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kamloops (rainbows)


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  • 3 weeks later...

I kind of think that unless a steelhead of a certain vatiety is a planted fish most of the steelhead that are naturals are just mutts. Wisconsin and Michigan both plant 3 to 6 varieties of steelhead and I am reasonably certain that they mix it up a little when they spawn. Thus the mutt steelhead, I never try to guess the difference too much. I catch lots of steelhead every year and only get about 4 fish with any kind of fin clips.

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MI only stocks Little Manistee strain and Skamania(Big Manistee). WI plants a few kinds though, and we get them in the NW here every year. I caught a pretty Kamloops a couple years ago in March.

The strain of steelhead collected from the Little Manistee are actually just called Michigan steelhead. The Skamania are raised by Indiana, and Michigan trades for them, they are only planted below Tippy, but no eggs are taken there. Don't know where Indiana gets eggs from.

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The strain of steelhead collected from the Little Manistee are actually just called Michigan steelhead. The Skamania are raised by Indiana, and Michigan trades for them, they are only planted below Tippy, but no eggs are taken there. Don't know where Indiana gets eggs from.

Yeah, I worded it a bit confusing. I meant that as the Big Man is the only skam plant. I know it's the MI strain, just being specific. I believe IN gets their broodstock from Trail Creek and the Joe, below Berrien.

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I refer to them as mutts as the DNR does not plant too many of them in the N Lake Huron Area. I believe many of them are naturally reproduced or come from Wisconsin or even Canada. Mix in a few from Minnisota mabey and over time you have some cross breeds. I catch mabey two per year with any sort of fin clips so two out of mabey 400 per year tells you that not too many come out of hatcheries. Unlike in southern L Michigan where millions of fish are planted you can mabey identify a few of them. I am going out mutt ice fishing this weekend by the way.

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You ought to know about planted fish Kevin. It has been so long since I have seen a MDNR hatchery truck I forgot what they even look like. Down your way they probably have a presidential motorcade of them. Makes a guy wonder what they are buying a license for. Don't get me wrong I catch a fair share of fish up here and I believe most are natural reproduced fish. As far as planted fish I think most are from Wisconsin or Canada. By the time they work their way over in my direction most are bigger fish. For example a 15 to 20 pound chinook is not uncommon and a 8 to 12 pound steelhead is very common. However a brown trout of any size is almost unheard of but Atlantic Salmon are pretty common.

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My home river gets about 14k steelies a year, which is nothing compared the the bigger and better known streams.

But oddly, the little feeder creeks that flow into it are always full of rainbows, and they don't get planted, so even down here there's a pile of natural fish.

I've only have one buggered up dorsal fin on steelies this year, and no clippers.

Fish move all over the place. We caught three clipped browns this spring; all 2-3# fish, and MI didn't clip any of last year's brown plant.

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