03-10-2010, 05:08 AM
Not all Kokanee in Ririe are planted. There is a fairly healthy population of Kokanee that spawn up Willow creek. I try to go up there and watch them spawn every summer, and no I do not fish (more like snag) them while they are trying to spawn, sometimes its enough just to watch.
And I have noticed the missing portion of gill plate this winter also. I also thought this was probably due to being from a hatchery. Maybe when they dumped them in the lake they rubbed their gill plate along the dump tube or something. Or just being crammed into hatchery tanks damaged the gills somehow, kinda like how hatchery rainbows always have worn down tail fins.
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And I have noticed the missing portion of gill plate this winter also. I also thought this was probably due to being from a hatchery. Maybe when they dumped them in the lake they rubbed their gill plate along the dump tube or something. Or just being crammed into hatchery tanks damaged the gills somehow, kinda like how hatchery rainbows always have worn down tail fins.
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