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[Rodney]

A couple of days ago we encountered this fish and decided to keep it as I was very confident that it was a mis-clipped hatchery steelhead (the healed scar with a small remnant).



I thought I'll take a photo of it to put it up as this can probably generate quite a few opinions.

What would you do when you encounter a mis-clipped? Do you agree this is a mis-clipped?

You can read the whole story of the trip here:

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/2012/02/11/a-tug-erases-all-doubts/

[blaydRnr]

it really depends on the scar. i've caught a steelie with most of its adipose gone but had the base fully intact so thinking it might have been some kind of injury, i released it...on the other hand i've kept one or two obvious miss clips where nothing but a spiny fin protruded....i've also come across a few with very small adiposes. those were also released.

your fish is legal according to a similar fish i caught a few years ago where a CO was present to confirm the hatch.

[skaha]

--No I wouldn't keep it... but also wouldn't put the cuffs on someone that did..
--The reason is the "perception" of being guilty... when you're in the business... you have to be squeaky clean... drives some of my friends nuts... as the rules apply when on my boat or fishing party. 

[bigblue]

I have also been curious on this subject for quite a while as it applies to both steelhead and coho fishing.
I heard on the river that if 75% or more of adipose fin is missing, then it can be assumed to be a miscliped hatchery fish.
Any basis to this 75% rule?
Are COs given any guidelines to follow on this subject?

[chris gadsden]

This is how steelhead are clipped at the hatchery.
http://youtu.be/VzAY9DxzH-E

[Sandy]

I don't have the regs at hand but I understand that unless the fin is completely removed and the wound is completely healed it is considered as non retainable. Therefore there is no such thing as a miss-clip when it comes to the retention
.

[blaydRnr]

I don't have the regs at hand but I understand that unless the fin is completely removed and the wound is completely healed it is considered as non retainable. Therefore there is no such thing as a miss-clip when it comes to the retention
.

not true...clipping of the adipose is not infallible especially when human error comes to play.

most CO's will tell you, if you're not sure, release the fish...but if they come across a fisherman with a miss clipped coho/steelhead, they can tell from the scar if an attempt to remove the fin was made surgically...most of the time so can most experienced anglers, but like stated, if you're not sure release it, as i have in the past.

[Sandy]

not true...clipping of the adipose is not infallible especially when human error comes to play.

most CO's will tell you, if you're not sure, release the fish...but if they come across a fisherman with a miss clipped coho/steelhead, they can tell from the scar if an attempt to remove the fin was made surgically...most of the time so can most experienced anglers, but like stated, if you're not sure release it, as i have in the past.

sorry, quoted from the tidal reg not freshwater.

A hatchery marked fish is a fish that has a healed scar in place of the adipose fin. The adipose fin is the fleshy appendage found on salmon located between the dorsal fin and the tail.

I'd say it is a "miss-clip" would I keep it? No.
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/law-loi/salmon-points-saumon-eng.htm


in reading that, I'd say that the two jurisdictions may vary in their interpretations of what is and what is not retainable

[firebird]

I agree it's a mis-clip and I would kill it if I was in the market for a hatchery. Before the days of clipping, I don't think I ever saw a deformed adipose on any salmon or steelhead.

[Casey Martin]

i threw back about a 14 pound coho in the vedder last year and its fin looked just like that. wasnt sure so i released it. and entil i hear something about miss clips from a CO mouth i will do it again.

[blaydRnr]

i threw back about a 14 pound coho in the vedder last year and its fin looked just like that. wasnt sure so i released it. and entil i hear something about miss clips from a CO mouth i will do it again.

you did the right thing (in the sense of uncertainty)....i once released a coho of about 10 lbs with an adipose that was 1/10th the size it should have been...it almost looked like a re-growth of the fin (like a crab would re-grow a claw).

[jetboatjim]

it would look like a fin to a judge....missing fin with healed scar......it says that in black and white

[Sandman]

it would look like a fin to a judge....missing fin with healed scar......it says that in black and white

That looks like a healed scar of a clipped fin.  Black as mud.

[dennyman]

If it was my fish, I would have thrown it back. Reason being it puts the CO in a difficult spot. If he follows the regs as they read there is still an adipose fin on the fish. Unfortunately one of those grey areas that a person may run in to from time to time on the river.

[blaydRnr]

all the reg says is a scar in place of an adipose. if there's a clean scar made from an obvious clip, there's no doubt in mind it's legal. the clipping of the fin is just a way of identifying hatchery from wild. i've never seen an injury on a fish that heals as cleanly as a precise cut made from a surgical tool and further more a cut to such a small torso that most predators couldn't even bite off without taking more than just a small flap of tissue....but with that said, if you're not sure or don't feel comfortable with the misclip just let the damn fish go!