Steelhead Jack count

[First Bite]

This steelhead season I've caught more Steelhead Jacks then ever before. Has anyone noticed an increase in Jacks too?

Mark

[SlappinH20]

No jacks for me, however, got into a few sea-run(?) cutthroats last weekend on the coast.

They ate all my shrimp! :shocked:

[Dragfreedrift]

Mark-

what about Jills? Catch any of those yet?


HC

[weekend warrior]

We hooked into a couple, maybe 3 at most. This is the first year that I've really put in much time for winters so I can't really compare it to anything.

[BUGLEMAN]

Mark,

Haven't put in the effort to know. Sounds encouraging though. Were they mostly brats, natives or a good mix?

Kevin

[ssteelheadsteve]

Jacks Maybe ? Many steelies will take up residency in the rivers and never go to sea. As the word get out to the ignorant that there is no TROUT fishing in most of our streams you will see a large increase in what you call " Jacks "

[First Bite]

The "jacks" I'm seeing have all their fins and are chrome bright. Probably 4-5 this past winter. They look exactly like adult steelhead but average 16-18" in length.

Mark

[Ty]

There is no such thing as a steelhead jack....

Possible to have a age two fish mature (only in hatchery fish) or as a half pounders (immature), two year old hatchery fish can be male or female and small fish that are wild that are mature 18-24 usually are one "salt" or one "ocean" fish. Rainbows in the wild typically never mature in the wild before age three, for some reason (most likely due to accelerated growth) many hatchery fish mature one year early as two's.

By definition a jack is a salmon, male, and age two.

But yes I have seen more 1+ and age two steelhead between 14-23 inches thean I have ever seen before. Could mean ver very great things next year!

[ 03-17-2004, 04:59 AM: Message edited by: Ty ]

[First Bite]

Hey Ty if there is no such thing as a steelhead jack then why does the WDFW refer to them as "jacks" on this web page

Mark

[Bendman]

I think that they used the word "jack"(in that web page) for lack of a better word. I have never seen that word used for a small steelhead either. I could be wrong but I'm going to try and find out for sure. [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[Rauly]

Geez First Cast those are not Steelhead Jacks. Those are just short Steelhead. Or maybe you have been dreaming about catching fish again.

Give me a break.

Rauly

[Ras]

I have a ball with those half-pounder nooks though :grin:

Ras


(Same Difference???)

[sparkleboy]

When I've done volunteer work with ODFW at fish traps, they have a section for jack steelhead on their count sheets...?
:whazzup:

[Ty]

Mark,

I am not sure about teh term "jacks" used by ODFW or WDFW... Only reason I wonder about it cause technically a "jack steelhead" would have to be male and sexually mature. There are steelhead that are male less than 16" sexually mature that never go to the ocean?

U can try and see if u find the term in scientific literiture cause I have never seen it by a definition. In salmon they are sexually mature and considered an adult, they are just age two.

Not tryin to ruffle any feathers here... I think they term may be jargin and not scientific.

[rustyhull]

fishing on a coastal river with a guide, he refered to a small broodstock steelhead as a "jack" steelhead. furthermore, he mentioned that next year will be the first return of this broodstock fish.

i agree it is a lack of a better word for a young steelie. why can you not redefine the meaning of jack? i haven't seen a regulation to the dictionary that says you can not change or revise the meaning of a word. or maybe we just come up with a new term for a steelhead young'in.

Originally posted by Ty:

Not tryin to ruffle any feathers here.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Then why bring it up at all Ty! Mark was merely making an observation using a term that the ODFW and WDFW both use.
You should really work on your communication skills Ty because you most certainly do "ruffle feathers"
If you wish to discuss this further then please email me.

[ 03-17-2004, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Stew ]

[Ty]

OK,

Here is goes.... I looked it up.. My sincerist appologies to all, some do call one salt "wild" steelhead "jack' if they are mature and their age is variable and always &gt;3. Apparently, this is not a scientific term but a jargon term developed for the rare one salt steelhead.

VIA NMFS:
Steelhead typically migrate to marine waters after spending two years in freshwater. They then reside in marine waters for two to three years prior to returning to their natal stream to spawn as 4- or 5- year-olds.

Chilcote ansd ODFW:
Most steelhead spend from one to three years in salt water before returning as adults to fresh water to spawn. However, steelhead life history is highly variable. Wild fish may rear in fresh water from one to four years and in the ocean from a few months to four years. As a result, there are sixteen possible combinations of freshwater and saltwater ages in first-spawning adults.

The most striking difference between steelhead and salmon is that steelhead do not always die after spawning. However, the percentage of fish that has spawned in previous years is small, ranging from 3-20% of runs in Oregon coastal streams and in lower Columbia tributaries, to near zero in mid- and upper-Columbia tributaries. Usually only females survive to spawn more than once.

Smolts grow rapidly in the ocean, reaching 16-20 inches by fall. A small proportion of winter steelhead, mostly males, reach sexual maturity in their first winter and return to spawn as jacks. Immature "half-pounders" enter the Rogue River at a size of 11-16 inches after only three to four months in the ocean. After spending about eight months in fresh water without spawning, half-pounders return to the ocean to complete rearing and maturation. Similar half-pounder runs exist only in the Klamath and Eel rivers of northern California.

[ 03-17-2004, 07:48 PM: Message edited by: Ty ]