riverhunter
11/10/2015 1:26:00 PMSeems like those have no adipose fin. Can't really tell from pic but they put steelhead in their last year and they were clipped you caught some
Seattle Pat
11/10/2015 5:15:00 PMThey're all clipped - they are from the hatchery and are rainbows intended for steelhead planting.
riverhunter
11/11/2015 9:05:00 AMThe trout that were stocked this fall are not part of last years steelhead settlement. All trout that are stocked come from hatcheries but they do not clip them. Ask wdfw to confirm but I can assure you that those were lasts years steelhead as this year they are just ordinary trout that were put into lakes. Wdfw wouldn't put money into raising fish and clipping them just to release in lakes nor would they want the same scenario as last year to play out.
JoshH
11/11/2015 11:02:00 PMActually the fish stocked this fall are fin clipped. I've fished Gissburg ponds since the stocking. Same hatchery that the fish in Bitter come from and they are clipped. The fish are all 11 - 13 inches. NOAA announced in March that the hatchery steelhead would not considerably harm wild steelhead, then did an about face in May. There's articles online about it. These fish, like last year are winter hatchery steelhead.
riverhunter
11/12/2015 4:44:00 AMThey also stocked gissburg last year with steelhead. Not calling anyone liars but wdfw put on their webpage that these fish are a response to anglers asming for fall and winter trout opportunities.http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/oct2015a/
JoshH
11/12/2015 8:49:00 AMThey said the exact same thing last year when they stocked over 300k, that it was in response to folks wanting more opportunities. Like I said, lots of articles out there about it and the NOAA decision this spring, and the WDFW response. Spokesman Review has an article on May 31st about it.
riverhunter
11/12/2015 9:50:00 AMNot exactly last year they explained the surplus of fish and even put a 10 fish limit. I went out on several occasions to tye lake and bitter and limited out on the 10 fish limit. This year they did not. Also last year they put most of those fish in sprague lake during the spring of 2014 and kept over 100,000 more to put in lakes without outlet streams. I'm sure you could be right but I just haven't read that article, if you could be generous enough to show me how to find that article explaining this fall stocking that would be great.
JoshH
11/12/2015 10:37:00 AMHere's the news release from the WDFW http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/may2815a/
JoshH
11/12/2015 11:16:00 AMA few articles about it. Some were released in June, but most were kept for this fall.
http://q13fox.com/2015/05/30/state-to-release-puget-sound-steelhead-in-lakes-not-rivers/
http://www.kxly.com/news/northwest/state-to-release-puget-sound-steelhead-in-lakes-not-rivers/33308084
http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/decision-on-thousands-of-hatchery-steelhead-planted-into-statewide-lakes-expected-very-soon/
http://q13fox.com/2015/05/30/state-to-release-puget-sound-steelhead-in-lakes-not-rivers/
http://www.kxly.com/news/northwest/state-to-release-puget-sound-steelhead-in-lakes-not-rivers/33308084
http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/decision-on-thousands-of-hatchery-steelhead-planted-into-statewide-lakes-expected-very-soon/
JoshH
11/12/2015 4:35:00 PMNo worries. It's deceiving when the state says "due to demand for winter opportunities" when in fact it's either dump them in a lake, or destroy them.