My personal opinion about how well "native" steelhead fight is a little bit different then some others who have posted on this tread. I think that the true "native steelhead" fights no harder, strikes no harder, nor is smarter then ANY other steelhead that has been raised in the "wild". It is that "wild" conditioning process that makes these survivors so damn tuff. I personally don't give the "gene theory thing" that much credit for the way that a steelhead fights. It's "being raised in the wild" that make these fish really tuff and smarter!

What's wrong with using stream side egg incubators to help benefit these troubled stocks? Why not use native stocks for brooding and increase the survival rates of "native fry" on the streams that may be "managed" for wild steelhead? What are the plus or minuses in doing this?

Why not use tons of hatchery feed fry in other steams for supplementation? If the fry don't survive like the "wild" fish do, then they just become food for others species, i.e. cutthroat and coho. What would be the plus or minuses to doing this method? It's appears to be working on the Cowlitz, so why wouldn't it work in your river of choice?

Wouldn't this accomplish what others have said was needed to create a more "normal" raised natural fish? The biggest deterrent that I can see is that it would "eliminate" many related WDFW "Hatchery Jobs"! Now we couldn't have that…could WE? And think of all that MONEY that WE, the sport fishermen could then apply to restoring our steelhead fishery.

No WE can't do anything like that now could WE?! If that worked, then someone would want to do the same thing with SALMON next, wouldn't they?

No, WE can't do that, because how would we be able to "mark" all the fish and keep spending our MONEY and getting almost nothing back in return?

This would also eliminate all the dreaded things that have been mentioned that occurs around our hatcheries. It's time for new ideas. For to long we have stayed in our dug-in trenches that are quickly become full of mudded water. Its time to get out and find drier land, so THINK HARDER folks!

OK, I have really thick skin so shoot this one down, but before you do that, please come up with a better idea!

Cowlitzfisherman

Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook????