Looper Ed?

[fishface5]

Any body out there know how and when to catch Loopers? I've never tried it. Sounds kind of fun. Thanks

[beavflick]

i am a northshore river rat. right know is a alright time. now until may, the mouths of the rivers are always good. try using spawn, crawlers or looper bugs and wax worms.

[IAcrankbait]

anybody gotta picture of one? I have never seen a looper fish.

[SNOWSNAKE]

Well this don't show the fish real well but these are loopers getting staged to go up the French river on the north shore

http://www.mophomanners.com/lsfpics/Loopers.JPG

[IAcrankbait]

Thanks Snowsnake,
I've seen a couple guys asking about them here so I wondered what the excitement was

[SNOWSNAKE]

I'm no expert i have only fished um once i have a buddy that took me out. If there is no ice this is how you fish them. If there is ice it is only 2 or 3 inches thick and clear.
Used Looper bugs and spawn bags casting uot to the big water as it is illegal to fish for them in the river on the french
http://www.mophomanners.com/lsfpics/Fishingloopers.JPG

[Rosco]

IA, they're just a hatchery strain (Kamloop's strain) of Rainbow Trout. They tend to be a little chunkier than Steelhead and a lot easier to catch.
anybody gotta picture of one? I have never seen a looper fish.

[beavflick]

they are not a kamloop strain, thats what they tell u. they are acutully farm raised in iowa, and they are a mix of rainbows. they are a cheap fish to produce. a kamloop strain rainbow comes from the west coast, and are the hardest fighting fish out there.

[Rosco]

There has been a great deal of debate regarding Kamloop and Davidson strain Rainbows stocked into Lake Superior in the past few years. The current plan is to curtail the stocking of Kamloops where wild Steelhead numbers are on the rise as there may be an issue with hybridization between the strains. I am going off information published in the MNDNR Report Rainbow Trout Management Plan for the Minnesota Waters of Lake Superior (http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/lakesuperior/rbtmp.pdf)


The Kamloop strain of Rainbow stocked by MN is derived from fish from MINNESOTA waters only:


"B. Stocking - Only the gametes from

steelhead and Kamloops strain rainbow trout

taken from the Minnesota waters of Lake

Superior are used for stocking programs.

Streams are not stocked if they have very

limited fishing access, or if they have good

potential for natural reproduction by wild

steelhead. Streams managed for Kamloops

are given a lower priority for steelhead fry

stocking. An annual quota of approximately

500,000 steelhead fry and 92,500 Kamloops

yearlings has been established. When

available, steelhead fry are stocked above the

first barrier in selected tributaries, and

Kamloops yearlings are stocked in the French

River, Lester River and Chester Creek

(Schreiner 1995).

Stocking hatchery-reared steelhead

yearlings derived from Knife River gametes

has been an ongoing program since 1989. The

first phase of the Knife River steelhead

yearling-stocking program began in 1989 and

ended in 1993. The objective was to examine

the feasibility and cost of rearing steelhead to

yearling size in the French River Hatchery

(Tureson 1994). The second phase of the

program evaluated the return rate for the four

year-classes of hatchery-reared Knife River

yearlings to the French, Little Knife, and

Knife river traps. Results were compiled in

2000 and information on return rates of

stocked yearlings was presented at the

Steelhead Conference held in September

2001, and discussed in detail with the

Rainbow Trout Advisory Group while

revising the RTMP.

In the spring of 1996, the MNDNR in

cooperation with the Steelhead Focus Group

(a precursor to the Rainbow Trout Advisory

Group), agreed to reinstate the yearling

steelhead stocking program at the level of

40,000 fish annually. This program was

conducted under a memorandum of

understanding between the MNDNR and the

various organizations that comprised the

Steelhead Focus Group. Each year 40,000

yearlings were reared with the financial

assistance of the Lake Superior Steelhead

Association. Approximately 20,000 yearlings

were stocked each year, alternating between

the French and Knife rivers. Stocking

yearlings in either the French or Knife rivers

facilitated program evaluation and gamete

collection for fry stocking in short run

streams. The remaining 20,000 yearlings

were stocked into streams determined by the

Steelhead Focus Group and the MNDNR.

Streams chosen by the Steelhead Focus Group

since 1996 include Split Rock River,

Gooseberry River, and Silver Creek."


they are not a kamloop strain, thats what they tell u. they are acutully farm raised in iowa, and they are a mix of rainbows. they are a cheap fish to produce. a kamloop strain rainbow comes from the west coast, and are the hardest fighting fish out there.