sturgeonater
2/19/2022 9:51:36 PMPretty sure that’s a hatchery fish that probably never left. Congrats on the catch!
birchb0x
2/20/2022 11:16:34 AMThat's exactly what I was thinking (clearly no adipose), but I've tried to look to see when the last time that river was stocked and I can't find anything in the last 3 years. I know the Dayton Pond gets stocked in the spring, maybe somehow it escaped from there at some point. I went back on Friday and only hooked into one but lost it in the fight, would have been curious to see if it was a stocked fish or not, it felt much bigger than the one from Wednesday. Cold front coming in so I won't be able to get back out until it warms up a bit more, provided the flows stay as low as they are currently. Gives my new waders some time to get here tho!
sturgeonater
2/20/2022 6:11:51 PM it’s not a stocked rainbow, but rather a steelhead smolt that never left the river.
birchb0x
2/24/2022 5:28:03 AMOh wow! Never would’ve guessed that, how would I tell if it was one over the other?
BentRod
2/26/2022 5:29:27 AMVery nice! Pretty sure hatchery stocked RBT don't get clipped since they don't need to be identified from wild counterpart like Steelhead in the river do. Agree it's a Steelhead...just hasn't gone to sea yet.
birchb0x
2/26/2022 8:56:42 AMThat makes sense. I also doubt they stock rainbows in the Touchet anyways, from what I've seen the river has a pretty good population of wild rainbows and they used to stock browns in it but don't anymore as far as I can see. Gonna hit it again on Monday in the rain, provided the water level stays where its been hovering the last few weeks. Got some new waders and boots I'm dying to try out. Also got a boatload of new flies to try.