I dont want to come accross like ive never kept a wild Chinook or salmon,, the fact is that we all have. Im just saying for the last few years I dont keep wild chinook anymore. With the state fin clipping all the coho these days and starting to clip chinook there is no reason to keep wild fish once all this is in place. And if a wild run is truely healthy and have excess fish, for instance being at the health level of many Norht BC rivers and Alaska rivers then by all means ill be the first to harvest some fish when I truely will eat it and it wont go to waste. But I think our rivers wont be back in that class for a very long time even if the steps are taken that are needed to get them back to that state of health.

After i went to Kodiak this year it changed my life. I had no Idea that our rivers were as bad off as they are. It was amazing to see what our rivers should look like. The place I went to wasnt like the Keni or the other big name places it was the same as it was 1,000 years ago unchanged over time and untouched by our greed. It was truely amazing to see how it all should be.

Our rivers down here are very sick and in serious trouble. If the OP has the most healthy watersheds in the lower 48 then we are way more worse off then I could ever imagine.

I wrote this thread to tell how it is and to open some eyes to people that dont know. Not to hear peoples justifications or excuses on why they should kill wild fish when there is no need. If you want to kill wild Chinook then go right ahead, its your right. But before you grab that rock or club think about it a second first, If it swims away you will feel better in the long run.