Gill-T

Having some friends in the DEC, I could write a novel about stories highlighting the headwinds the department is up against in trying to get justice on slam dunk cases. It is such a **** show where politics and votes comes before law enforcement. The system is broke and there is a concerted effort to tear down the DEC further by Albany. This begs the question the thread tries to answer…..what do we do about illegal activity in the woods and waterways?? First, if there is a complaint, policy dictates the DEC is supposed to investigate. Our role is to get to know our local DEC conservation officer and have their number in list of contacts in our phones. Take pictures and videos of infractions as they occur and send them to the DEC officer. After that, maybe voice your opinion to judges and local officials about not allowing environmental infractions go with a wrist slap. The more voters give their input, the more likely government officials will sway their decisions. Defendants will come to trial with family members as references crying poor and explain away the infractions as “the fish are going upstream to die anyway”, the judge may be more compelled to agree. We sportsmen are underrepresented big time.

Yep, same as in Alaska. Fish die and tumble downstream and accumulate on the shallow bars.

Probably not the salt but maybe like what was happening out west with cohos. Could the salt and sand cause car tires to shed the chemicals that kill fish?

Steelhead can exist in the ocean.

Hopefully, it is an isolated event. It took years for steelhead to recover in numbers and size from the last outbreak. I vaguely recall that there was an issue with going to a cheaper food pellet at the hatchery that may have resulted in some deficiencies that could have impacted those health problems seen in ‘14/15.

Agree lice is common but not to the extent of what was seen in 2014/15. The pictures posted were of very disfigured gills, skinny sickly looking fish. I am sure it was a combination of factors. Has anyone heard of this problem in other tribs of Ontario or Michigan? I wonder if this something specific to the Salmon River.

2014/15 also saw gill lice rear it’s head. Interesting pattern developing again with similar weather pattern.

Great. Not a fan of plastic in appearance or durability. I run braid for rigger cable so the low profile spool probably will not be an issue. Thanks for the feedback!

I am looking at these riggers myself and with the automation it would appear over time the cost has come down. For those with these riggers on this thread, you are three years in….how have these units performed over time?

With the amount of items he should have a garage sale. Post it here.