steelhead

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Gary

for the fisherman in the pic & hope he NEVER CATCHES ANOTHER FISH in his miserable life.
Gary

sounds like if it is illegal to keep it ....


it should be illegal to CATCH IT...




they should allow shoot and release moose hunting.

flour oil and tarter sauce makes all fish equal

[Gooch]

If it's legal there should be no qualms about keeping one if you want. Regs say you can keep 1 per day here on POW in some creeks (A few have no retention). If a fella wants to eat some fresh fish threatening to have a corpse floating downriver is pretty lame I think. On a side note a local fella caught 7 steelies yesterday on a jig and float on an local river. Fall runs are here!

[Hunt&FishAK]

ive got no opposition to eatin one either...i hear their right tasty!

[DRIFTER_016]

Originally Posted by Gooch

If it's legal there should be no qualms about keeping one if you want. Regs say you can keep 1 per day here on POW in some creeks (A few have no retention). If a fella wants to eat some fresh fish threatening to have a corpse floating downriver is pretty lame I think. On a side note a local fella caught 7 steelies yesterday on a jig and float on an local river. Fall runs are here!

So you would have no problem with some one bonking an 90 or 95 pound Kenai King and having a BBQ either then?

[ak_powder_monkey]

To Clear up steelhead regulations throughout the state

Southeast
1 fish per day 2 per year must be over 36", except on streams in Juneau, where no retention is allowed and in a few streams with small hatchery runs where fin clipped fish may be retained (the limit is two)
Bait is NOT ALLOWED when steelhead are present

Southcentral
Retention of Steelhead is not Allowed, Bait is Not Allowed

Kodiak/AK Pennisula
1 Per day over 20" I believe 2 per year
Bait is Allowed


If you are hunting Kodiak and want to eat fish, eat some dollies there are a bout a gazillion of them but most streams with steelhead see very small steelhead runs (like less than 200 fish). I'd expect that the fish are in the lakes by novemeber so it might be a moot point. It'd be more likely to see some late silvers.


As for Regulations for steelhead in Columbia river tribs are primarily designed to take hatchery fish out of the gene pool so limits for them are very liberal (Methow and Wenatchee come to mind where the limit is 4 hatchery fish per day and all hatchery fish caught must be retained) most places in washington allow 2 hatchery fish per day to be retained, and no wild fish to be retained, sadly there are a few places where wild fish can be retained.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by DRIFTER_016

So you would have no problem with some one bonking an 90 or 95 pound Kenai King and having a BBQ either then?

absolutely NOT....


BBQ is such a waste on fish... that 90lb would do so much better slathered in ONIONS and sour cream with basil, sage, and chives stirred in... and slow roasted rapped to cook in its own juices adsorbing the sour cream and oh... clove or two of galric....


on the side is a corn and rice pilof.....

[AKBoater]

Steelhead are quite tasty, they are by far the best for cold smoking. I've never kept one but they are a pretty common bycatch in the commercial salmon industry around SE.

[Hunt&FishAK]

Originally Posted by DRIFTER_016

So you would have no problem with some one bonking an 90 or 95 pound Kenai King and having a BBQ either then?

as long its fairly fresh,i agree fully with Vince. either that, smoke it up, or filleted and sliced into servable portions, put into a vacuum seal package with my choice of marinade and seasonings, then frozen, to be eaten at my leisure. not only kenai kings either. it could be from any river.

oh, and beer battered rainbow trout is a favorite of mine.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Hunt&FishAK

as long its fairly fresh,i agree fully with Vince. either that, smoke it up, or filleted and sliced into servable portions, put into a vacuum seal package with my choice of marinade and seasonings, then frozen, to be eaten at my leisure. not only kenai kings either. it could be from any river.

oh, and beer battered rainbow trout is a favorite of mine.

and once chewed they all look like ...




well......






Crap.

[Brian M]

Originally Posted by Vince

absolutely NOT....


BBQ is such a waste on fish...

You must not know how to properly BBQ a fish, then. Few things are finer than a thick slab of salmon BBQ'd on a cedar plank while basting in bummer, lime, garlic, and whiskey.

Of course, I'd use the belly meat for some sashimi first.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Brian M

You must not know how to properly BBQ a fish, then. Few things are finer than a thick slab of salmon BBQ'd on a cedar plank while basting in bummer, lime, garlic, and whiskey.

Of course, I'd use the belly meat for some sashimi first.

thats grilled not BBQ'd


I do however have a sauce that will fit nicely on a fish. with similar sticky results and tangy after taste... However it is not a BBQ sauce

[DRIFTER_016]

MMMMMMMMMMMMM....................BEEEEEEER BATTER!!!!!!

I would also rather eat a steelhead than a salmon, however I just have a problem removing a fish that is in the top 5% of the gene pool. There are just too few 90# kings or 30# steelhead to be removing their genes from the pool. That steelhead may have been a clipper but to attain that size it had to have superior genetics.

