we caught 1 fish 21" on friday morning he only wieghed 2.6 pounds. we caught one 19 1/4" on saturday that was heavier but short. All in all we caught 22 between friday and saturday and only one was over 20".
But there is hope because I have read here that there was at least one 5 pounder lost at the back of a boat and numerous "the one that got away" reports over the radio......lol.
We had a great time though it was mine and my friend Nicks 1st derby and we enjoyed it!!! Also tried the Chambelain releases....... they are the best!!! I hope they do come out with a stacker release.

Say for a moment that a salmon over 16" feeds on 20 smelt per 24 hours to keep a healthy growth rate. If that fish is caught and released 10 times over the fishing season, and we say that 2 days after it is released it doesn't feed at the same rate due to fatigue and mouth injury. Then let's also say that the fight takes another 10 smelt to replenish the energy lostduring the fight (total of 50 smelt are taken away from salmon to grow each time it is caught), then as I see it, 500 smelt were used to replace the energy needed to keep this salmon on track for a healthy gowth period for the year. Now multiply this by 1000 salmon and you can see that almost 500,000 smelt are needed to support just the catch and release fishery of just 1000 fish. Whether 1000 fish are caught 10 times a season or 10000 salmon are caught just once it is the same impact on the smelt valuation. And there are 20,000 new salmon stocked yearly?

Of course, my quick analysis lacks the actual data on smelt consumption and energy content to make any decision from, but clearly shows there is a logical impact.

What if those 1000 salmon are kept? If just one is kept - that is like putting 50 smelt (for each time that fish is caught) back into the forage pool for other salmon to use to grow.

Here is an idea - anyone fishing for salmon / lake trout should keep their first legal fish, period. Then as the trip continues, the second fish can be kept as desired if at all. This allows some level of enforcement as CO can check license and a fish if you were spotted catching a legal fish.

The bottom line as I see it, is that the value of each smelt should be preserved since catch and release definately de-values the energy content of the smelt forage pool. So unless we all keep more fish, we will continue to see a lot of smaller fish - which should naturally lead to less salmon stocking but in the end may not increase each smelts value in that smelt population is used to support only the catch and release fishery and not a growth fishery.

Only by taking at least 1 fish per outing, would we start impacting and balancing the fishery in support of the current management techniques which is fundamentally growth.

I will admit I seldom keep anything but with this new logic and the current reality of the fishery, I think I will be filling the livewell more in the future. I know my boys will be happy as live fish in the livewell adds to their excitement on the water.

I hope someone out there has real data regarding how many smelt a salmon eats per day, etc.

Comments?

Same deal aboard the Talewalker. Decent numbers of fish but all 19 - 20". Rainbows were pretty healthy though. You wouldn't think there was a lack of forage by the size of the huge baitballs we were marking on the fishfinder though. Will be back out this weekend to get some more time on the water. Also thinking about trying one of those "other" lakes one of these weekends coming up...