Thread: Salmon

Originally Posted by mikee

Lived at Rangiata Huts on North Side 1991-1993. The fish runs were starting to lessen by then.
Last Salmon I caught in 2000 just before moving to Nelson was 28lb just below the Main road bridge.
Caught one last year in Feb, below Rakaia Gorge bridge after a day and 1/2's effort, was 12lb.
Going to try again later this month or next.

Dads best fish was Jack, 40lb10oz caught above the Rakaia Gorge bridge in the 80's. At the time it was estimated to be just over 60lb when it entered the River from the sea. Whether that is true or not I don't know but it was in such poor condition it got dug in the garden.

I know some go years without catching one or even catch very few over their fishing careers, but for me I had very good teachers and seem to have good luck when chasing them.

so Dads fish was huge.......the genetics were there...not all the big ones were caught,the genetics must still be there....use their milt and eggs in hatchery and see if in 10-15 years we are gaining......

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so Dads fish was huge.......the genetics were there...not all the big ones were caught,the genetics must still be there....use their milt and eggs in hatchery and see if in 10-15 years we are gaining......

It was explained to me thus by a mate who did his masters thesis on NZ salmon with a view on the sports fishery not the commercial fishery ...
One of the issues with hatchery v wild fish is that hatchery fish are very used to living very close to each other and the competition between themselves is very intense, wild salmon not so. So we have juvenile hatchery and wild salmon coming down the river together and inevitably they will shoal up and or interact with each other. There is a favoured rock to sit behind on the journey down the river.. the hatchery fish are comfortable being cheek to jowl with each other the wild fish not so and so the wild fish are the first to be expelled from behind the favoured rock and are more exposed to predation and less feed coming past..

What it means is that those genetics that had adapted to our rivers are now no longer an advantage in fact they are a hinderance to survival ..

Super true on the density issue of H vs W sore head

I reckon the other side of the coin is that hatchery fish have been packed into a raceway and only know... "food" "pellet" movement above..."food" "pellet" so they ain't exactly street smart
However wild fish are dodging and weaving and hunting from the day they're born so they're tough...however they're also usually smaller.
There's a gigantic (several million tagged) study that looks at whether it's better to transport fish to the ocean (estuary), thus avoiding predation, or let them travel in the river and tough it out and learn and have the weak ones picked off...turns out yes it's better for overall smolt survival to transport em and yes run of the river fish survive better to adults. Classic Catch22, laterally depends on what time (day) of year they are transported, river flow, etc.

To get back to the subject...I can't imagine catching a chinook 100m from the salt as y'all do here!! They're BEAUTIFUL!!!

Originally Posted by Joe Schmo

Super true on the density issue of H vs W sore head

I reckon the other side of the coin is that hatchery fish have been packed into a raceway and only know... "food" "pellet" movement above..."food" "pellet" so they ain't exactly street smart
However wild fish are dodging and weaving and hunting from the day they're born so they're tough...however they're also usually smaller.
There's a gigantic (several million tagged) study that looks at whether it's better to transport fish to the ocean (estuary), thus avoiding predation, or let them travel in the river and tough it out and learn and have the weak ones picked off...turns out yes it's better for overall smolt survival to transport em and yes run of the river fish survive better to adults. Classic Catch22, laterally depends on what time (day) of year they are transported, river flow, etc.

To get back to the subject...I can't imagine catching a chinook 100m from the salt as y'all do here!! They're BEAUTIFUL!!!

You could be right. From memory the salmon smolt I saw released were quite small, 2 inches in length. All were about that size give or take