There's a rumour out there that all unclipped fish in the Vedder are still hatchery fish, that there are no real wild steelhead or coho in that system anymore. I hope that is not true.
Does anybody have any factual information on this, not just hearsay and speculation?
I truthfully doubt that there are no truly wild fish in the Vedder anymore. I volunteered at the hatchery over Spring Break last year and they don't release that many Steelhead to begin with, and all of them are clipped to my understanding.
It may be true that the run is stained with hatchery genes as some of the hatchery spawners will spawn with the wild fish, but that is why the brood stock program happens. Brood Stock keeps the "wild" genes of the hatchery fish in play so that they are not totally removed from the wild population. My bottom point is that that the wild fish of the Vedder have not been raised in the hatchery, because all the hatchery Steelhead are clipped, but may have had both a hatchery and wild parent which could explain why people consider them hatchery stock (assuming they are Steelhead). As far as coho go, I have no idea whether all of them are clipped or not.....
I hope buck sees this part of the topic, as he will be able to elaborate on this a lot more (maybe even correct me
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Back on topic of the "reports". I use to give them quite often, I have started drifting away from that. There are a few reasons why I do not do it any more, but the one about bringing the internet jockeys out is by far the main reason. I have had a few times on these forums where I have seen pictures of my favorite spot posted, which kind of disappoints me, but I simply move onto another spot. I have all summer to explore the river and find areas that will not be busy.
That being said, I am by far not against the forums at all. I have made many fishing buddies and friends off of these forums and have met a lot of awesome people, whether from the Cultus Lake derby or river cleanups or just by talking on msn and meeting on the river. I am more than willing to help someone who approaches me on the river, and I have done so many times this year. I am out to have fun, sometimes I get frustrated with the crowds, but in that case I just go home and wait for the weekdays
There are no secrets on the Vedder, but there are areas that are out of the way or simply areas that people pass up because they don't find them suitable to fish. Go find a spot for yourself, even if it doesnt look like it will be holding fish, it probably will be at this time of year with the fish being spooked by the rippers. Half the fun is finding the spot, the other half of the fun is the satisfaction of catching a fish in the spot you worked hard to find.