Vedder Steelheading

Less fish weighed in this year with double the pressure.
The Vedder hatchery is a great success.
However much like our salmon we should be using hatchery fish for our steelhead brood, not dwindling numbers of wild stock.


Wildmanyeah, how was your season for steelhead on the Vedder this year or any other places that you fished?
 
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Steelhead near extinction in many many rivers throughout the NW and yet the Vedder is still getting pounded into mid April with mostly wild fish being caught. Doesn't make much sense to me.
 
I took a walk on the local Vedder Rotary trail, yesterday afternoon.
One young guy got a nice hatchery fish while there.
A big yellow jet boat ran up river past the new bridge, not sure how far. then later comes back down, c/w fishing rod.
Fishing pressure light in the afternoon.
flow is up over 1.6 now.
 
onefish said:
Steelhead near extinction in many many rivers throughout the NW and yet the Vedder is still getting pounded into mid April with mostly wild fish being caught. Doesn't make much sense to me.
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There is discussion about closing the river above Tamihi Creek on April 1 to protect holding/spawning fish.
 
Whitebuck said:
Less fish weighed in this year with double the pressure.
The Vedder hatchery is a great success.
However much like our salmon we should be using hatchery fish for our steelhead brood, not dwindling numbers of wild stock.


Wildmanyeah, how was your season for steelhead on the Vedder this year or any other places that you fished?
Click to expand...
Hit the nail on the head hatcheries take wild fish and make them hatcheries so that there can be retention of fish at the expense of wild stocks. On the Stamp river I have watched it turn from a predominantly wild run to hatchery to almost nothing left during the part of the season brood is taken. Hatchery fish are inferior to wild fish and more prone to disease and easier prey for the many predators they face including us. The only reason steelhead and salmon have survived for thousands of years is abundance, take that away and they will sooner or later diminish. The diminished baseline of today ignores what is historic numbers and thinks the new normal can be managed without doing anything to increase abundance in fact removing fish so that we can kill them even though wild numbers are in serious decline. Turning wild fish into hatcheries does nothing to help the main problem, wild abundance and hinders the recovery of wild stocks wherever they are used.
 
Fishtank said:
Forgive my ignorance but do hatchery fish spawn?
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Yes. Not many make into the closed area but some definitely do spawn in the open area below the hatchery. One of the concerns raised about the possible river closure at Tamihi Creek is that would potentially allow more hatchery steelhead to spawn.
 
My statement wasn't about if hatchery fish are the better or not it was an observation of the Vedder and the season they had. Some nice size hatchery fish weighed in. Wish they would bring back the hatchery on the Cowichan.
 
Great observation from what you see on social media. Obviously the same wilds getting beatdown and shown on hero media paint a bright picture of the Vedder.

The hatcheries do make it past the hatchery and make it all the way to the lake. Some have even been caught above the lake.

The tamahi creek and above closure would be great. However to have an actual impact on spawners an earlier March 1 closure above Tamahi woukd have a far better impact.

As for the Cowie...one really has to wonder how long the same wilds can take getting beat down. Having the hatchery back would be awesome, but is it worth removing the wild stock to achieve that?

Wildmanyeah, how was your steelhead season this year? What did you see on the water?

Would be awesome if we could have people like Dave making decisions for our fisheries as there is no personal gain or hidden agenda!
 
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Lol! I'm well past my best before date :)
The right people are in the proper places, just need the anglers to force their hands.
 

I personally did not realize the hatchery fish are generated from wild stock until after I caught this one. I personally am not sure how this is seen as ok. I would think there would have to be some method of returning a number of unclipped fish to the river since they come from wild stock to not make as large of an impact. As far as I read though seems like 100% of those raised are clipped. Seems like a system made to fail. Agree with the closures above tamahi if that's where the spawning it happening, need to protect them.

I also realize there are some people who dislike online media and social media as stated on this forum... which seems a little strange since they're also using a web based forum to discuss fishing. Anyways welcome to the future. Back in the day guys took pics and talked, now everything is everywhere. I for one am very greatful for some online information and help which to get me started in the right direction. I have really enjoyed fishing the vedder in the fall for Coho and now my first Steelhead. If you don't like online media just avoid watching. Anyways I'm glad I have a memory of my first catch on film so I can relive that adrenaline rush over and over.
 
