Luke,

Some hatchery steelhead smolts likely don't get fin clipped as intended. So maybe you have to release a hatchery fish; I hope it won't ruin your day. However, there really are wild steelhead in the Cowlitz, and they really have all their fins. I know it's a strange concept on the Cowlitz, but there are wild fish, and there are going to be even more in the future.

Those wild steelhead are mostly headed upstream of the dams. Oh, and they are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and it is illegal to "take" them. In order to recover this population, and I'll avoid going into the what's native and what's wild debates here, it's necessary for us to follow the regulations and get those wild steelhead back into the upper river to spawn.

At the moment they've got an uphill battle, with confusion about fishing regulations, anglers who deliberately kill them anyway, and so far only about 60% of the smolts are collected at Cowlitz Falls Dam. That will get better as the required fish passage improvements are made, but that will take time. Meanwhile, releasing unmarked steelhead, coho, and spring chinook helps recover wild fish to the upper Cowlitz River.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.