Slaw- fish questions

[1 nut in the water]

New to steelhead fishing and have some questions that I cannot find the answers to so throwing them out there since i know someone here will know-

Recently caught a couple that had a hole punched in the tail- recycled fish?

And

all but one fish has been fairly dark- I only use hardware and see plenty of chrome caught by others?
Any ideas??

 

[steelhead1]

New to steelhead fishing and have some questions that I cannot find the answers to so throwing them out there since i know someone here will know-

Recently caught a couple that had a hole punched in the tail- recycled fish?

And

all but one fish has been fairly dark- I only use hardware and see plenty of chrome caught by others?
Any ideas??

Hole punch is likely a recycled fish.I dont fish the slaw much,mostly alsea, where they punch the gill plate.My buds that fish down there a lot have reported lots of dark fish.Steelhead that are dark are preparing to spawn,and are more likely to strike as an aggressive response,IMO.

 

[rippin fish lips]

Hole punch is likely a recycled fish.I dont fish the slaw much,mostly alsea, where they punch the gill plate.My buds that fish down there a lot have reported lots of dark fish.Steelhead that are dark are preparing to spawn,and are more likely to strike as an aggressive response,IMO.

YUP! And also, darker steelhead tend to love hardware a little more. but it does also atract some chromers too. We need some ran

 

[dtikey]

New to steelhead fishing and have some questions that I cannot find the answers to so throwing them out there since i know someone here will know-

Recently caught a couple that had a hole punched in the tail- recycled fish?

And

all but one fish has been fairly dark- I only use hardware and see plenty of chrome caught by others?
Any ideas??

didn't know nuthing about hole punching tail but as in the Alsea they hole punch the gill plate on slaw also...at least they always have in the past I havent got a recycled fish from slaw yet this year just going from what I have seen in the past.

 

[hobster]

didn't know nuthing about hole punching tail but as in the Alsea they hole punch the gill plate on slaw also...at least they always have in the past I havent got a recycled fish from slaw yet this year just going from what I have seen in the past.

Yeah, they are recycled fish for sure. I've seen em on the gill plate too, this year they are punching the tail, at least they were when i saw them checking the trap at Whittaker a week ago or so. Those guys are super cool, i've ran into them a few times and they are always very helpful and let you see the trap while they empty it and answer questions. They were punching the tail and he told me they just throw them back in the creek and they head back downstream.

 

[Scott M]

If I remember my fish behavior, winter steelhead (bucks) run up river to the spawning grounds and hang out. The hens become sexually mature at sea, unlike the summer run females who become mature in the spawning grounds. When the winter hens move into the river, they move right up to the spawning area rather quickly and are generally brighter than the males who may have been hanging out in the river for weeks.

 

[eugene1]

Wonder why the punch the tails now? They used to punch the gill plates.

 

[Raincatcher]

Ouch! All the more reason to be glad I'm not a fish...:shock:

 

[JeannaJigs]

Wonder why the punch the tails now? They used to punch the gill plates.

Probably quicker and easier? Less stress on the fish.

 

[1 nut in the water]

thanks for the info!
One more question- I am getting a lot of darker bucks- at what point is the meat not any good smoked?
I have yet to get a mushy fish but many have whitish meat.