Toots,
 
how many fish do you need? I don't think there is enough of a challenge now.
  No accomplishment of any kind to catch 30" plus fish in them there cricks.
 
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     "the scientific & graceful art of throwing the artificial fly is a beautiful
         accomplishment, but not so difficult as is generally imagined"
                                    John Brown

booly,
 
How does that proposed idea protect the smolts? 
 
Doc

That MIGHT be, but I see far more dead adults in the fall, than dead smolt in the spring. Nothing wrong with disagreeing. It is obvious that the Steelhead fishery is important to you. The other fisheries, ( Smallies, stockies ) are equally important to those who enjoy them. As long as neither interferes with, or threatens the other, there is no reason that both can't co-exist.

ORIGINAL: tippy-toe

ORIGINAL: spoonchucker

I would bet, that there is a much higher mortality rate due to folks over playing fish in September. Than there is from deep hooked fish.

Spoon, we seem to be disagreeing allot lately

I disagree with that statement also, I would imagine that fewer fish die from overplaying in Sept. then do from abuse in their youth or getting the rope.

dang I dont say anything for a while and yet Im brought up and bashed about how I give some tips for places for people to catch fish.  Went back to the dobermin hole today and fished with big flies and those billions apon billions of smolts found a way on the hook. I released them of course but I ended up hooking 4 or 5 25+ steelhead today in holes where there are smolts....Trout wizard caught a real nice chromer in the hole below the dobermins house....yet there was clouds of smolts....Im gonna put out a number 10 million smolts are in the creeks ATLEAST that many. I saw 2 dead fish today one steelhead in the bottom of a deep hole and one sucker that wasbout  8 inches long. those smolts wont all make it because as soon as they move down into the lake......guess what hungry waleye and muskee and pike and bass and so on....so expect larger fish...maybe not steelhead but others who benifit from the smolts. The thing about the smolts this year compaired to lastyear is there isnt many legal ones so if you see anyone keepin them Im sure the fish commishioners will be there to throw some tickets around(i hope)  I to saved about 15 smolts at  the dob hole.....they were swimmming under the slab  but the only bad thing about smolts being in the river now is give people who dont have anything better to do then complain about something

Doberman Hole - Dogs that will eat your face off, for the killing of smolts

How long do the smolts stay in the stream before entering the lake ? Do the fish imprint on the stream water or geographic location ? So they know where to return to.

I wonder if there has ever been any research done on trying to raise smolts in water taken from the stream they will be released into. They could be preprogramed so you could just dump them in the lake and reduce any stream mortality.