Db, you pointed out that the driftboat spotted the mass die off from pineville down. I have to believe the fishing pressure was pretty light in that area .
The way I understand is the alewives were are the cause due to the poor condition they are in ( high levels -thiamine ).
It was also stated that they were in the perfered water colum of steelhead so the steelhead gorged on alwives in turn lowering their B-1 levels.
Reason being the SR is the most reported effect " could " be due to the SR seeing the most return of steelhead in the lake system and the highest concentration of alwives in that area.
This is just taken from information I have been reading.
Also as you know the SR had a huge shortfall of steelhead egg take last spring , I think the number was around 200,000 short. They were able to gather eggs from other hatcheries to come " close " to the shortfall .
IMO , I think it will be worse this season and possibly a disaster next year ( same winter senerio this year ).

L-13 is very right,
Possibly if the returns are in jeopardy , close the river system down from oct -15 till may -15 for 2 years
Honestly , IMO it's not a fishing pressure issue, there have been HOARDS of people steelheading for at least the last 10 , if not longer years. This and last year are no different.
All we can do is rely on the knowledge and expertise of the fisheries management then hope for the best.

Great points tuna... I am being misunderstood on the fishing pressure issue. I'm not saying its the problem... Just saying its not helping AT ALL. You have vitamin deficient fish that are being slaughtered... And for the dead fish, I've witnessed dying steelhead plenty of times... They descend downstream with the current while gasping for air. Altmar seems to be the crime scene from my observations

Gotcha brother. I understand what you mean. Pressure sure ain't helping weakened fish, that's a fact

If fishing is a big part of the cause then STOP c and r for a couple of years.
(did I say that ???)
 
Catch a limit and keep it --may save  many fish improperly released and those done properly only to die because of other factors related to stress.
Yea--I know- not in the makeup of most of us, but may stop some of the dying of already stressed fish for a while till things on the lake straighten out.
Blast away-----

Trevor .
We just got imposed on new striped bass regulations for the Hudson River today.
A slot size.
Every thing between 28" & 40" ( edit) must be released. Only 1 fish below OR 1 fish above can be kept . Most fish I ( we ) catch are outta the keep range and in the release status .

As far as the SR , I have to think and from my experience over the years guiding. Most fishers below the zones are catch and creel within the 1 fish limit

hot tuna

As far as the SR , I have to think and from my experience over the years guiding. Most fishers below the zones are catch and creel within the 1 fish limit

And after a quick trip to the car they catch their limit again.
 
 From what I have seen I would say many of the fly chuckers are  C&R, especially the ones above 50.   Most spin guys are out for meat especially the ones fishing with sponge.  I know when I fish my spin reel with egg sacs I am going to keep a fish. My wife likes how they taste and I do not have to buy it from the store.
 
If we eliminated the number of kept foul hooked fish (snaggers), the fishery would be fine even with the loses. Who would like to venture a guess on the % of kept fish that are fair hooked. In my brief history of fishing I would say well over half the steel I have seen strung up were hooked in the ****.

Slot limits on Salt here in Ct were in place long ago and  -as one who did a LOT of striper fishing in the Sound-did a lot IMHO on greatly improving the fishery-over time.
 Unfortunately they were different in each state and when fishing close to a line  - for ex putting in on a RI ramp but fishing CT waters it got confusing.
The limits surely helped the fishery come back but they weren't consistent from sate to state--although generally similar IMHO.
It is tough some days catching fish only to have to send them back all day when looking for one for the grill.
 
Agree on most SR guys.

I'd say 90% guided trips are catch and creel. Salmon or steel . I also believe that how far one traveles to fish also contributes to creel or release . A guy going an hr to fish is going to creel less, well to an extent.
Once you get out of the zone I honestly believe the majority of fishers are going to keep at least 1 fish. Personally I know some who do as Clint said.
I don't think harvesting more is the answer , remember , the lake limits are higher then tribs.

As for stripers and slots.
I do think you , Trev we not really a slot but a min size
Slots SUCK IMO . Not saying that protecting spawners are a bad thing or possibly necessary but a slot limit using live bait is not the answer . Anyone who fished slots for lakers on Ontario can attest .
The stripers along the coastal shorelines are much different then spawning fish in my ( our ) trib.
I have fished striped bass here since the 70's. we slaughtered them then and very few recreational fishers but MANY comercial fishers .
Comercial fishers raped the seas and winter migratory holding areas.
The early - mid 80's got so devistated , it wasn't even worth fishing then here.
Marine regs imposed a comercial restriction and it worked , 100 fold. The fish rebounded to peak levels about 10-15 years ago, and so did the recreational fishers ( here )

Now was the bait ( herring ) issue. Again regs were imposed, no trib netting and 10 herring limit.
So with the new spawning protection slot, imposed herring limit. My guess is in 5-7 years the stripers will explode and the herring ( bait ) will be off limit as in some states ( tribs already ) .
Tricky stuff this fishery game..

Just a final on the hijack from me.
I know nothing about salt water fishery . Charlie , Andy and yourself are light years versed then me.
Charlie is a wealth of knowledge .
All my experience is of a Hudson River spawning run that lasts about 30-50 days a year

Great to hear your views rj on the Hudson rj... Passionate and true from what you know. Top notch in my book.

For the salmon river. Yes a lot of guys below rt. 52 are taking 1 fish per outting. But catching,snagging, snapping pics, and same fish being hooked over and over again is a whole other side of it. I'm happy to see that center pin and bobber fishing is not as productive as it was... Just like every other fad... Once everyone else is doing it, the fish catch on.