Salmon Stripping

Rattlesnake Gal · 10-24-2005, 11:04 AM

Mark Your Calendars For Salmon Sunday!
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Salmon Sunday
Pope Dam in Melvin Village
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
For more information visit The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

Grant · 10-26-2005, 01:00 PM

Sweet! I haven't been to Salmon Sunday in 12 years, so I might do it this time. I have some old photos from one -- about 21 years ago -- that I will post when I get around to scanning.

mcdude · 10-27-2005, 06:21 AM

Salmon Stripping - old postcard from Melvin Village
What exactly is Salmon Stripping? I have no clue. McD
PS - I think I see Grant, as a young boy, scuba diving up the river!

Grant · 10-27-2005, 07:18 AM

You've done it again -- GREAT postcard.

What is salmon stripping? Well, the landlocked salmon population in Winnipesaukee is not native...and they don't reproduce on their own, so Fish & Game provides a little "help." Starting in October, they begin netting salmon (you can see the big nets hanging near the Pope Dam in Melvin some times), and putting them in a holding pen at the dam (pictured in the postcard, although now it's surrounded with a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire).

On "Salmon Sunday," F&G folks enter the pen armed with nets and with a stand, where they take the salmon, one at a time, and squeeze the eggs from the females and the milt (sperm) from the males. Mixed together in plastic wash basins, the mixture is then put in big jars and shipped off to the hatchery in New Durham (?), where the salmon eventually hatch (although not in the jars...). The young fish are stocked in Winnipesaukee and other lakes throughout the region when they are about 18 months old.

It's a very cool thing to watch (IMHO), and a chance to see some of the beautiful salmon that most of us would never see otherwise. And, trust me, I look for them. I also fish for them but, as a bass angler, I am still a serious "newbie" and trying to figure it all out... For some GREAT landlocked and Laker photos, check out the "Bragging Board" at www.fishlakewinni.com. This guy knows how to find 'em!

gtxrider · 10-27-2005, 02:20 PM

Did Fish and Game every try candle lit dinner, soft music and a bottle of wine?

upthesaukee · 10-27-2005, 03:34 PM

Naw, just blow in the fish's gills, and they will follow you anywhere!

Grant · 10-27-2005, 07:56 PM

Brush yer teeth first.

Grant · 10-27-2005, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcdude

Salmon Stripping - old postcard from Melvin Village
What exactly is Salmon Stripping? I have no clue. McD
PS - I think I see Grant, as a young boy, scuba diving up the river!

okay one last comment on this one...

From the garb and the coloring and lack of fence, I would venture a guess and say that this photo definitely pre-dates my arrival on the planet. Perhaps it's Senter Cove Guy you see in the water...

I didn't show up until summer of 1961.

Grant · 10-28-2005, 12:13 PM

Posted some photos from 1984 Salmon Sunday. Can't seem to get them to load on PhotoPost. In the meantime, here they are:

http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407236

http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407239/large

http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407252

http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407254

Rattlesnake Gal · 10-28-2005, 01:17 PM

Thanks for the pictures Grant.
Do the salmon survive F&G stealing the eggs and milt? Their website states that the fish are returned to the lake. It was my understanding that they die after spawning. If they just go to the back to the lake to expire, why not eat them? Are they not good at this time of year?

Grant · 10-28-2005, 01:39 PM

Nope -- they are returned, and many are "tapped" later. They are different than the ocean-living/stream-spawning varieties. But they can't do "it" on their own in the Lake, so F&G helps the process along. I decided yesterday that I am doing it this year -- it'll be a good chance to see if we've suffered any damage as a result of high water and wave action. The lake was a foot lower when I was up there in mid-late September!

gtxrider · 10-28-2005, 01:43 PM

I am not sure if that happens to the Land Locked Salmon which I think is really and Atlantic Salmon. They also don't have to make the long trip from the ocean fighting their way upstream.

If it is true that they expire after mating than that explains why they have to be forced (stripped)

mcdude · 10-28-2005, 04:11 PM

Thanks for the photos Grant! More than I ever wanted to know about Salmon Stripping! gtxrider: your response cracked me up!

Grant · 11-14-2005, 06:34 AM

Good time. Good crowd. Incredible weather for Nov. 13th!!!

And the average fish size was very impressive -- the salmon population is obviously very healthy in Winni.

Thanks to F&G for staging such an informative and entertaining afternoon.

Lots of photos later today.

