Cf,

The last thing I've done is come out of my closet. For better or worse, depending on the perspective, I'm characterized as everything from and Indian-loving liberal to a quasi-militant catch and release fanatic. Look outside your own posts to see that I do participate very actively in discussions about fishing in generally, but very actively in the aspects involving the law or politics.

Run a search on my angler number (#43, indicative of being here from day #1) here, and run a search of my angler number on steelheader.net, my other favorite board to be active on (sorry, don't have my angler number handy for that one, so run a search of my login name there, Todd R ).

You'll find that besides my activity on these boards, if you look hard enough, you'll find that I've been active in these environments long before either of those BB's existed. It may not have involved the Cowlitz River, but it's involved many other watersheds and steelhead in general for years.

I further request that you post the answers to my questions here, rather than via e-mail, because you made a few fairly heavy accusations publicly, and I'd like you to respond to my questions regarding them publicly. The folks here that know me personally and professionally won't feel that they are accurate, but with over 3,000 folks here, my credibility is at stake. I'd rather discuss it civilly here so I can state my case in front of those who don't know either of us and don't know the truth about me...or you. We can both establish our experience and credibility.

I eagerly await your response.

That being said, in spite of my education and experience, I am always open to new ideas/opinions. I have my own, but they are constantly molded by my education/experience, and those are constantly growing entities. If others have something that I don't know, I'll be the first one in line to get a bite of it.

Keep sharing your experiences, and I'll incorporate them into my own education. The kicker is that if they aren't backed by facts or logical arguments, but by emotional pleas or beliefs, I don't have enough time in my day to give them much credence.

I appreciate very much your enthusiasm and committment to the cause. As in almost any other contentious disciplines (religion, politics, fisheries, etc., not necessarily in that order!) the small differences are magnified much more than the large scale differences are.

I believe from your posts that I have read that you truly care about the resource and want to do something to help, both for the fishes' sake and for the sake of us fishermen. We may have disagreements about how to balance those two, sometimes incompatible, goals, we both are doing the best we can. Conversations like these are the best way we can find some sort of solidarity that the commercials, tribes, and everyone else except us has.

OK...it's late. Time for bed. See you all tomorrow.

Fish on...

Todd.