I just dont know about some of the people here. Its a grave sin to kill wild steelhead but Wild chinook is OK.

The OP is one of the last places on the Lower 48 that you have a real good chance to catch 40 to 60 pound chinook everytime you go out. There are only a couple of rivers out there that still have these big genes and the gene pool is getting smaller and smaller every year.

I watch the nets every day on the Quileute and a 50 pounder is rare these days. In the past it wasnt uncoman for the nets to take 70# on the Quileute system.

I walk the upper Bogie every fall in the early part of November just after the rivers go back to low flows after the first big rains just to look at these brutes and what I have seen in the past 3 years has been very troubleing. 98 was the last year I saw good numbers of fish being up to 30 in a hole. every year after that has been less up untill last year when I saw none in three times of looking. I walked four miles of river and saw none.

Im not going to speak for anybody but there many other people out here that share the same views as I. Next time you come out this way go to the Sol Duc hatchery and ask them about the status of the fall chinhook run on the Sol Duc. Or even better next time you go to Olympic storting goods ask Bob to tell you how thick the Kings once were in the Sol Duc. Im sure he will tell you some good stories that will make you sick about how few kings you see in there now.

Anybody who says that a person that fishes these rivers atleast 4 days a week almost all year round every year is ill informed or dosent know his facts needs to think about what he is saying.

I may not have scientific data on the status of the Chinook runs out here but the fact is this,,,,,,, there are alot less fish than there yousto be and the trend is clearly going down.

So do what you want with the fish you catch. I know that I will be releasing all the Chinook I catch because I care about my back yard and want my daughter and grand kids to come to not have to go to Alaska to latch into a 50# chinook.