Age and Size of Steelhead Trout in the Babine River, British Columbia

Abstract

Scales were collected from adult summer steelhead trout taken in 1967 and 1968 in an increasingly important sport fishery on the Babine River. The most common total age was 3.2 (73% in 1967 and 60% in 1968), and the second most common age was 3.3. The males tended to remain a year longer in the ocean than did females before first maturation. Four of 121 (3.3%) scales, all from female steelhead, indicated the fish had spawned once previously. The male to female ratio in the sport fishery was 1:1.33. Mean length at time of smolt outmigration as estimated from scales from 3.2 fish was 190 mm. These results are compared with what is known for other British Columbia steelhead stocks.