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McCall Hatchery
[#ff0000]Broodstock Goal - 1,300 Hatchery Adults[/#ff0000]
Trap Date 7/20/2010
Hatchery Adults Trapped 3,210
Hatchery Jacks Trapped 221
Wild Fish Trapped 729
This just ticks me off. The south fork hatchery goal is 1300 adults. With 3200+ through the trap already thats a whole lot of fishing opportunity lost.
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Yep they pulled the plug to early, same as last year. [mad]
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why does this happen guys ? i wanted to catch a big fish this summer........something that bends my fishing pole at least.
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I really think they are trying to protect the fish. They are obligated to split that catch with the Indians.
I don't think they can keep it open to catch and release either because there is a percentage that will die from that. I think they are trying their best to keep all involved as happy as they can with what they have to deal with.
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Agreed - F&G is doing the best they can, I'm sure of it. It's a tuff job and making everyone happy is next to impossible.
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It all has to do with wild fish mortality. Once the sportsman's percentage of wild fish ahve been caught and released, they have to shut down the fishing.
Currently the scientists estimate between 5 and 10% mortality. This does not mean they die immediatly by the way, it means they are sufficiently worn out or injured and die later. Also these fish need to maintain sufficient reserves to live for months in the river before spawning. Slime removal leads to fungal infections that are often lethal. Just a few things that lead to shutting down the run.
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Im a fisheries biologist and completly understand the mortality issue and I understand the rec fishing/indian quota. However, with 150-200 hatchery adults entering the trap per day and 10-15 wild fish entering. I think they could have run the season longer. The relative risk to the wild population is pretty low. Todays trap count of 3429 is 220 hatchery adults higher than yesterdays count. In a typical fishery the "extra" fish would be trucked downstream to add to the fishery. This would further offset the risk to the wild run by increasing the ratio of hatchery:wild fish in the river.
I just think it was premature to close the season especially on a friday.
The Passim is having a heck of a run. They've had over 4000 hatchery adults through the trap. With a 600 adult brood goal thats equates to a lot of fish being recycled back downstream for more recreational fishing.
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I understand what you were getting at, but the wild component is ESA listed, and federal regulations require shutting the fishery down after "X" amount of listed fish are handled. Since the F&G know the ratio of wild to hatchery fish (based on weir catch, they can accurately estimate the numbers of wild fish handled, and shut it down accordingly. The numbers of returning hatchery fish have no bearing on the length of the season or the quotas. There could be 200,000 fish in that river, but once an estimated 1.4% (or whatever the magic number) of the wild run is handled, the fishery is shut off.
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They are not rerunning many fish at all from the Pasimeroi, just a few jacks. This last weekend was terrible for fishing. Nobody was catching anything any where. This last weekend I heard of 3 reruns being caught, last year most were reruns and fishing was still great. I think F&G really messed this season up every where for many people.
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I just spent 10 days in the Warm Lake area and there were more Indians on the south Fork than I have ever seen. There were more Indians than on a normal year of sport fisherman. And the take by them was unbelievable.
It was a very disheartening to see the slaughter. [frown]
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Last year when we were at the SF Salmon 3/4's of the campgrounds were empty because the sites were reserved for indians. And guess what, the indians weren't there. A big waste of camping space. Meanwhile the rest of us were camped out in the borrow pits.
I have a feeling they keep asking for more and getting their demands met. Like they are having a hay day up there right now.
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