[Phish Finder]

I used to get quite a few steelhead from E.C. Phillips in Ketchikan. They would get caught by the seine fleet. The processors couldn't sell them so I'd get as many as I could. They are great to eat.

I'll admit it. I bonk fish!

There, I said it.

I feel so much better.

[kingfisherktn]

Originally Posted by Phish Finder

I used to get quite a few steelhead from E.C. Phillips in Ketchikan. They would get caught by the seine fleet. The processors couldn't sell them so I'd get as many as I could. They are great to eat.

I'll admit it. I bonk fish!

There, I said it.

I feel so much better.

Evil phish finder bonker!

[Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits]

That fish wasn't clipped ...

Primary problem on the Hoh is that it has failed to make wild escapement for a number of years, but the state still allows harvest because of tribal politics.

20 years ago over 125 streams in WA allowed harvest of wild fish, now we're down to a dozen whose wild steelhead runs are still considered "healthy" ... the definition of healthy is a big sticking point with most runs at an MSY goal and in some cases the tribal goals are set lower than state goals.

You think CI politics are bad, throw in the tribal aspect that gives them 50% of the "allowable harvest" and then have the sport and commercial fight over the rest. In a few cases, non-treaty tribes net and their portion is deducted from the sport / commerical end, so there's even fewer fish left over.

Steelhead are not salmon, nor shoudl they be managed the same way. Very different life histories and the removal of one fish from a steelhead population may have a far different impact than the removal of one salmon.

[Dr.No]

Originally Posted by AKBoater

they are a pretty common bycatch in the commercial salmon industry around SE.

People focus way too much on the in-river harvesting of Steelhead. From what I hear, the commercial guys catch tons in SE and around Yakutat...

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Bob Ball - Piscatorial Pursuits

That fish wasn't clipped ...

Primary problem on the Hoh is that it has failed to make wild escapement for a number of years, but the state still allows harvest because of tribal politics.

20 years ago over 125 streams in WA allowed harvest of wild fish, now we're down to a dozen whose wild steelhead runs are still considered "healthy" ... the definition of healthy is a big sticking point with most runs at an MSY goal and in some cases the tribal goals are set lower than state goals.

You think CI politics are bad, throw in the tribal aspect that gives them 50% of the "allowable harvest" and then have the sport and commercial fight over the rest. In a few cases, non-treaty tribes net and their portion is deducted from the sport / commerical end, so there's even fewer fish left over.

Steelhead are not salmon, nor shoudl they be managed the same way. Very different life histories and the removal of one fish from a steelhead population may have a far different impact than the removal of one salmon.

the problem i have is i dont see any of the piscatorial purists parking their poles....

all these folks that are so against eating one of these fish... are still out casting for one.

you want to have them recover? STOP FISHING FOR THEM.. period. you know hunters do not harvest when game populations are low. they are out planting fields and clearing over brush making forage plots...

not roping them and giving it a kiss as they let it go again...

if catch and release is your thing GREAT... more power to you... you guys have no business harping on the catch and eat crowd.. none at all.

it comes across as they are not allowed to catch them... but i am not going to stop... what you do is a SPORT, Hobby, passion, for self gratifying enjoyment.

[Phish Finder]

Originally Posted by Vince

you want to have them recover? STOP FISHING FOR THEM.. period.

As much as I hate to agree on this point, you are correct.

If you want an ecosystem and the target species to recover quickly, leave them completely alone.

I hate moratoriums but, if started early enough, they can be very effective.

[ak_powder_monkey]

Originally Posted by Vince

the problem i have is i dont see any of the piscatorial purists parking their poles....

all these folks that are so against eating one of these fish... are still out casting for one.

you want to have them recover? STOP FISHING FOR THEM.. period. you know hunters do not harvest when game populations are low. they are out planting fields and clearing over brush making forage plots...

not roping them and giving it a kiss as they let it go again...

if catch and release is your thing GREAT... more power to you... you guys have no business harping on the catch and eat crowd.. none at all.

it comes across as they are not allowed to catch them... but i am not going to stop... what you do is a SPORT, Hobby, passion, for self gratifying enjoyment.

if you don't like catching and releasing steelhead then don't fish for them, its that simple. Catch and Release fishing is THE ONLY tool available to fisheries managers to get people to care enough about the fish to want to save them. Quite frankly without catch and release fishing steelhead would have no value to anyone, except folks who would wipe them out completely.

Yes I catch and release fish and yes I struggle with the act all the time, but C&R gets me close to spiritual bliss with doing the least amount of damage to the ecosystem possible.

Hunters stop hunting when game populations are low, but that is often because hunting has a huge impact on game populations whereas C&R has a very little impact on fish populations, and allows the most people to use the resource.

If you don't want to C&R steelhead don't fish for them, they cannot sustain harvesting pressure.

[ak_powder_monkey]

Originally Posted by Phish Finder

As much as I hate to agree on this point, you are correct.

If you want an ecosystem and the target species to recover quickly, leave them completely alone.

I hate moratoriums but, if started early enough, they can be very effective.

This requires that everyone stops fishing for them, mostly those who kill them, also good habitat would help.