An example:

Prior to a few years ago, the Skykomish above Sultan remained open into March to the retention of hatchery steelhead under standard gear rules eventhough on March 1, the lower river (from the Sultan River down) went to catch and release, selective fishery regulations.

The WDFW felt that there were not enough hatchery steelhead left above Sultan to keep the fishery open after the last day of Febuary (the reason behind the open season into March was to cull out the last of the hatchery fish).

However, the traditional catch and release fishery remained open.