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[brood dude]

i volunteer at a hatchery and in talking with the staff and other brood anglers it is some peoples belief that wild fish fight waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay harder then hatchery. do any of you find the same?

there was one wild coho that i landed this year that made me think i had a 12lbs brute, and after an amazing fight when i got her to the beach i was shocked to find that it was all of about 4 1/2-5lbs!

one of the last hatchery fish i got i practically ran onto the beach by itself! it was all over in less then 30 seconds! and this doe was 8ish lbs.

then of course there are others who think that a fish is a fish and there is no difference.

any thoughts?

[Taboo]

one of the last hatchery fish i got i practically ran onto the beach by itself! it was all over in less then 30 seconds! and this doe was 8ish lbs.

any thoughts?

I landed a large cow of a hatchery Ho last month (14 pounds) in similiar fashion.  It wasn't 30 seconds but it sure hit the beach fast!! 

I can't say in my experience that one fights more than the other as I think that other factors come into play, such as if the fish is already pooped from being on the move in fast water or whether it's been resting in pocket water.  I am by no means offering a scientific answer, but it's hard to think that a wild fish knows any better or worse than a hatchery when that hook gets set in its yap.

[Fish Assassin]

No noticeable difference. I've had hatchery fish fight like the devil and wild fish come in a lamb. Which taste better: a wild fish or a hatchery fish ?

[Old Black Dog]

i volunteer at a hatchery and in talking with the staff and other brood anglers it is some peoples belief that wild fish fight waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay harder then hatchery. do any of you find the same?

there was one wild coho that i landed this year that made me think i had a 12lbs brute, and after an amazing fight when i got her to the beach i was shocked to find that it was all of about 4 1/2-5lbs!

one of the last hatchery fish i got i practically ran onto the beach by itself! it was all over in less then 30 seconds! and this doe was 8ish lbs.

then of course there are others who think that a fish is a fish and there is no difference.

any thoughts?

How do you know it was a wild coho and not an unmarked hatchery one?
How do you know that it's parents were or were not wild?
How do you know that the fish was not caught previously and was tired?

[adriaticum]

I think people associate the word wild with being wild or wilder, more dangerous than the other association "hatchery" domestic, nice, friendly.

[Zach]

I find that wild Rainbow Trout fight much harder than hatchery ones.

[brood dude]

there have been some studies done and from what they have said is ...
if you have 2 wild adults whose young is hatchery raised the survival rate is x % (different for each river system)
if you were to spawn 2 hatchery fish and raise there young also, in the hatchery the survival rate goes down by 40% i just 1 generation.


seeing how the first and some will say the most important part of their lives (hatchery fish) is spent in a sheltered and controlled environment (slow water and fed regularly thougout the day)does give a little more weight to the argument that they aren't the same.which is why to my understanding they always do their best to use wild fish for brood stock.

i hear what you are saying about where the fish is and water conditions. i had one week that was really good where i would often get into fish on the first couple of casts. i landed a good number of them and the river was unchanged that week.all the fish landed i got from pools that would give them lots of time to rest and relax.

all that being said i still think the wild fish have a little more spunk!
 

[mastercaster]

From what i've heard hatcheries never use hatchery brood stock...they always use wild to keep the genetics stronger.  But I've never worked in a hatchery so...

[brood dude]

thats true mastercaster but if some of the smaller rivers dont get enuff wild fish they have no choice.eg. the year before last the cap got 4 winter runs back (could be hatchery or wild) so they had to take some fish from the seymour.im not 100% sure but i think they were all wild?

[bkk]

Well I have worked in the hatchery system for 25+ years and I can say that most definetly that hatchery fish are used for broodstock. If at all possible you use wild stock but that is very hard to due when you have a large program to run. How would you take only wild fish if your doing a program of 8 million chinook or 30 million chum? If it's a program of only say, 100 000 smolts you can use wild fish as that is a realistic goal. Steelhead programs are wild fish only for brood for most programs. Wild fish only is a good plan but not always possible.

[younggun]

i've heard of hatchery steelhead if they are suprisingly large, but ya most are wild. I dont think it makes a difference on the fight, but on some rivers it makes a difference on how/if they bite.

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

I find that wild Rainbow Trout fight much harder than hatchery ones.

i second that

[firstlight]

Havent noticed the difference myself.
Have had very good and very bad fights from both.

[mastercaster]

I find that wild Rainbow Trout fight much harder than hatchery ones.

I find the worst fighting trout are those that are in catch and release lakes (Island, Kidd, Sawmill,etc.)
I swear it's like they know you have to release them so they "play dead".  IMO nothing fights better pound for pound than Kamloops (Pennask strain) rainbows.  The biggest dogs are Fraser Valley 3N's.

[Zach]

I find that wild Rainbow Trout fight much harder than hatchery ones.

I find the worst fighting trout are those that are in catch and release lakes (Island, Kidd, Sawmill,etc.)
I swear it's like they know you have to release them so they "play dead".  IMO nothing fights better pound for pound than Kamloops (Pennask strain) rainbows.  The biggest dogs are Fraser Valley 3N's.

I agree, even in like a lake such as Lafarge, sometimes you can't even tell there on, just like dead weight. But its still better than catching nothing!