I cleaned more steelhead this fall at 1 fish per man then at anytime in the 90's and there was a 3 fish limit then, that's saying something.
Fishin fred heres some food for thought, I was invited too a guide meeting with the dec , the topic wasn't steelhead but I brought up an interesting topic while at the meeting .In the old days I had the dec send me yearly stocking reports, I still have most of them from the 90's in a drawer somewhere, back then you would see things like spring brook, rt 3, rt 52, pineville, orwell brook ect in the steelhead and salmon stockings, then recently all I see is beaver dam brook, for everything, well won't all the fish stocked just race too the hatchery brook and not hold anywhere else in the river now?, since they no longer stock them anywhere but the hatchery, made moppys eye brows raise up when I said it.
that's interesting snag and i'll tell you why .... sage was never stocked with steel and I catch them their all the time along with 20 streams no wider then a car ..... as far as I know chrome was never stocked in little salmon nor grindstone ...still has fish ....I don't believe any of these fish have any homeing instincts I believe and I have always said I think they follow current I think the same with salmon I have caught steelhead salmon and browns all the way to phoenix and in black creek and waterhouse creek ..........like the geese that live on the golf course they ain't heading north
I'm not fighting at all I'm stating facts fish are caught as far as phoenix and I'm sure beyond fish are caught in fulton up water house creek and black creek steel have never been stocked in sage creek nor catfish creek and your saying they are like homing pigeons? if that is the case why are most salmon now stocked directly into lake Ontario from barges ? sorry snag your not the only person with a valued opinion .....I have not stated one thing that isn't true and anyone that fishes the tribs knows it's true..... these fish return up ever stream that flows into that lake ...they do not return to the place of their origin and if they did 99% of your fish would die right in lake Ontario where the barge drops them.....