In the Snohomish system this year? Did they spawn successfully last year? I am concerned they will compete with the salmon/steelhead fry. Have they been spawning in any other local rivers? Comments?

I've heard of no successful spawning, though I have heard of ripe hens ready to go being caught in our rivers. The bucks were not ripe, so it didn't work out.
They tried to actually stock Atlantics on Vancouver Island in the past with no luck. They couldn't reproduce for some reason. I'd be pretty surprised if it could happen on accident if they couldn't get it to work on purpose, but I don't pretend to outguess Mother Nature.
I find that doing that is a good way to get bit in the ass.
Fish on...
Todd.

I've caught two so far in the Sky but none this year. Caught many in the sound though. Both in the river were hens but the eggs were immature.

There was an article in the Tacoma News Tribune not too long ago on just this subject. There was a group that was trying to get rid of the net pens, because of the escapement problems and other environmental situations that were a result of them.
There have been confirmed reports of Atlantic Salmon fingerlings that have been caught and observed in a few West Coast Canadian rivers. I cannot remember the names of the rivers, but I believe they were somewhere in British Columbia. There were "Scientific" studies performed on these fingerlings and confirmed that these fish were from Atlantic Salmon that had successfully spawned in these rivers.
I do not believe that we have seen this in Washington rivers, but I have heard of many Atlantics that have been caught in the Green River and even had a friend who caught one in the Puyallup river near Orting.
Try doing a search on Tribnet.com for more exact info on this subject.
The FishNg1

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[This message has been edited by Steve Ng (edited 03-16-99).]