Lot's of talk about a slow start to this years wintersteelhead, but it looks like the hatchery returns on the Cow and Lewis aren't off much from last year.
Found this info on WDFW's web page....


Cowlitz River winter steelhead returns to date are fairly similar to last year. At the Trout Hatchery, 415 hatchery winter steelhead have been reported through December 18. This compares to 487 fish through December 12, 2001. At the Salmon Hatchery, 110 hatchery winter steelhead have been reported through December 18. This compares to 134 fish through the same time last year.


Kalama River - Through December 18, a total of 145 hatchery winter steelhead had returned to Kalama Falls Hatchery. This compares to 560 fish at the same time last year.

Lewis River - Through December 17, a total of 266 hatchery winter steelhead had returned to Merwin Dam. This compares to 233 fish through December 12, 2001.