It amazes me that this year alone in the Columbia river system we actually have one of the largest returns of hatchery and "wild" springers on record.... Yet in the past um-teen years people have been able to kill and or lift fish from the water for pictures along with the dams and all the predators... Heck there's more of a sportsman impact than ever.

Explain why the runs are doing so well... Is it that they're getting extra air when we hold them for pics? I don't see any data that proves it is tough on a salmon to be out of the water for such a time period... I don't agree with taking a fish from the water for 5-10 minutes then releasing it, but 1-2 minutes, does it really hurt??

If so many of these fish die, whether it's in the columbia or perhaps a smaller trib, why don't we see the dead ones?? You know the ones that were gill hooked etc. etc??? I fish a lot of smaller crystal clear rivers that I've never seen a dead fish in.. No springers, no summer runs even in the warmer water temps.. Rivers that run 200cfs in the summer and are 55-60 degrees and still no dead ones??? Explain why??
Keith