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[Sterling C]

If the amount of feed in the ocean increases again, which it most likely will, then we should see larger sizes in those future runs that intercept the feed. Smaller returns are possible, due to smaller fecundity in smaller fish, but I think the critical period that determines the adult return number is during smoltification when they first enter ocean, where abundance of food and presence of predation play a big role.

I was more thinking on a short term basis.

[Rodney]

I think we can very easily see bigger average size of the offsprings from this adults, but it can also go the other way. The productivity of the ocean is cyclic and can fluctuate significantly even in the short run. If you look at two generations ago of this year and last year's runs (2005, 2006, nevermind the small average size, the return number was quite poor. It's amazing how fast the abundance has rebounded.

The other way to look at it is that the number (demand) has gone up quite fast in a short period of time, while ocean productivity (supply) has not, so we are seeing the average size decreasing. That doesn't really explain what we saw last year though.

[milo]

I handled around 50 coho this year and like Adriaticum, didn't find any difference in the jack-to-adult ratio compared to previous years. To me, that ratio has always been around 1:4, maybe 1:5 (one jack per four or five adults).

[Floater]

I was talking with my friend about how i thought there was a lack of jacks this year but we were speaking of chinooks. Personally i did not land one or see any landed this fall.

[Sterling C]

I was talking with my friend about how i thought there was a lack of jacks this year but we were speaking of chinooks. Personally i did not land one or see any landed this fall.

Based on the test fisheries and my own personal 'field data' I would say that the chinook run as a whole was a little light this year.

[BentRodsGuiding]

My observations this year were that Harrison Chinook numbers were way down, Coho numbers were down a fair bit, but not bad, but average size of Coho was well down. Harrison Sockeye numbers were also way down. However Chum numbers were very good in the Harrison.

[BigFisher]

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[leadbelly]

Stave had good coho numbers this year that I saw. Slightly better every year for the last 3.Average size, maybe fewer brutes...
More jacks this year than any season Ive had so far there.
Did not the see usual huge springs jumping, saw one carcass.
Did some gill netting on a different system, small coho for sure.
anyone know where I can get a small gill net lol

[dave c]

I've caught several jacks this year and released them all because I was under the impression that they were 2yr olds and would return again next year, however a fellow told me that actually they are mature but for whatever reason they are as big as they are going to get so i may as well kill them if hatchery.  Is this correct?

[clarki]

I've caught several jacks this year and released them all because I was under the impression that they were 2yr olds and would return again next year, however a fellow told me that actually they are mature but for whatever reason they are as big as they are going to get so i may as well kill them if hatchery.  Is this correct?

The other fellow was correct. The jacks you caught will spawn and die this fall. Thank you for releasing them for the rest of us to catch

[Dryfly22]

I have caught way more jacks this year.  All of these males are coming back a year early but they are sexually mature.  Small fish, no such thing as a female jack in all my years fishing.  My thinking with the jacks is that they beak in on the big mature bucks and Does when they are spawning and do there thing as well.  What else would they do(you would too lol)?  now if all fisherpersons were ethical I think it would be a good idea to remove as many jacks as possible from the spawning grounds.  Thing is many are not and it would be a big problem if there was a no limit on smaller sized salmon(jacks) because people would just keep fishing, and we all know what would happen there.

I think a lot of people let these jacks goe because they are looking for mature adults and dont want to mess with their two or four fish limit.  If you have not kept a spring jack by the way you should really try one they are yummy.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone that really knows if the oportunistic jack spawners(as they must be) create more runts/jacks in the following cycle of spawning fish.  When you clean a jack the milt looks mature so I guess the question is does it create more fish likely to come back a year early and mess up the future stocks.  Bigger stonger wild better?    For sure jacks have been around way befor any of us.  But in rivers other than the Vedder, not all of the hatchery fish return to the hatchey, some spawn way upstream where there are no controls.

DF.

