Cowlitz fishermen,
I have to disagree with you a little bit. I have a good friend who guides out of a jetboat on the Snake and Salmon rivers. Where he guides he has to have a Coast Guard license, and part of qualifying for that was time spent on that water under someone with a license learning the river. The Snake is a river that gets boats every year, and I am personally glad to know that when people go with a guide up there, the person has at least spent some time learning the water from an experienced person. Now, on other "easy" rivers I agree with you.
Tom