RAFFLE WINNERS
1st Anne Zaniefski................ 2nd Dick Estey
3rd Kevin Najmowicz ............... 4th Phil Labrecque

Choice of colors Forest green or Safari tan.

Can be purchased at monthly meeting

Our Connecticut Trout Unlimited council has launched a website aimed at helping bring our chapters together statewide. The web site has a large amount of information and links to each chapter in the state. Take a look, it is well worth it.

Salmon & Shad & Herring Returns 2007
by Bob Gregorski

Atlantic salmon returns to Connecticut River as of July 11, 2007 were 134 with 11 of the 103 salmon at Holyoke released upstream. Ten of them were radio tagged. Four of them were monitored in the Deerfield River and one in the Greenfield River. One made it to Turners Falls; it then turned and went downriver. Five salmon passed Turners Falls and Vernon; of those, three passed Bellow Falls. Last year at Holyoke there were 214 salmon counted with 16 released upstream.

In two other New England salmon programs, 72 were recorded in the Merrimac River and 657 salmon were counted in the Penobscot River in Maine. These numbers may not be the totals for 2007.

Last year, 156,532 American shad were documented in the Connecticut River. A final total for 2007 has not been determined, but it is at least 163.422.

Blueback herring increased to 74 this year compared to 21 last year. The number counted continues to be extremely low.

An unusual capture was made at the West Springfield Project where a shortnose sturgeon passed up the ladder into the trap. The fish was later released into the Connecticut River.

The following excerpts are from the summer newsletter from the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Association (CRSA). James Carroll, secretary and Director, CRSA stated, “The consensus I heard at the Bar Harbor meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) was that none of the freshwater factors explains a recent order of magnitude decline in returns. Most of these freshwater problems have actually been improved in the last two decades in many rivers.”

Carroll summarized the meeting. “I came away from the Bar Harbor meeting with a real appreciation of the intellectual expertise and

Salmon & Shad & Herring Returns 2007
by Bob Gregorski

salmon management experience from all over the globe being brought to bear on increasing our world Atlantic salmon populations. … Still, the research process has been and may continue to be slow within NASCO, but … take hope. I have from that meeting.”

World renowned salmon authority Fred Whoriskey’s article on the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s (ASF) sonic telemetry tracking program presented the objectives of the program. Essentially AFS hopes to determine where along the migration routes are the salmon dying. Which should help to identify and mitigate the causes of low returns of adult salmon to North American rivers.

Catfish & Largemouth Bass Research In a controlled experiment at Virginia Commonwealth University, researchers substantiated that largemouth bass did not eat 88% of channel catfish that had their pectoral fins intact. Catfish extend their pectoral fins when attacked. When bass felt the sharp spines in their mouth or esophagus, they spit out the catfish.

In contrast, 77% of the catfish that had their pectoral fins removed were eaten. The experiment included 2 to 4 pound bass and catfish that were 4 to 8 inches long.

Pike anglers have known for some time that using suckers and pond shiners that have soft pectoral and dorsal fins make good baits. In both cases, a pike are allowed to swim away with the bait, turn it around and then swallow it headfirst. So, the fins were not perpendicular to the sides of a pike’s mouth.

My own experiences fishing for pike using bluegills as bait, when pond shiners and suckers were not available, agree with the research.