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I think some of Captain Mikes thoughts were missed. Its about which fish will fill the nitch better and allow more of Indiana fishermen to be able to get into fish. on a more constant level. That fish would be the coho. the best reason that the coho fill this nitch is they only eat about 10-15% alewife for their diet. Thats a small amount of Alewife needed to support the coho. The facts are on steel show they eat more alewife then the coho and travel much more. Indiana has the smallest area of the lake, and we need to be thinking along those terms. What is best fish to fit the nitch. There is another fish also out there that I think we will be hearing more about in the near future. Atlantic Salmon. They are a fish that have the stamina and strength of a king, fight like a king crossed with a Steelhead, can take warmer water like a brown, and live a longer time then regular salmon.
As mentioned above we all have a pet fish we enjoy. But, what makes the most sense and gives the fishermen the biggest bang for his money spent. It would have to be the coho. You will be hearing more in time on Atlantics.

Been fishing stocked fish since 1998. Same issues out west and alaska. I do know could not catch a coho last year then 5000 end up in southbend in the fall. I know the steelhead run was down and I caught same fish most of the winter. I have read and watched all videos related to fish stocking. Coho taste the best. Kings. Taste great to. Steelhead meat is orange and makes the best chowder browns i dont like and lakers are great for the dog. Its not worth the driive for me 116 miles to catch 2 fish out deep when i used to go to the state 6-8 was the norm. 65 degree water today top to bottom today..so i know not to go. My thoughts 10 percent of fisherman catch the fish. Most fish in the lake have moved and follow the food and cold water. So instead of going to Mich for Kings wisconson seems to be the new norm for kings. Hey fishin is way better than last year.

Split saved me some time and explained my thoughts well. I'm not saying dump the steelhead stocking Indiana already does , just don't go to steelhead as the default "bonus" fish when hatchery space is available.

For shore fishermen and stream guys, steelhead are probably #1 (remember it used to be perch.)

I'm a boat guy and a charter captain. If I lived only a few miles from the lake and could fish every day by myself or a buddy or two, for a couple three hours, those Skamanias would be "my fish." Fish in the freezer isn't an issue. Getting 10 or more bites a morning isn't an issue. Just getting out and enjoying the morning coffee with a friend or spouse is good and a fish is a bonus.

In the "old days" when the Skamanias really stormed the shore line in late June/July, I'd probably have hated that time of year. Me'n my buddy could make our morning coffee run from late May through August in peace and comfort. When the run was on there were 100 boats working the mouth of the ditch every day, even on weekdays!

As a charter guy, I don't sell many trips to guys telling them "We are going to fish for steelhead. I know there are four of you, odds are we will catch one or two fish this morning." (One of the reasons I like gaspergoos.)

I don't think adding 40 or 50 thousand more steelhead (probably split between Portage, MC and St. Joe) is going to make much of an impact. It won't bring back the glory days of Skamania Mania. It won't mean my offshore trips will yield two or three more steelhead each day. It won't mean the pier fishermen or the stream fishermen will hook twice as many steelhead as they currently do.

If their numbers are right and it translates into 1500-2000 more fish in the streams from September-April, that's a major impact on that phase of the fishery. If every coho in the lake is down here from Fenruary to April, 50k isn't a drop in the bucket.

If I had my choice they'd quit the stocking all together and protect whatever is spawning. Close the tribs from Sept 15th-Oct 15th for the salmon and March 15th-April 15th for the steelhead. Let nature figure it out. It'd be fun to see where we were in 10 or 12 years. I know there wouldn't be Jack all in the Indiana streams but oh well.

I don't know. I'm glad I just finished my nursing degree and my captains license is in the basement gathering dust. It looks like there's a lot more security in the old business than there is the sport fishing game around here.

I'm not sure of that extra 2000 fish in the stream figure.

You are right, an extra 40 or 50K amount of cohos around in March and April is mostly a moot point. How about if there are that many more fish available to Indiana-based fishermen in the lake from May through September and in the rivers in the fall?

I just crunched the numbers for MC anglers post of 4-5% return on skams. Not sure what the coho return is.

I'm not here to argue, no point. Even if we all agreed on something, the DNR doesn't listen to us. I am happy they used the space for something rather than just cutting the plants. The May through September coho fishery seems less dependable than the steelhead fishery to me, especially if you are talking about fishing in Indiana waters.

The "rank and file" and "trout is a trout" comments really just rubbed me wrong in this thread. I think having a boat capable of fishing offshore puts most of us in a category way outside of your typical "rank and file" Hoosier. And I'm not going to go into an 8th grade biology lecture about taxonomy, binomial nomenclature, and common names. It just frustrates the hell out of me reading these state of the lake threads. But for some reason ,I keep coming back for more punishment and occasionally I chime in.