Grant · 11-14-2005, 03:26 PM

Photos from this year's salmon stripping are up.

http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/salmon_sunday_05

Resident 2B · 11-14-2005, 05:56 PM

Grant,

Your great photos convey the message of what happens during this event, so that those of us who had no idea of what was happening could better understand.

Thanks for the education!

Great job!

rickstr66 · 11-16-2005, 11:54 AM

The salmon in Lake Winnipesaukee do not die from fish and game extracting thier eggs.
Spawning in and of itself is not what kills migrating salmon. It is the rigors of getting there that kills them. They literally die of exhaustion.

Rattlesnake Gal · 11-17-2005, 09:53 AM

Thanks for the pictures Grant, glad you had a good time.
I especially liked the waterfall photo. What clarity.

Grant · 11-18-2005, 06:53 PM

Stopped in the dive shop in Wolfe City last weekend to say hello, and found proprietor Tom busy mending dry suits (a frustrating and malodorous undertaking). He mentioned that, earlier in the day, some students had been swimming up from the Bay toward the bridge to the Back Bay and drifting down with the salmon. I was envious, to say the least -- talk about a cool "drift dive." Intentionally left the dive gear at home to focus on leaves, limbs and the like.

Anyway, Tom mentioned that if you hung out on the bridge and looked down, you could see the salmon doing their instinctive best to swim upstream. So my daughter and I went out, walked a few doors down to the bridge, and looked. Sure enough, we got a nice Salmon Sunday Preview Saturday...lots of NICE big ones flipping around right under the bridge. Good fun. Thanks for the tip, Tom -- and we'll see you in the spring when the salmon are back and schooling in the Bay.

Mee-n-Mac · 11-18-2005, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant

{snip} Anyway, Tom mentioned that if you hung out on the bridge and looked down, you could see the salmon doing their instinctive best to swim upstream. So my daughter and I went out, walked a few doors down to the bridge, and looked. Sure enough, we got a nice Salmon Sunday Preview Saturday...lots of NICE big ones flipping around right under the bridge. Good fun. Thanks for the tip, Tom -- and we'll see you in the spring when the salmon are back and schooling in the Bay.

Thx for posting this ! I had no idea people could see this. Next season I'll know better.

10-24-2005, 11:04 AM	#1
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,451 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Salmon Stripping Mark Your Calendars For Salmon Sunday! Sunday, November 13, 2005 Salmon Sunday Pope Dam in Melvin Village 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm For more information visit The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

10-26-2005, 01:00 PM	#2
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Thanks Sweet! I haven't been to Salmon Sunday in 12 years, so I might do it this time. I have some old photos from one -- about 21 years ago -- that I will post when I get around to scanning. __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

10-27-2005, 06:21 AM	#3
mcdude Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rock Haven Lake - West Newfield, ME Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 374 Thanked 1,057 Times in 495 Posts	Salmon Stripping Salmon Stripping - old postcard from Melvin Village What exactly is Salmon Stripping? I have no clue. McD PS - I think I see Grant, as a young boy, scuba diving up the river! Last edited by mcdude; 10-27-2005 at 06:23 AM.

10-27-2005, 07:18 AM	#4
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	A Strip Joint in Melvin Village You've done it again -- GREAT postcard. What is salmon stripping? Well, the landlocked salmon population in Winnipesaukee is not native...and they don't reproduce on their own, so Fish & Game provides a little "help." Starting in October, they begin netting salmon (you can see the big nets hanging near the Pope Dam in Melvin some times), and putting them in a holding pen at the dam (pictured in the postcard, although now it's surrounded with a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire). On "Salmon Sunday," F&G folks enter the pen armed with nets and with a stand, where they take the salmon, one at a time, and squeeze the eggs from the females and the milt (sperm) from the males. Mixed together in plastic wash basins, the mixture is then put in big jars and shipped off to the hatchery in New Durham (?), where the salmon eventually hatch (although not in the jars...). The young fish are stocked in Winnipesaukee and other lakes throughout the region when they are about 18 months old. It's a very cool thing to watch (IMHO), and a chance to see some of the beautiful salmon that most of us would never see otherwise. And, trust me, I look for them. I also fish for them but, as a bass angler, I am still a serious "newbie" and trying to figure it all out... For some GREAT landlocked and Laker photos, check out the "Bragging Board" at www.fishlakewinni.com. This guy knows how to find 'em! __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it." Last edited by Grant; 10-27-2005 at 08:01 PM.

10-27-2005, 02:20 PM	#5
gtxrider Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Piscataway, NJ Posts: 1,030 Thanks: 2 Thanked 46 Times in 24 Posts	How romantic? Did Fish and Game every try candle lit dinner, soft music and a bottle of wine?

