"There's only one reason in the world to go fishing: to enjoy yourself. Anything that detracts from enjoying yourself is to be avoided". - Leigh Perkins, legendary CEO of the Orvis Company
Swift River Landlocked Salmon
Some people may say that LL Salmon need a large lake to grow up in and an inflowing river to run up to spawn. There are rivers that have non migrating populations and if the food supply is ample enough then why leave. They will spawn right there.
Here's my question(s) - did the salmon that went over the spillway make a mad dash to the Atlantic via the Swift,Ware, Chicopee, Connecticut River corridor or did they just die off. Will that be the fate of the 10 inchers (or smaller salmon) we see now?
If the DFW thinks that the salmon are taking up residency in the Swift then why not try to establish a population of them. They are more fun than rainbows.
Just a thought!!!
So far no snow and that's a good thing. Snow will really chill things off. Ken
11 comments:
Good day Ken, is there any concern as to the effect a permanent swift population of land locks might have on the resident native Brook Trout? I’ve fished the Still Water River in Sterling often over the past decade and every year it seems I catch more and more landlocked salmon par and less and less Brook Trout. The adult landlocks spawn in the Still Water but then return to Wachusett Reservoir. However, the 1 & 2-year-old par remain in the river year round, they are the same size as the Brookies and they do compete with them for food. This is just an unscientific observation by me. It’s possible that this decline in Brook Trout could just be part of a natural 10-year population increase/decrease cycle. Still I got to wonder if it were to happen, what effect a year-round adult population of salmon would have at the Swift even if they are on the small side. What do you think?
Dean F.,
Hmm...., Brookies or Landlocks. What a choice to have!! Personally I want both if there is room for both. LLS like to jump so maybe they win.
Ken
Rainbows jump but nobody seems to like them.
Ken,
I don't claim to know much, but it seems to me the Swift would be a good stream for the salmon to reproduce. The water quality is as good as it gets, though I can't speak to PH level and whatever else salmon would need to stick around and spawn. I caught a few small ones in 2019, none last year, but was surprised to catch a nice 11 or so incher a month ago. For a small fish it fought harder than most rainbows and the leaps were incredible. Pure power in that small fish. Side note, I have caught very few brook trout this year.
Sam
I have fished the Still for more years than I can remember. Landlocks are there however only seasonal (fall spawn). During high water events all types of fish from the lake may short term move in and out of the Still river system, however ultimately the water level drops, water temp increases and the fish drop back down. There is said to be a lake run rainbow (spring spawn) in the Still however, if true, I've never managed to time it right, although I have taken lake trout in the river in April. Lastly, interesting comment about haven taken brooktrout in the Still. Never taken one there and highly doubt they could sustain the warms temps of the river once late late June & July arrives.
Anonymous,
I wonder if the Stillwater has a Spring smelt run. I've heard stories about salmon and bows chasing them during the spring in tiny tribs.
Ken
Ken, smelt do move into the still and quinine in the spring but the numbers vary and some years they are not present, when they do rest assured lake and rainbow trout will follow. Depending on the strain of salmon they have an urge to either run up or down a stream, I suppose the lower area of the Swift where it opens up real wide offers enough dead water for these fish to seek a winter hangout. These salmon may be the kind that want to run downstream and that would make a little sense of why they congregate around Windsor dam during spawning times. I know a few tribs to the Connecticut that have small reproducing numbers of salmon and can be found in multiple age groups, so I don't think it would be out of the question for a small pop to manage on the Swift, and as far as the brook trout go just look to the streams in Maine where brook trout and landlocks share the water just fine, after all these are the fish that are supposed to be here, just my two cents
I have caught Land locked Salmon Par on the Still from April to November. My most recent Stillwater Brookies were caught in June of 2020. Two 4" in the riffles just past the left hand bend South of the Crowley Rd Bridge and Two 6" from the pool at the right hand bend North of the Crowley Rd bridge. Believe it or not I also caught a 6" Rainbow in that pool that day. The state doesn't stock them that small so I call that a wild fish. Maybe it found its way there from the Reservoir?
Ken,
BTW, just curious...have you or any others who read this blog know the latest on the supposed fish ladder on the Quinapoxet at the confluence to Wachusett. There has been talk for decades about a ladder going in to all fall LL's to spawn up that river...
Anyone?...
Havent been in here for to long - so Happy late Thanksgiving Ken and Happy Hollidays overall.
That would be interesting on the swift, a reproducing salmon population... Interesting. No idea biologically of the impact or plausibility, but given the number of LLS in Maine streams and the still robust brookie population, my gut says it could work... But that's purely subjective.
The stillwater is a neat fishery. I catch brookies (wild) in several trib's all year - so long as they are not ice coated. The hydrology of the area creates some really nice cold water streams into the stillwater and brookies prosper. But in the Stillwater proper I've only caught what I think were stocked brookies. If I ball parked it, I probably have caught 10:1 LLS to Brookies on the Stillwater since about 2000.
That's not including the fall run, which, can be amazing and occasional 20-28~ inch fish get caught.
I've noticed the past 10-12 years, some Lakers do shoot up looking for lunch, and in the fall some amazing browns have been caught that clearly spend the year in the depths of the reservoir (I'm talking 7-10# fish)
I'm not sure how the LLS par and smolts have impacted any wild brookies on the stillwater. It's a pretty rich river with lots of bug life and small fish for food, my gut says they could coexist... But as I said above, I've caught very few brookies in there compared to LLS and the massive majority I thought were stocked fish.
This was a good year with all the rain...
Hibernation,
The Stillwater is another reason not to stock hatchery trout over wild trout.
Ken
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