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[Dennis.t]

Steelhead are decent,  but aren't anything special as a food fish.  That wouldn't be a worthwhile reason to pursue them.  If you catch a hatchery fish, keep it!  It doesn't do any good to let it go as they aren't supposed to spawn and doing to pollutes the wild gene pool.

There are no wild steelhead left in the Vedder. In the late seventies,the run of steelhead on the Vedder was in trouble.Hence the hatchery program was started and after many.many yrs of hatchery fish there is no wild gene pool left. 

[Dennis.t]

Makes no difference if you choose to release hatchery fish.

[Danube Boy]

Biggest tips for steelhead, don't floss, snag, drag bottom, or walk below somebody without asking or you will get thrown in the river, and believe me it is cold!!!! Keep the leader reasonable and just above the fishes head so they can see it, and wait for that float to rocket down, oh ya best part! Fish spots and cocentrate on spots within spots, grid the water, move on if no bites. Fish a good presentation all the time, I use bait mostly, but don't have to. On colder days it can be a pain. Some times they are tricky other times they hit anything, sometimes the switch is just turned on, I think due to temperature rising. Oh and If you don't catch a fish for a long time just give up to give me more space on the river.
 

Luckily this form of "justice" doesn't exist on the Vedder or you'd see 90% of anglers that fish it floating down the river.

[Dennis.t]

As someone already said in another thread, steelheading is a gas intensive hobby as you have to go look for it than wait for it to come to you. If you feel you have covered the water well and get no bite, it's best to move on and look for other fish. Most experienced steelheaders develop their own circuit on the river and follow it. Even for productive spots, if no bites after a while, move on and come back later. 

Agreed.Get out and explore.Put your time in.Find spots that feel right to you.Develop a circiut and work it ,hitting your preferred spots at different times through out the day.One can find a biting fish,no matter what the time of day is.

[Dave]

There are no wild steelhead left in the Vedder. In the late seventies,the run of steelhead on the Vedder was in trouble.Hence the hatchery program was started and after many.many yrs of hatchery fish there is no wild gene pool left. 

I dunno.  I agree the gene pool is diluted (it has to be as I'm sure no one is naive enough to think hatchery fish have not bred in the river since the inception of the hatchery) but all broodstock has been wild and returning hatchery fish are but one generation from wild.
Technically you are right I suppose but I like to think those 18-20 lb'ers we saw spawning last spring were wild - hey, maybe it's me who is naive.
Anyone with some genetics training reading?

[RG]

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/esd/documents/wild_and_hatchery_steelhead.pdf

http://www.chilliwackwatershedstrategy.ca/docs/Issues%20and%20Alt%20Reports/2008%2004%2014%20CRWS%20Issues%20%20Alt_Hatchery_DRAFT.pdf

[steelie-slayer]

i usually own keep the first chrome hatchery doe of the seson sometimes 2 so that i can get roe for most the season and smoke them. and i fish the upper river and still get many hatcheries i find i get most the hatcheries in colder weather or snowy and early season in december i guess as less people so more chance for them to make it up. and a big help when steelheading is to fish 2 diffrent things through each spots usually ill fish bait and an artificial. best bait is ghost shrimp but roe works good to, an for an artificial blades, jigs, jensen eggs, and my secret thing   .remember dont be a fence post move often and choose a section of water and fish it and learn it, youll learn where the fish sit and catch more fish. also look for the spot within the spot so to speak for example the riffle water near the head of the run or the seams or pockets. once you figure out steelhead they are an easy fish to catch. i know this wasnt originally about steelhead fishing but just helping the begginers. oh and im always looking for ways to get to the river as i dont drive, i can get you into fish  

[Dennis.t]

i usually own keep the first chrome hatchery doe of the seson sometimes 2 so that i can get roe for most the season and smoke them. and i fish the upper river and still get many hatcheries i find i get most the hatcheries in colder weather or snowy and early season in december i guess as less people so more chance for them to make it up. and a big help when steelheading is to fish 2 diffrent things through each spots usually ill fish bait and an artificial. best bait is ghost shrimp but roe works good to, an for an artificial blades, jigs, jensen eggs, and my secret thing   .remember dont be a fence post move often and choose a section of water and fish it and learn it, youll learn where the fish sit and catch more fish. also look for the spot within the spot so to speak for example the riffle water near the head of the run or the seams or pockets. once you figure out steelhead they are an easy fish to catch. i know this wasnt originally about steelhead fishing but just helping the begginers. oh and im always looking for ways to get to the river as i dont drive, i can get you into fish  

Some good points! Just to elaborate on one point...When u find that spot within the spot.U will catch steelhead there all season long.The fish for whatever reason will chose the same sweet spot over and over again.

