Just got done with the steelhead town hall. 152 disappointed attendees. Looks like we can expect the same fisheries we had last year (Quileute System and Hoh), with maybe a couple small opportunities near hatcheries (maybe).

Lots of calls for terminal opportunity near hatcheries, a couple calls for fishing from boats. Not too much anger expressed....

One slide they showed us showed the distribution and timing of wild and hatchery runs across the Chehalis basin. I noticed the only wild runs timed so they are present in numbers before January were upper basin fish (Newaukum, West Fork, South Fork, upper main stem). I suggested we might be able to open only the lower tribs in December (maybe half of Jan.) and avoid virtually all wild impacts while taking advantage of the hatchery fish. That was sort of well received, but only sort of; I don't think we have a single paper fish to work with within 10% impact.