The 80's broods were the heyday of the Puget Sound black mouth fisheries and catch rates. CWT'd ELwha fish that contributed the greatest to the black mouth fishery were from yearling releases. The buggers were caught throughout Puget Sound, even into south sound. Yearlings and the "delayed releases" Chinook were a major contributor to the black mouth fishery as they tended to hang around in Puget Sound moreso than fingerling releases. Yearling releases used to yield much higher survival rate than fingerling releases. For whatever reasons, in the last 15 years or so yearling survivals for many release groups are not much different than that of fingerlings. It doesn't really pay to raise to yearlings.

I dont know what the dominant freshwater life history is for the Elwha fish. I suspect that they were more ocean type fingerlings than stream type yearlings. The extra year in the ocean would have contributed to the very large "100" pounders that the ELwha were known for. Elwha very well have had both; yearlings in the upper watershed, fingerlings in the lower reaches.