I'd rather catch wild fish, but in the case of steelhead, being an east coaster... I have to catch hatchery fish or catch nothing because ours are EXTINCT. it's sad and wild fish are nicer, but I love those feral hatchery fish just the same.

also, god bless moldy chum.

yrs-
Evan!

well, I guess you put me in MY place, Ramcatt. how very helpful of you!

I don't think Great Lakes fishing is all that bad. Regardless of the gene pool it's all we got and it serves it's purpose. It's enjoyed by thousands each year. So before you turn your nose up into the air maybe take a moment to think about.

Wild,all the way,this is also true with salmon and trout,but the wild counterparts just fight better! The wild fish grow up chasing insects and smaller fish,whereas the hatchery fish grow up sucking pellets off the surface.Its obvious what I choose!Steelies and salmon are the most fun fish I ever caught trolling and at least salmon taste better wild,I don't know about steelhead,you can't keep 'em where I live unless they're farmed!

Wild of course! But wild doesn't exist in lake Michigan. Finally a question for me, I love steelhead fishing.

I am not one that has caught a heck of a lot of steelies, but I have landed both hatchery and wild. I have a little more affection for wild fish because they are part of an original ecosystem, a continuation of an unadulterated past that has become a distant has-been for people in the current generations. It is part of the herritage of our land, and I appreciate honoring and remembering what the land has to offer.
I am no snob though, and I would be happy to catch ANY steelhead...they both fight well and eat good!

I think its because the hatchery fish take more time swiming up river than native fish! Alot of times they put tracking devises in some of the fish! you can go online and track these fish where they swam and how long it took them! I fish in a spawning area of the river where we catch Hatchery and Native fish. The Native fish dont hang around much. And hatchery fish you might catch the same fish a couple times in one day. On tast. it usually depends where you fish. I fish most of the time in idaho where these fish have a long time to travel and there meat turns more of white color. If you catch these fish early on maybe in the columbia river they are frest and the meat is pink like a salmon almost. I think its where you Fish! The Hatchery fish can fight just as much as a Native fish. We get a bunch of B run fish that Fight like salmon!

I voted wild, although I understand that to make fishing fun for the people who feel the need to catch fish the state fish hatcheries feel it necessary to stock them. In truth there aren't many lakes left that don't get stocked with something in one way or another.

I really don't see how hatchery fish hurt the gene pool. Also once a hatchery fish spawns in the wild there offspring are wild fish. Unless someone can tell me they can identify the diffrence.

Ramcatt can you tell me that there is differnce after a wild steelhead spawns with a hatchery fish in the wild because in my book the offspring of those two fish are wild steelhead.Here in Idaho we are proud of steelhead native or hatchery.

This is a much different issue with steelhead than with trout. Wild steelhead are in serious trouble and hatchery fish are a major part of the problem. While its a ton of fun to catch any steelie, wild fish are a truly amazing and inspiring fish to do battle with. The stockers in the great lakes are doing fine, but the Pacific Northwest is not the place for any non wild steelhead.

Just curious as to what data shows that hatchery fish dilute wild population gene pools? It's definitely possible, but if hatchery fish are so inferior then they're unlike to breed. Which would make any negative impact of theirs solely the function of direct competition and not genetic dilution.

But if a stocked fish survives predators, winters, high/ low waters, food shortages, and treble tossing rednecks long enough to effectively reproduce then where is his/her percieved weakness? Survival of the most fit means just that, not survival of what you think should be most fit.

I'm happy to catch whatever fish is out there, native or introduced member of same species. If we're going for preservation of a native population then by all means use good science and effective regulations to protect it. But lets be sure that those regulations exist for reasons born of conservation and not to feed ego or human ideals.

Hey Bigjake I love the New Brunswick area as well! Can't wait till next Spring!