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Atlantic Salmon, how big?


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The 2660 Sailfish is in NC full time along with a Carolina Skiff 198 DLV. I have a Sea Hunt Triton CC that keep in PA that I use on Erie for Walleyes. If it works out, we might bring it up for a long weekend. I do have to go thru all the salmon gear and get rid of it. I have close 400 spoons still in the packages, plus the spoons in the boxes, I wouldn't even want to guess how much we have. Wes looked in the boat one time and said he thought I had more than he did at the shop Every time I look at the piles and piles of tackle, it looks overwhelming and I'm not sure where to start. Oh well, one of these days!

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10 hours ago, SharkHunter said:

Caught this one last year in July, it was 14 lbs an he did mount it as the fish was spent after an awesome air show it gave us. Love it when they do that.IMG_1909.jpeg

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OMG...... I have caught many 100" blue finn tuna but that is a fish of my dreams.

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My biggest on the lake many years ago was 16 pounds caught right in front of the Oak during the Spring ESLO. My biggest in a river was also in that 15/16 pound range on the Salmon River three years ago on May 1.

Land locks are only stocked in two places these days. The Salmon River, and Oak Orchard. Creel Census data from this years trib study points to over 2k caught from fall of 2019 to today on the Oak alone. Now what that means that a good number of Salmon were in the Oak and caught several times. Last month I caught three in one outing, with two of them post spawn and over 25 inches.

And I would agree they are a whole different sporting experience caught on a rod and reel in a river VS being pulled in from a moving boat. Water temp last month on the day I caught those fish was 34 degrees and they were five feet in the air several times. Caught one a couple years ago in the Genny that jumped 14 times.

And why they are considered the greatest river sport fish anyway around the world.




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20 hours ago, Gill-T said:


Ugly Stick one-piece lite action rods with light line. Wrong again Lucky. I am sure they fight better in streams. Interesting that a master center-pinned friend of mine has been catching them at Oak Orchard in  February and they were dropping eggs and milt. They seem to be adapting to Great Lakes conditions like some of the pacific species. 

Sounds like a interesting rig, do you just run them on downriggers, or as cheaters?  More specs on the rod?

 

I have caught quite a few trolling in the Adirondacks, and the largest I got, 26" and about 6 lbs, was a total dog.  But the majority are insane fighters even on lead core.  I'm looking at rods and reels to set up some shorter cores, and need a rod lighter than the Kunan 9 weight flyrod I have been using.

 

As to the weather, it has been a very November-like late winter, and it was a very winter-like November, so I can understand if the fish are a little confused.  Steelhead have been cutting heavily in a lot of gravel, and that is nearly a month early, too, in the places I frequent.. 

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39 minutes ago, jimski2 said:

Are our alleged steelheads land locked rainbows?

To the same extent that our native Atlantic Salmon were Landlocked Salmon.  Although they could theoretically migrate to the ocean, and some did, the vast majority stayed in the Lake, and , in terms of the classic definition of an anadromous fish as one spawned in freshwater that migrates from freshwater into salt water to feed and grow and then back to freshwater to spawn, our "steelhead" are landlocked rainbows, but other than the lack of salt, they are virtually identical fish.  More important with our fish are the two strains, the longer, more silvery Chambers Creek fish raised at Altmar, and the stockier "domestic" strain descended from the Seth Green imported McCloud River strain rainbows raised at Randolph.

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14 hours ago, Lucky13 said:

Sounds like a interesting rig, do you just run them on downriggers, or as cheaters?  More specs on the rod?

 

 

I tried to cut and paste from one of the major fishing tackle companies but I am not seeing the one-piece version right now.  Hopefully they are still making them.  A two piece 7' lite action downrigger rod would do the same thing.  I use them as board rods and downrigger rods.  The light action keeps boat mates from pulling hooks on fish and I don't need 50 million rods to manage. Yes, they get 30 lb mono on rigger rods even though they may not be rated for line that heavy......its an ugly stick, virtually indestructible.  Bend them to the water on a tight release, step on them, bang them around.....it doesn't matter.  

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Steelhead in the salt water survive predation from killer whales, seals and other critters. Culling of the weaker fish results in a stronger, faster bred specie. Hatchery fish adapt to survive by seeing the feeder guy first when he makes his rounds. They do not have to hunt for their dinner as salt water fish do. Hatchery fish have over a hundred years of hatchery production that has  survival in the wild traits bred out of them. If you want to take true steelhead  go to the Pacific rivers and streams in the northern areas.

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9 hours ago, Gill-T said:

 

I tried to cut and paste from one of the major fishing tackle companies but I am not seeing the one-piece version right now.  Hopefully they are still making them.  A two piece 7' lite action downrigger rod would do the same thing.  I use them as board rods and downrigger rods.  The light action keeps boat mates from pulling hooks on fish and I don't need 50 million rods to manage. Yes, they get 30 lb mono on rigger rods even though they may not be rated for line that heavy......its an ugly stick, virtually indestructible.  Bend them to the water on a tight release, step on them, bang them around.....it doesn't matter.  

Thank you very much.  Yes, I've used Ugly sticks for other things , and you can practically run them over with a truck and keep using them.  I prefer something longer for flatlining rods with the 14 foot boat I use in the mountains, to increase the spread, but  I have been using a light action Gander Guide series 7 footer for my Canon mini-troll downrigger (all state of the art equipment…. in 1975!) with reasonable success.

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