minibear,

Virtually no bucks are repeat spawners...but a few years ago a broodstock buck in Oregon was bonked, and scale samples showed that it had already spawned twice before, I believe.

That fish was somewhere in the neighborhood of 27#.

About 12-15% of hens spawn again...and Bob was right about size, they don't get much bigger, if at all. They do, however, produce many more eggs in subsequent visits.

Even though repeat spawners generally are around 12% of the run, they account for more like 25% of the total eggs deposited.

Very good reason to release all wild fish...the ten pound hen you just landed may have twice as many eggs in it as a different ten pound hen!

Really big fish are a function of two things; genetics, which makes some fish just bigger, and age. While a real pig may be on its first spawning run, it may have spent two years in the river, and three more in salt, and be verging on six years old during its first run.

Conversely, a six pounder may only be two years old on its first run.

BTW, the reason why almost no bucks return again is that they hang out the entire spawning season, mating as many times as possible. They're just too beat up and exhausted...while hens drop their eggs and head on back down.

Fish on...

Todd.