This has been brought up on a tangent before, but can one of you guys/gals who are much smarter than me answer a question. The hatchery fish are less successful at spawing in a natural environment, right? So those of us who are anal retentive about C&R are not really doing much to support the runs by releasing clipped (hatchery) fish, so the logic goes. I caught a bright steelie on the lower Cowlitz last week, adipose fin intact. But there are not supposed to be any native steelhead on the Cow?? I released the fish, but is it a native, or simply an escapee? Bottom line, if we release even the clipped fish, AFTER the hatchery has their quota, will these fish reproduce naturally? I'm NOT, repeat NOT, trying to start another pissing contest here; just trying to get the facts straight. Knowledge is power, if they can reproduce with some success, maybe more of us will be willing to (preachin' now) limit our kill and not kill our limit. Mr/Ms/Mrs fisheries biologist, please enlighten us. -`