[DRP79]

i usually own keep the first chrome hatchery doe of the seson sometimes 2 so that i can get roe for most the season and smoke them. and i fish the upper river and still get many hatcheries i find i get most the hatcheries in colder weather or snowy and early season in december i guess as less people so more chance for them to make it up. and a big help when steelheading is to fish 2 diffrent things through each spots usually ill fish bait and an artificial. best bait is ghost shrimp but roe works good to, an for an artificial blades, jigs, jensen eggs, and my secret thing   .remember dont be a fence post move often and choose a section of water and fish it and learn it, youll learn where the fish sit and catch more fish. also look for the spot within the spot so to speak for example the riffle water near the head of the run or the seams or pockets. once you figure out steelhead they are an easy fish to catch. i know this wasnt originally about steelhead fishing but just helping the begginers. oh and im always looking for ways to get to the river as i dont drive, i can get you into fish  

Gimme a shout sometime. I drive and could no doubt use some help getting into fish on my first steelhead season.

[rhino]

i have only caught 2 steelhead in the Vedder in 5 seasons (i suck/still learning steelheading). both were hatchery and both were in mid to upper reaches.

[roseph]

Killing hatchery steelhead? eek, that's bad karma to me.  I know a guy who killed one once and hasn't caught another steelhead since!

[Matt]

There are no wild steelhead left in the Vedder. In the late seventies,the run of steelhead on the Vedder was in trouble.Hence the hatchery program was started and after many.many yrs of hatchery fish there is no wild gene pool left. 

Who said Vedder? 

[Matt]

Luckily this form of "justice" doesn't exist on the Vedder or you'd see 90% of anglers that fish it floating down the river.

I fail to see the downside

[Every Day]

Applying to the hatchery genetics scenario.

I have the assumption that not all fish in the vedder are actually hatchery fish, and that there are definitely some wild genes left over. I hit some fish that take me for a run every year, and they fight noticeably different to me than the hatchery fish do.

By my logic the "hatchery fish" are wild fish that are just helped along a little - only once removed from the gene pool of wild fish. If that same hatchery fish would be spawned over and over each season then we would have a problem (possible inbreeding complications, etc). In the case of wild broodstock, if that hatchery fish goes and spawns in the wild, it is only 1 generation out of the wild gene pool and shouldn't effect the gene pool much, if at all. Those offspring are still wild fish, they need to hatch out of the ground, make it past all the predation from egg to smolt and have to fight for food just like every other wild fish does.

It actually baffles me when people say that all the fish in the river are hatchery fish. What makes a hatchery fish? Is it the fact that they are helped along a little in the first stages of life, or do you actually think there is a genetic contribution attributed with it? I personally believe a hatchery fish is one helped along, a wild fish is one that had to survive on it's own in the river. If that one that had to survive on it's own had a hatchery parent, I don't see that making it a "hatchery fish".

I'd love for someone to prove that this actually makes the gene pool weaker in the terms of wild brood stock. In the case of using hatchery fish year after year, then yes it could definitely have a huge effect on the gene pool. In my mind, if a fish makes it through everything and comes back to spawn on it's own, it's just as good as any wild fish whether it had a hatchery parent or not.

[roseph]

I think it was either Matt or Dion that explained this earlier, and probably much better.

Anyhow, one of the reasons (other than having X number of fish with the same genetic profile) hatchery fish do not match up to wild fish is that you don't get the competition for breeding.  ie.  when two steelhead spawn in the river, the biggest baddest male will fertilize the best female eggs.  If you take steelhead from the river and choose the two yourself (like they do in the hatchery) you won't get that optimum pairing.