When I moved from Ohio to Oregon 8 years ago, I read about the mighty Thompson, as well as many rivers in BC and Washington State that had prolific native steelhead. Thought I would have fished a bunch of them by now. I haven't because the fishing for (big native) steelhead here in Oregon has been very good in recent years and I keep hearing about problems in Washington and BC. Oregon has stricter rules to preserve wild stocks and much less impact from commercial and tribal fishing. I'm sure it's no coincidence. Spent $130 in Tillamook yesterday because I forgot my waders. Could have spent it in WA or BC. We went 5 for 6 in 2/3 day fishing with the largest 37 inches, all nates.