Thread: Salmon

As someone who dedicated his life to salmonids in the PNW...which is where most of these documentaries and debates originate I'd take all these "fact based" studies and documentaries with a heap of salt as they will spin everything to their side of the story...Seaspiricy says the ocean will be void of fish in 20 years or some such foolishness. Also, I'd just point out...aren't your NZ "wild" salmon runs just strays from hatcheries/farms in the first place? Anyway...
Also I hope to see to Wairau at some point this season...I doubt these fish have seen many backtrolled kwikfish
Good luck to all this season!!

Originally Posted by Joe Schmo

As someone who dedicated his life to salmonids in the PNW...which is where most of these documentaries and debates originate I'd take all these "fact based" studies and documentaries with a heap of salt as they will spin everything to their side of the story...Seaspiricy says the ocean will be void of fish in 20 years or some such foolishness. Also, I'd just point out...aren't your NZ "wild" salmon runs just strays from hatcheries/farms in the first place? Anyway...
Also I hope to see to Wairau at some point this season...I doubt these fish have seen many backtrolled kwikfish
Good luck to all this season!!

Originally were wild fish and thru 70s/80s ish supplemented by Acclimatisation Society (Now F&G) stripping eggs from wild fish and hatching them / returning smolt to rivers.

Originally Posted by mikee

Originally were wild fish and thru 70s/80s ish supplemented by Acclimatisation Society (Now F&G) stripping eggs from wild fish and hatching them / returning smolt to rivers.

how were they origonally wild fish??? they had to come from somewhere to begin with.....
now if only the biggest fish were used as donors would it not counteract the argument of poor genetics??? I seem to recall something similar done with trout in Taupo some years back...

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

how were they origonally wild fish??? they had to come from somewhere to begin with.....
now if only the biggest fish were used as donors would it not counteract the argument of poor genetics??? I seem to recall something similar done with trout in Taupo some years back...

I would suspect from what I saw on hatchery "open days" when I was a kid, any hand male fish got mixed with any handy female fish! That was about the extent of any genetic "selection"

Originally Posted by mikee

I would suspect from what I saw on hatchery "open days" when I was a kid, any hand male fish got mixed with any handy female fish! That was about the extent of any genetic "selection"

kind of like what happens when we shoot the best stags while still in velvet and leave the dregs to do the funky chicken with the hinds then...
yet we still see some absolute crackers turn up in any season with decent tucker after a year with less pressure.....

Heres a few from when I was a kid - probably 70's vintage. Top left is my 32 lb'er, all from Rakaia where we had a bach
6 Fish was a limit bag on any day, then it was reduced to 4 in about 73/74???. Biggest fish I ever saw caught was in the surf at the mouth weighing 42lb. Not a long fish but incredibly deep.
Reason I remember it so well is because the guy went home to Ashburton and put his photo on the front page of the paper. For the next couple of weeks every man and his dog was at the mouth so not even standing room like before
Seems unbelievable now but salmon in the 25 - 35 lb range were pretty common

Originally Posted by Bos

Reason I remember it so well is because the guy went home to Ashburton and put his photo on the front page of the paper. For the next couple of weeks every man and his dog was at the mouth so not even standing room like before

Just like youtube then Bos

Great photos, cheers for that. There are a few similar floating about in our family from the clutha and even the makarora (before they dammed the clutha)... Imagine that !!!



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Nice old photos Boss,thanks.

Originally Posted by mikee

I would suspect from what I saw on hatchery "open days" when I was a kid, any hand male fish got mixed with any handy female fish! That was about the extent of any genetic "selection"

Salmon egg milk shakes.Seagulls loved them when the bucket got accidently knocked over.

Originally Posted by Joe Schmo

As someone who dedicated his life to salmonids in the PNW...which is where most of these documentaries and debates originate I'd take all these "fact based" studies and documentaries with a heap of salt as they will spin everything to their side of the story...Seaspiricy says the ocean will be void of fish in 20 years or some such foolishness. Also, I'd just point out...aren't your NZ "wild" salmon runs just strays from hatcheries/farms in the first place? Anyway...
Also I hope to see to Wairau at some point this season...I doubt these fish have seen many backtrolled kwikfish
Good luck to all this season!!

Our salmon came from the Sacramento river. There were 5 importations between 1901 and 1907 so I guess they were not commercial / hatchery (as we know it now) fish.