FishDoc said:

I personally did not realize the hatchery fish are generated from wild stock until after I caught this one. I personally am not sure how this is seen as ok. I would think there would have to be some method of returning a number of unclipped fish to the river since they come from wild stock to not make as large of an impact. As far as I read though seems like 100% of those raised are clipped. Seems like a system made to fail. Agree with the closures above tamahi if that's where the spawning it happening, need to protect them.

I also realize there are some people who dislike online media and social media as stated on this forum... which seems a little strange since they're also using a web based forum to discuss fishing. Anyways welcome to the future. Back in the day guys took pics and talked, now everything is everywhere. I for one am very greatful for some online information and help which to get me started in the right direction. I have really enjoyed fishing the vedder in the fall for Coho and now my first Steelhead. If you don't like online media just avoid watching. Anyways I'm glad I have a memory of my first catch on film so I can relive that adrenaline rush over and over.
Click to expand...
The problem with online media is that people give up the information to delicate places and show little respect for how that will impact the stocks they are targeting. The vedder is a well know river and pressure will always be there. Giving up info on a system is fine if you are talking to the person and can tell they are an ethical angler its not the same when its given out to anyone with a screen. You used to have to earn your fish by learning for yourself which meant you eventually deserved the fish rather than just being spoon fed the necessary skills and timing to catch them. I have pictures of fish from different places and enjoy looking at them and remembering, I just don't need to show them to everyone else to prop up my own ego. It would be great if the reality of todays poor fishing was discussed but the baseline keeps dropping and inexperience keeps telling us how great it is until there's nothing left. Should people who have little experience be telling others with little experience what to do or where to fish when the stocks everywhere are so depressed.
 
steeler said:
The problem with online media is that people give up the information to delicate places and show little respect for how that will impact the stocks they are targeting. The vedder is a well know river and pressure will always be there. Giving up info on a system is fine if you are talking to the person and can tell they are an ethical angler its not the same when its given out to anyone with a screen. You used to have to earn your fish by learning for yourself which meant you eventually deserved the fish rather than just being spoon fed the necessary skills and timing to catch them. I have pictures of fish from different places and enjoy looking at them and remembering, I just don't need to show them to everyone else to prop up my own ego. It would be great if the reality of todays poor fishing was discussed but the baseline keeps dropping and inexperience keeps telling us how great it is until there's nothing left. Should people who have little experience be telling others with little experience what to do or where to fish when the stocks everywhere are so depressed.
Click to expand...

I don't think many people on social media are advertising where they are fishing for steelhead these days. As far as I can see in this area of BC the only place I see people posting from is the Vedder which is well known because of the Derby and Fred's posting photos frequently throughout the season. I think the fish stocks were in trouble despite the creation of social medial. As much as people pride themselves for how they did it in the old days, it really doesn't change the future. Times change. Progress, which of course is not always good. The population has grown, it's way more diverse. Environmental impacts, explosion of ocean predators, habitat change/loss. I'm sure the original first nation's were saying the same thing back in the day when settlers showed up. It's a big issue. We may have to stop fishing.
 
I don't post pics on Social media anymore and i try and tell my buddies the same but some just can't resist to show there hero pics and the look at me i can catch fish. I personally have people i follow on certain sites because i know they are going to post pics and do alot of the work for me as to when a where to go. Mostly young bucks trying to make a name for themselves lol. Alot of new guys won't know a certain river or spots but alot guys do. Back in the day if you mentioned a creek or ditch on this site oh man watch out you would get slammed big time. Now in the end this forum is no better and has really been part of the problem not the solution. Yes Steeler hit it on the head.
 
Vedder river water temp. was 50.0 F today at 5 pm
under cable car in the sun,
must have come on yesterday, and today...
flow way up since this am!
now 1.655
 
Why would the hatchery get all the credit for the continued success of Chilliwack Wild steelhead and not that it is a long river with lots of excellent habitat. Large salmon runs also add lots of nutrients. There hasn't been a harvest of wild fish allowed for close to 50 years or so while in Washington State killing wild fish lasted up until recently. Oregon still allows harvest if wild fish on some rivers

Another aspect of the Chilliwack I have wondered about is that when the smolts out migrate the river is usually in freshet while most of the Island River are not. Higher more turbid water may make it harder for predators to find them.

Just a few thoughts.
 
Hatchery credit for the wild steelheads success?

There is actually a harvest on wild stock on the Vedder. Its called the brood stock program and it takes 80 fish from the early wild stock every year. This year 60-wilds were harvested for the hatchery due to low numbers of early wild and hatchery stock.
 
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