Ryan -
Ah! The "grasshopper" is learning!!!
Actually since we are both passionate about our wild fish I would be surprised if we didn't generally agree.

1) Why allow the taking of any wild fish?
Actually this represents some new thinking on my part. The various wild salmonids have some innate productivity that we as a society are currently using to support such things as fishing, hydro-development, water, logging, agriculture, urban develope etc. In the salmon recouvery efforts there is a considerable push from the non-fishers to place recovery on the backs of the fishers. If we as anglers adopt a position that we won't harvest fish the rest of society will use the population productivity to support the other impacting activities. As the fish's productive falls society will then demand that fishing impacts is further reduce until fishing opportunities on wild fish will be limited to remote waters or those in parks.

I firmly believe that unless we as anglers continue to lobby strongly that portion of that productivity to used to support fishing we will lose it. We can argue latter about how to use that "excessive productivity"; whether it is for harvest or other fishing impacts. Unless your vision of the future of fishing for the average man is fishing in artifical streams for hatchery fish or in carp and bluegill ponds this issue is of upmost importance.

2) Why allow the taking of early returning wild fish? Unless we are willing to discontinue all hatchery fish and limit fish to just the months of April and May those fish will always experience a disappropriate share of the fishing impacts. Even under strict WSR those early fish would be exposed to several more months of hooking mortality than the late returns. My best shot was to provide an upstream sanctuary (no harvest all season) in the upper half of the basin.

How would you do it?

3) The 80% rule was from the Draft Steelhead Management Plan not the Wild Salmonid Policy. The WSP can be interpreted that there would be no fishing below the established escapement level; (it also can be interpreted differently).

Remember the "guidelines" were mine.

4) Bait bans in the summer? Currently there is a state law that prohibits general sweeping banning of bait. So the chance is small. With cause it can be done river by river. It is my belief that the resident rainbows are an important part of the steelhead/rainbow complex. If we are to reclaim that part of the complex then bait bans are essential.

Tight lines
Smalma