For what its worth, some more hooking mortality data from Canada:

Barbed hooks with bait 9.1%
Barbed hooks no bait 4.5%
Barbless with bait 3.0%
Barbless no bait 2.6

Total Mortality 5.1%
Total # of fish handled- 336 over 2 years

These data were generated by fisheries biologists capturing fish with hook and line on the Keogh River on Vancouver Is. I would think that handling stress and perhaps playout stress would be lower with this dataset than one generated by recreational anglers simply because professional bios were doing the collecting. But what I find particularly interesting is the difference between barbed and barbless. It would appear that barbed hooks are a larger contributor to hooking mortality than bait.

Barbed/bait or baitless 7.2%
barbless/bait or baitless 2.2%

From the perspective of management and setting seasons, I guess the most important question to ask is what is the largest contributor to angler related mortality--adult, juvenile, or kelt. If its adult mortality, the data above speaks for itself, we should go barbless but not necessarily baitless. If its juvenile mortality, perhaps we should reconsider bait (though I wonder if mortality could be reduced considerably by going barbless; however haven't seen any studies). If its kelt protection, a seasonal restriction (late spring/early summer) should be considered.

How's this fly for a conservative strategy to protect fish during lean runs years:

- wild steelhead release (I'll leave alone whether it should be state wide)

- Year-round barbless for the protection of all adults

- Summer bait ban to protect actively foraging juveniles contingent on fufilling study priorities

- Spring/summer seasonal restriction for kelt outmigration-- Angler related mortality within this relatively small group I do not believe would contribute to population protection. Although percent mortality would be high, total catch is low; therefore not likely necessary.

- Study priorities - smolt mortality
- Quantify smolt mortality by anglers
- Does smolt vulnerability to anglers differ by river reach
- Does smolt vulnerability change sub-seasonally--i.e., during spring outmigration, snow melt, summer lows
- Have resident trout studies looked at bait with barbless hooks? Does this make a difference?

Obviously the investigation of smolt mortality would take $$; but WDFW is not void of study dollars. I think from a fisheries management perspective its importance warrants priority. There are a lot of bait guys out there that would P & M if that were taken away during the summer (me included). Such studies may allow the use of a smaller blanket when making restrictions.