If the return can support it, I too would be in favor of a one-king limit in the bay, Humptulips, mainstem Chehalis, and tribs like Satsop and Wynoochee.

A one-king limit did NOT happen last year due to WDFW citing a problem with wild upper Chehalis kings failing to meet e-goals 2 or 3 years running. That begs a few questions:

Anybody know if they officially made e-goal for 2003?

How do they differentiate the wild kings from hatchery when so few of the fish are marked?

When do we get basin-wide marking of kings so that selective fisheries can occur on harvestable numbers of hatchery fish, especially in years when wild returns are "poor"?

Sure would make for a more stable and predictable fishery every year knowing that we could at least target hatchery fish. Aren't they produced for harvest?
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!