tincan
Well-Known Member
I'd put it at a 50/50 chance of that fish being a Skeena (Kalum) vs Wannock fish. Really the only 2 rivers that produce fish that size any more and given the catch date it's right at back-end of the Skeena run timing and front-end of the Wannock run timing for fish passing by north end of Haida Gwaii.
Given the fact it was an LIL guide handling the fish who most likely knows best practices I'd say there is a very good chance that fish will live to reach it's spawning grounds. Would the survival rate be slightly higher if the fish was left in the water? perhaps. But kudos to these guys for releasing this incredible fish. I've fished my whole life and I'm still dreaming of the day I hook into one that like and, yes, I'd probably carefully take mine out of the water for a few seconds to get a pic before carefully putting it back in the water to revive and let swim away.
In total, I think the Kalum has avergaed around 10K chinook spawners/year of late and the Wannock closer to 5K chinook spawners/year. Out of those probably a small percentage that are bigger than the fish caught here but certainly a few monsters in the 60's, 70's and 80's + each year still spawn at both locations. Let's hope people continue to let these now very rare fish swim free so that we can keep a few of these big ones in the gene pool for others to enjoy.
Given the fact it was an LIL guide handling the fish who most likely knows best practices I'd say there is a very good chance that fish will live to reach it's spawning grounds. Would the survival rate be slightly higher if the fish was left in the water? perhaps. But kudos to these guys for releasing this incredible fish. I've fished my whole life and I'm still dreaming of the day I hook into one that like and, yes, I'd probably carefully take mine out of the water for a few seconds to get a pic before carefully putting it back in the water to revive and let swim away.
In total, I think the Kalum has avergaed around 10K chinook spawners/year of late and the Wannock closer to 5K chinook spawners/year. Out of those probably a small percentage that are bigger than the fish caught here but certainly a few monsters in the 60's, 70's and 80's + each year still spawn at both locations. Let's hope people continue to let these now very rare fish swim free so that we can keep a few of these big ones in the gene pool for others to enjoy.