10-27-2005, 03:34 PM	#6
upthesaukee Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 5,596 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 2,453 Thanked 1,979 Times in 1,080 Posts	Naw, just blow in the fish's gills, and they will follow you anywhere! __________________ I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

10-27-2005, 07:56 PM	#7
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Yes, but... Brush yer teeth first. __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

10-28-2005, 12:13 PM	#9
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Salmon Sunday Pictures Posted some photos from 1984 Salmon Sunday. Can't seem to get them to load on PhotoPost. In the meantime, here they are: http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407236 http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407239/large http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407252 http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/image/51407254 __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

10-28-2005, 01:17 PM	#10
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,451 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Thanks Grant! Thanks for the pictures Grant. Do the salmon survive F&G stealing the eggs and milt? Their website states that the fish are returned to the lake. It was my understanding that they die after spawning. If they just go to the back to the lake to expire, why not eat them? Are they not good at this time of year?

10-28-2005, 01:39 PM	#11
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Salmon: Live After Freeing & Don't Die ;) Nope -- they are returned, and many are "tapped" later. They are different than the ocean-living/stream-spawning varieties. But they can't do "it" on their own in the Lake, so F&G helps the process along. I decided yesterday that I am doing it this year -- it'll be a good chance to see if we've suffered any damage as a result of high water and wave action. The lake was a foot lower when I was up there in mid-late September! __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

10-28-2005, 01:43 PM	#12
gtxrider Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Piscataway, NJ Posts: 1,030 Thanks: 2 Thanked 46 Times in 24 Posts	Answer? I am not sure if that happens to the Land Locked Salmon which I think is really and Atlantic Salmon. They also don't have to make the long trip from the ocean fighting their way upstream. If it is true that they expire after mating than that explains why they have to be forced (stripped)

10-28-2005, 04:11 PM	#13
mcdude Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rock Haven Lake - West Newfield, ME Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 374 Thanked 1,057 Times in 495 Posts	Thanks for the photos Grant! More than I ever wanted to know about Salmon Stripping! gtxrider: your response cracked me up! Last edited by mcdude; 10-28-2005 at 04:42 PM.

11-14-2005, 06:34 AM	#14
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Salmon Sunday 2005 Good time. Good crowd. Incredible weather for Nov. 13th!!! And the average fish size was very impressive -- the salmon population is obviously very healthy in Winni. Thanks to F&G for staging such an informative and entertaining afternoon. Lots of photos later today. __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

11-14-2005, 03:26 PM	#15
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Salmon Sunday '05 Photos Photos from this year's salmon stripping are up. http://www.pbase.com/gfevans/salmon_sunday_05 __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

11-14-2005, 05:56 PM	#16
Resident 2B Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Shore, MA Posts: 1,357 Thanks: 994 Thanked 313 Times in 163 Posts	Great photos Grant, Your great photos convey the message of what happens during this event, so that those of us who had no idea of what was happening could better understand. Thanks for the education! Great job!

11-16-2005, 11:54 AM	#17
rickstr66 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Boston, Ma Posts: 63 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The salmon in Lake Winnipesaukee do not die from fish and game extracting thier eggs. Spawning in and of itself is not what kills migrating salmon. It is the rigors of getting there that kills them. They literally die of exhaustion.

11-17-2005, 09:53 AM	#18
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,451 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Egg and Milt Stealing Thanks for the pictures Grant, glad you had a good time. I especially liked the waterfall photo. What clarity.

11-18-2005, 06:53 PM	#19
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,499 Thanks: 374 Thanked 229 Times in 123 Posts	Bridge Over the River Salmon Stopped in the dive shop in Wolfe City last weekend to say hello, and found proprietor Tom busy mending dry suits (a frustrating and malodorous undertaking). He mentioned that, earlier in the day, some students had been swimming up from the Bay toward the bridge to the Back Bay and drifting down with the salmon. I was envious, to say the least -- talk about a cool "drift dive." Intentionally left the dive gear at home to focus on leaves, limbs and the like. Anyway, Tom mentioned that if you hung out on the bridge and looked down, you could see the salmon doing their instinctive best to swim upstream. So my daughter and I went out, walked a few doors down to the bridge, and looked. Sure enough, we got a nice Salmon Sunday Preview Saturday...lots of NICE big ones flipping around right under the bridge. Good fun. Thanks for the tip, Tom -- and we'll see you in the spring when the salmon are back and schooling in the Bay. __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."