he still had lots of spunk and looked to be unspawned.

Thanks!!

Smalma ... it's funny that simple common sense sometimes goes out the window. It's well known that certain traits are passed along to offspring ... whether it be the big rack of a mule deer buck, the height of a human being, or the traits (often extra freshwater yrs. or saltwater yrs. that fish in certain watersheds show ... Skeena steelhead and Kenai kings are two prime examples). We've often questioned the impact of netting (mesh size often dicates the bigger fish being caught) on the coastal streams as well as the impact of sporties only keeping the bigger ones.

AkKings ... I understand what you're trying to say. Although you state that I "look down" on others who kill all big fish ... not quite the case, and perhaps a bit hypocritical, but the point here is keeping in mind that it is a good thing for the fishery ... not to openly bash people who keep big fish. Any time we put a line in the water, we're going to have a negative impact to some degree.

However, this is apples and oranges in comparison to this situation. You're suggesting the biggest halibut go ... a good idea. My personal biggest halibut was released. We routinely let some big fish go. My personal opinion of the perfect rack ... about 40 pounds all the way across.

But yes, we do kill a number of them as well too, we do leave that up to the client. As for pictures, as a former guide, I'm sure that the outfit you worked for more than likely had big fish in their pictures (especially before it became fashionable in SE to let them go ... that has not happened here, yet) ... potential clients aren't even going to call you in the first place if all your competition shows big fish pix and you show a rack of chickens. Pretty simple.

What makes these situations different. Salmon and steelhead are generally on pretty strict lifespans ... as were the fish in this study. The big halibut you refer to are important to the stock as they are breeders, but it is generally more of a fact that they are older fish rather than showing a trait to be larger. There's a big difference there.

The Derby?? It's not all about the biggest fish killed ... although I'd be lying if I said I'd definitely release a derby-winning fish ...$30,000+ in cash would make a nice down for the home we'd like to build.

There's lots more to it:

How 'bout a chance for a $10,000 prize for released large fish.

Or the 104 tagged fish that also give you a chance at $10,000.

The fact that derby makes up roughly 20% of the Homer Chamber of Commerce's budget isn't bad either.

Sparkey -
It is common for male steelhead to hang around after the last of the females have spawn. The first and last fish to mature are generally males; appears to by Mother Nature's way of insuring that any potential spawning female will have a mate. Occassionally see steelhead spawning in late June or early July on the North Fork. The spawning on our local rivers this spring was later than normal. The latest I have seen an actively spawning winter steelhead was the 25th of July (Sauk). Occassionally have seen post spawn wild winter steelhead (mostly males) throughout the summer or even into October.

It is doubtful that the males are guarding redd sites. Rather they hang around near spawning areas waiting for other females. The pit of old redds provide a hydraulic cushion in which they can hold with little effort. The female salmon will guard their redds from other females until they no longer have the strength to continue to do so. With the trout (steelhead, cutthroat, Dollies) the females guard their site while spawning but leave upon completing spawning; likely with their ablility it is more important that they begin the recovery process rather than continue protecting the redd site.

Beginning to hear of a few Deer Creek fish and good number of hatchery in the upper river.

Tight lines
Smalma

AkKings
In 1954 we fished for butts close to the spit and did as well as they do today 20 to 40 miles away.
Most of the locals don't bother as you can simply wait for the butts to show up in shallow water at the mouths of rivers when they wash spawned fish back. To the best of my knowledge Bob does not skipper a salt boat but will book you with several of the best producers if you want to fish for butts. The post here is about how someone with a science background finally comes to the same conclusion fishermen have known for decades. Its' the gene pool. If and when they say every butt over X length is a throw-back it will probably evolve the same way our sturgeon oversize rule came into being. In the meantime that derby will attract fishermen from more than 60 nations each year as it has for decades. You can choose how you wish to participate or not. One thing for sure is that salmon in Alaska have a lot more going against them than the halibut.

Thanks Smalma!

I think it is hard for people to let those big fish go.Isn't that why we are out there to catch the bigest fish we can?something about salmon season tht makes ordinarily ethical fishermen change into greedy little monsters anyways.

I think the farther along in a persons fishing experience the easiar it is to release the big ones,I know that is how it worked for me.

Akaska has the odds stacked against it with such a reputation as the monster salmon capital.A person spends several thousand dollars for the ultimate salmon experience and dreams to no end about the 60lb salmon he is going to catch.Chances are he is going to keep the big fish.He/she did not spend all that money just to bring home the smaller fish,even though they are the better eating fish.

The older a fish gets the more parisites it picks up and the more the parisites/worms it already has get to reproduce.If more people saw what was realy in those trophy fish they wouldn't eat them.Ever wonder why you do not see fifty lb fillets at your local grocery store?