[Sterling C]

I have caught way more jacks this year.  All of these males are coming back a year early but they are sexually mature.  Small fish, no such thing as a female jack in all my years fishing.  My thinking with the jacks is that they beak in on the big mature bucks and Does when they are spawning and do there thing as well.  What else would they do(you would too lol)?  now if all fisherpersons were ethical I think it would be a good idea to remove as many jacks as possible from the spawning grounds.  Thing is many are not and it would be a big problem if there was a no limit on smaller sized salmon(jacks) because people would just keep fishing, and we all know what would happen there.

Why would it be of benefit to remove all jacks? They are naturally occurring and as best I know, offspring spawned from jacks show no increased tendency towards 'jacking' in the future. I know of situations where fish natural fish barriers exist that only allow adults to pass to the spawning grounds, yet there are still large numbers of jacks present in the river below the fish barrier.

[Rodney]

I think anglers need to understand that there is a clear distinction between jacks and hatchery marked salmon. Jacks are not products of hatcheries. You cannot tell whether their offsprings will also be jacks or not by simply looking at them. The mechanism is most likely genetic related. Also, bigger is not always translated into better. These are nature's insurance policy. The presence of jacks ensures a supply of sperms if there is a low abundance of adult males.

It'd be interesting to see the ratio of wild and hatchery-marked jacks to investigate whether hatchery production has a direct effect on the abundance of jacks. Because juvenile salmon release from the hatchery does not always match the out-migration of wild juvenile salmon, perhaps there is a likelihood for some fish from the hatchery to stay close to their natal stream and cut down their time spent in the ocean. It's just a hypothesis of course, perhaps one has already been suggested and tested before. There must be some papers which have dealt with this topic.

[Dryfly22]

I would have to disagree, even if there is no evedence.  Look at the Thompson.  I have fished it and big fish produce big fish.  Been there since the eighties.  Big wilds produce big wilds.  Jacks cannot be a good thing gauranteed.  Something went wrong otherwise they would be coming back a year later.  I bet they dont use them as brood stock.  Even when they are tubing Steel on the vedder, they take all of the fish they can get for brood just to be sure they get the numbers they need.  Can you say that they they should take all of the first wild fish they get?  They do because they have to.  If they knew they could wait and get all 12 to 18 lb fish and meet the quota they would.  But they do the best they can, and do a great job, cause who knows?  So they take what they can get and that is it.
That is why some of the untouched wild rivers have the monster Steel that people travel the world to catch here in BC.  Make no mistake that big broods poduce big fish on the returns.  just look at the egg size and numbers when you clean a big doe.

[Every Day]

The interesting thing is that 100% of the jacks that I have caught have been clipped hatchery fish, whereas in adults its been roughly 60% hatchery to 40% wild.  I don't know whether this is indicative of actual differences between habits of hatchery and wild fish, or if it is just a coincidence due to a statistically insignificant sample size.

Hatchery raised fish are more prone to jacking.

Jacks are actually the fastest growing fish of that age class/year (which is why it is a bad idea to not spawn jacks when doing hatchery work).
Therefore, in a hatchery setting where growth is maximized/sped up, more fish grow quicker = more jacking.

The majority of Fraser Valley coho return as 3 year olds. If there was a lack of feed at the end of their time spent out in the ocean then we could see smaller sizes and dimished returns for future runs.

Coho grow an average of a pound a week in their last few months before spawning. They are a super fast growing fish (but it is based on food), and all coho returning in a given year are the same age (with exception to jacks). If I remember correctly, all coho are 28 months old (or somewhere around that) from egg to adult spawning stage (Over winter in FW after hatching and spend a year and a half in SW).

Adult fish and juvenile fish don't eat the same thing, so I highly doubt we would see a diminished run due to this.
The part about smaller sizes is possible, but as Rodney stated, there is always variation in ocean conditions.

If most of the coho put on all of their weight in their last few months and as they are returning to the rivers, this doesn't even necessarily mean there is a food shortage up where they develop over the main course of their life.