Todd,
I don't think so, some fish just seem to be programmed genetically to spend more years in the salt than others. Skamania-stock summer runs seemed to have a high proportion of three-salt fish and, at least in the North Fork of the Stilly, they used to come back early, in May and June. Another factor that relates to size is how long the juveniles remain in fresh water and at what size they smolt. I recall reading somewhere that many of the bigger fish in the Skeena drainage don't migrate to the ocean until they are six years old and they are proportionately larger when they do so. Lots of variable factors.

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: Preston Singletary ]