Rufus Piggy

On Saturday, Janni and I met up with Noggin Yakker, at the lower net pens on Rufus.

Pretty dang slow, and the water was cold. No sign of fish, so I tried trolling with a leech/bugger and a deep-diving Rapala. Got one hit on the perch colored plug, which was long-lined at least 50 yards behind the boat. Lots of head shaking and twisting and turning, but no real runs. By the time I had it reeled to the boat, it just rolled over and was an easy scoop in to the net.

25" length
17 1/2" girth
No scale, but guessing weight was in the mid-teens.

Too bad I wasn't signed up for AOTY!

Holy cow.. That thing is a couch potato...  Are they escapees from "fish farm" net pens?  Living off the excess feed from the pens? or ??

Dude, piggy is right! Darn thing is overflowin the trough. Congrats PS!

Z

Tripolidzilla!

The gut on that thing is amazing. 

Holy cow.. That thing is a couch potato...  Are they escapees from "fish farm" net pens?  Living off the excess feed from the pens? or ??

From everything I've read, that's exactly what they are.  They're triploids that got out when the nets weren't taken care of.  

Nice fat fish!

That's a triploid. The Colville tribes release some, once in a while. Some of the releases are intentional, and some are not. A couple of years ago, there was a huge release and they scattered throughout the reservoir. Some days I could hook 20-30 in a few hours, on a fly rod. The walleye guys were POed.

That's a triploid. The Colville tribes release some, once in a while. Some of the releases are intentional, and some are not. A couple of years ago, there was a huge release and they scattered throughout the reservoir. Some days I could hook 20-30 in a few hours, on a fly rod. The walleye guys were POed.

Are Triploids the ones sometime sold as  "steelhead" in Safeway/Fredies etc?  What is the intended market for the tribes fish?  How do they cut?  Would be interesting to catch a few and smoke them up..

That is a Great fish Mayor!  Did you bring it in or did Janni?

How do they cut?  Would be interesting to catch a few and smoke them up..

My buddy fishes for these every year.  He tried smoking some but said they "melted" in his smoker.  He says they eat great though.

Are Triploids the ones sometime sold as  "steelhead" in Safeway/Fredies etc?  What is the intended market for the tribes fish?  How do they cut?  Would be interesting to catch a few and smoke them up..

Some of the stores in our neighborhood, market them that way. I don't know if any of the tribes are allowed to wholesale regular steelhead, to markets.

When they get as big as this one, they are very fatty. Very nice red flesh, with lots of marbling. Took close to 2lbs. of fat out of the body cavity. Baking part of it produced grease like a slab of bacon. The only concern I would have about smoking one, is the potential for grease fires!

BTW, Lee, I forgot that the tribes have a crude parking lot/campground at the lower pens. A few picnic tables and fire pits, and some homemade pit toilets. I haven't seen anything about a charge to stay. Best fishing is mid-week, when more water is moving through the hydro projects. The extra flow pushes the fish to the sides and in to eddies. On the weekends, with no flows, the fish scatter throughout the reservoir.

Spot, I grabbed the rod, and then Janni did a great job of clearing the decks and getting ready for the net job.

I smoked a 6 lb triploid I took from a local lake, and I had to empty the drip-pan on my Lil' Chief twice before it was done! Never seen such a fatty trout! But it came out tasting pretty good. The ones in my local lakes all get caught and bonked by year's end. The power-bait plunkers here are relentless, and guys troll for 'em until they can't catch any more. Few, if any, seem to survive the "get 'em before the other guy does" mentality so prevalent here in Grays Harbor County.

I release nearly all of my big triploids, just hoping that one might survive and grow to its potential. And then in my wildest dreams, I hook it again the next year, and it has grown at least 5 lbs since I last shook its pathetically chewed down tail fin!

Hey Pisco, your fish probably couldn't run hard with its small remnant of a caudal fin!

BTW, Lee, I forgot that the tribes have a crude parking lot/campground at the lower pens. A few picnic tables and fire pits, and some homemade pit toilets. I haven't seen anything about a charge to stay. Best fishing is mid-week, when more water is moving through the hydro projects. The extra flow pushes the fish to the sides and in to eddies. On the weekends, with no flows, the fish scatter throughout the reservoir.

I think the Colville tribe has some kind of camping permit you have to get.  After finally getting out on the river for some steelhead action, I'm not really so intruiged by Rufus      I'll check it out when it's a little warmer and Steelhead season closes!

Good Lard!!!  Why did you take 2 bites out of its tail fin???  And a really cute netgal, too!