Ok, I'm a hypocrite.

I release all native steelhead I catch (that I am aware of), but will bonk a native salmon if legally allowed to do so.

I also fish on the Quinault/Salmon Rivers with a tribal guide several times a year. I generally will keep most of those fish, and most are not clipped...although since the tribes do not clip most of their fish, it's any one's guess as to what is being bonked.

Every now and then, you see a fish you just know is a native on the Quinault. Perfect fins and the whole 9 yards. I will let those go. I have kept just about everything on the Salmon, and I have no way of knowing if those are hatchery or native fish. I've been told they are all hatchery...but how does one really know without a fin clip? I've seen hatchery fish with perfect fins, so that's not a good indication of nativeness, or not.

So yeah, I'm a hypocrite, I guess.

Release all native steelhead!