Just joined up with this BB so be easy on me.... I just got done reading the Wild Steelhead post where everyone was discussing hatchery and wild fish. What I got out of it was that some places do not mark their fish by clipping a fin. I'm sure this is going to be a basic question, so don't laugh too hard at me !!
When you're at a river, how do you know whether the hatchery fish are marked or not??Who knows/where can i find that info??

Rookie,

Hatchery steelhead should bear an adipose fin clip on all western Washington rivers except:

Quinault, Cook Creek, Queets, Salmon, which are from Quinault Tribe and U.S. Fish & Wildlife rearing facilities. There might be others, but I'm not familiar with them. I think the Hoh Tribe marks their hatchery steelhead.

The Cowlitz River has some late winter run steelhead bearing a ventral fin clip, but I think you are required to release them anyway, unless caught above the Cowlitz dams, in which case you can retain them. I've gotten this wrong before, so check before bonking any.

Steelhead broodstock programs sometimes use the ventral fin clip as a mark. Whether you can retain those fish may vary by river system, so check your regs.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Actually, the hatchery steelhead from Cook Creek (Quinault National Fish Hatchery run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) are "marked" with the missing adipose fin.

Since the Hoh River hatchery steelhead plants are reared at Cook Creek, they are marked as well.

The Quinault Tribe, which reaises hatchery steelhead at their Lake Quinault facility and also at their Salmon River facility on the Queets, has not been marking their steelhead. But this could be changing as good old Norm has been "politicing" this issue heavily.

Good for Norm All hatchery fish should be clipped and counted as such. Some accurate numbers from the upper Quinault are long overdue ... would be the first step in getting some.

Snider Creek fish on the Sol Duc are ventral clipped.

Pacific NW ... I see that many of the Cook Creek fish have also been pec clipped in the past, still the case?

Caught a fish on the Sooes ten years ago or so that had nearly all fins clipped. It had a tail, of course, but maybe only the anal fin from there. Can't remember now ... have a pic of it somehwere, I see if I run across it one of these days.

PNW,

Thanks for the correction regarding Cook Creek. Also, some of the Salmon River fish are ad clipped, for run evaluation purposes I was told. At least I have observed a number of ad clipped steelhead there each year for the past several.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Saw 5 of 10 fish on the bank at Cook Creek clipped on Turkey Day, so they do clip a few, just not all.

they're clipped on queets too

So on certain rivers the fish are not clipped although that seems to be changing... Does that mean then that unclipped fish are legal even tho the regs don't mention that? I'm looking at the satsop regs right now and they don't say anything about unmarked being ok to keep. Is the situation the same with salmon?

Maybe I'm just a little dense......

Rookie,

No, unclipped steelhead are not legal unless the regulation specifies that it is legal. The Salmon and Queets Rivers have hatchery steelhead released by the Quinault Tribe that are mostly unclipped. However, you may retain an unclipped steelhead if its dorsal fin measures less than 2 1/8" high. On the Queets River, that only applies downstream of Hartzell boat launch. If you fish there, read and follow the Park Service regs. The Ranger is persnickety and cites people regularly.

Most hatchery steelhead released from state and federal programs are fin clipped. This isn't something you need to lose sleep over.

Most hatchery coho salmon are ad clipped also, but on some rivers you can keep hatchery and wild, and on some rivers you can keep only the marked ones. Read the regulations for the water you fish!

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

FYI, Big changes in the regulaqtions regarding ONP, so if you plan to fish there be sure to read the regs for the river your fishing. The ONP is staying the course on the two year moratorium on the sport harvest for wild steelhead and there are some new selective gear regs as well and dates as well.