World Photo by Madeline Steege Blossom Gulch Elementary School student Amber Nelson, 9, concentrates as she clips the fin on a tiny Chinook salmon Monday in Coos Bay.

COOS BAY - Buffeting winds and splashing rain. It was the perfect day for fin clipping.

Blossom Gulch Elementary School fourth-graders and Millicoma Intermediate School sixth-graders gathered at the elementary school to release a flood of tiny salmon into Blossom Creek on Monday.

The students partnered to clip fins on 10,000 hatchery-raised Chinook fingerlings. The big kids were there to help the younger ones, but really it seemed to be a new experience for all.

The fingerlings swam around in tubs until the youngsters grabbed, clipped and dropped the Chinook into a tube of flowing water. It carried them into the creek for a trip to Coos Bay and eventually into the Pacific Ocean. With the fin clips fishermen will know they're hooking hatchery fish once they return from their ocean journey.