whats up with all the sucker fish?

[sharkhead]

ive always caught a few each winter but this year is stupid. no joke ive got 20 plus this winter on everything ive thrown and 1 freaken steelhead. whats the deal brood stock from where i dont get it.brood stock dont affect the nats so where they at seen some but not many its freaken about march. so now winters, summers, and springers at the same time? somthing isn't right with this the past 20yrs ive caught nats starting in dec. some yrs in nov. i dont care what anyone says somthing isn't right period.

 

[halibuthitman]

my guess is that jan flooding pushed the run back a bit...

 

[Bad Tuna]

That rivers hatchery run has been struggling for the last decade. Talking with one of the techs at DC, They havent even been getting enough seed stock back, and the broodstock program hasnt been doing well either. DC hatchery has been getting eggs from another hatchery to supliment their needs. Just as a guess, warm water and smolt poaching could be big factors?

 

[Irishrover]

Just looking at the numbers I think the hatchery winter steelhead may be a tuffer fish to make contact with than one would be lead to think. They release 160,000 winter smolts. They release 500,000 coho smolts and 300,000 chinook. I've always thought of the Sandy as a good coho river. It's also a good steelhead river but they are more of a challenge numericlly.

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/HOP/Sandy HOP.pdf

Bad Tuna where is the "DC" hatchery you mention. I think you may have come on something with the smolt poaching.

 

[sharkhead]

thank you for your opion.i no these fish can be tough to come by i dont expect them every time i fish but by this time of year i fully expect to at least see someone pop a fish. your reasoning isn't bad but it doest explain where the nats are im up and down the river a minium of 3 full days a week im seeing some but noy many the sandys native run has been very strong the last 5yrs im just not seeing or hearing a reason that at least the nats are not here in the numbers they should be. the hatchery fish who knows? high water drives these fish to move floods didn't push them back to the ocean maybe held them up a few days not months. im not giving up hope yet but real close they could show anyday at this point thats all i got. SMOLT POACHING COME ON I DONT BUY IT FOR A MINUTE ITS SILLY!

 

[Bad Tuna]

My mistake, I thought I was on the Clackamas thread. Smolt poaching has become a serious problem on many rivers. There was a newspaper article article about arrests last summer at McIver park. A family had 5 gallon buckets full of smolts and anything else the could catch. OSP said they had over 700 smolts. If they got busted once, imagine how many times they got away with it, or how many others do it. In the article, OSP said it was a common problem with people (new to our country) who don't know the regulations. In this case I believe the fish were being sold to markets. Im not saying this is the major problem smolts face, as I'm sure cormorants and terns eat more, but it is a contributor.


DC=dog creek.

 

[Irishrover]

Dog Creek out at McIver Park. Got it thanks.