I am dedicating these comments this evening to Botso. He let me know fishermen wanted to hear what is happening with the fall Medvejie run. I probably should have put my thoughts down sooner, so thanks for the encouragement Mr. Eliason. So far 530,000 chum have been caught at Deep Inlet by trollers, gillnetters and seiners; almost all of those are from the Hidden Falls summer run stock (it preformed about double forecast). The real question is ‘will the fall run materialize?’ Naturally, I don’t know but reviewing the historical run timing, there are years when the fall run doesn’t heat up until after August 10th and big catches occur through mid-September. Some very large returns, ’04, ’05, & ’06 unfolded after the stat week ending August 9th. I can’t say this will occur this year, but it does give me some hope. Also we have not seen the summer run perform well above forecast without the fall run coming in strong as well.
This has been a year when summer run chum have under performed at nearly ever facility from PWS to Hidden Falls, mostly due to poor four year old strength. Even DIPAC which had a very strong year, saw four year olds at ~70% of forecast. Contrary to the trend throughout the state was the Deep Inlet summer run, which had good numbers of 4s (~40%) and strong 3s (10 – 15%). This doesn’t mean the fall run will mimic the summer run, but I like to think it is encouraging.
All this said, I am anxious about the run, but I am always anxious. Like you, I know it doesn’t do any good, but I know there is a lot riding on the outcome. You will probably know before I do if the run begins to perk up because you are on the grounds most days with gear in the water. Have a good evening and thank your dedicated board members.
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