Well, Rob......I've probably never seen you fish, but to imply that I haven't seen a fly flicker land a fish recently really does show your ignorance!!!!! If you want, we can compare the hundreds of hours I spend fishing as compared to yours, but that would be futile. Maybe we could each tie a 15# fish to our rods and see who beaches it first? Unpractical. Maybe compare the number of punch cards issued, but that wouldn't be relevant, because you don't salmon fish, and you probably C&R most steelhead. Maybe just sheer numbers of steelhead, but we probably wouldn't trust each others numbers. Maybe all the pictures of the nates I've been releasing, but you probably don't expose the "poor wild" fish to that agony of photo ops.

I can site the many fly caught steelhead I witnessed this fall on the Methow that were probably "killed" by bug tossers because the fisherman didn't know what he was doing by fishting the fish for 30+ minutes, then you'll site the mortality numbers of gear fisherman. I can tell you about the 8 dead steelhead in the bottom of one run that I walked down to one day, but we don't know who (bug or gear)killed them? Then you can site all the "snaggers" who flock to hatchery rivers, and even if they happen to "snag" a fish and let it go, you want the river closed because there was so many fish in run the hook bumped a fish and the fisherman set the hook, but I guess he should be using different techniques.

BTW, as of last year my cell phone didn't work in the Wind River Canyon! And WDFW is doing such a bang up job, by keeping the poachers/snaggers from doing there dasterdly deeds, that's why they hide on the Wind River Islands in the Columbia and write up all the criminals who inadvertently cross the boundary line!!! Now, they're really saving some fish there. They're to damn lazy to walk up the canyon and make the state some money.

You say close all snag fisheries! I'm offended by your "holier than thou" opinion! Just because I fish the canyon a couple of times, (and I've never snagged a fish in there), and some dork is trying to snag a fish in the same river you want me to police it? I'm not a fish cop, and I'm not going to get shot over a friggin' fish (hatchery, to boot!) by telling some dude to not snag.

No hatchery run rivers, eh? Just shut down a hatchery or two then. Also, last time I checked all the native winter runs in Washington (except Snyder Creek, that I know of) show up after the hatchery fish. So close the damn rivers now! That way, no wild fish will be harmed! The hatchery runs are generally thanksgiving through the end of January. After that, the mass majority of the returning fish are wild, so just close the fishing. What's wrong with that? So no sacred wild fish are harassed or harmed. Being a purist like you are, I would think that would be the pinnacle of success is if all retunring wild steelhead were totally unmolested.

Think about it....wherevere there's alot of fish congregated, and it's legal to fish, you'll have fish being snagged both intentionally and inadvertently. If it's in the Wind River Canyon, or if all the fish would only return to the mouth, then you'd have a pile of 15-30K fish balled up with guys pulling wiggle warts and spinners through them. Fish would still be snagged?!?!?! How do you avoid this? Maybe make everybody use a floating line and a dry fly? I just don't' understand.