We already have selective gear rules in place on the upper watersheds of all these streams, that's true. I'm glad. And, it's true that selective gear rules have gone hand in hand with catch-and-release in those areas in the past. But it's been for the purpose of distributing fishing pressure equally, while providing opportunity for all types of users and protecting the resourse at the same time.

What we're talking about here is the unalateral closure of the west end for a huge number of fishermen. What kind of fishery are we going to create? One in which we segregate Washington rivers into two catagories? On one hand we'll have the Cowlitz type rivers where snagging is rampent, people fish 24 hours a day and a car fully engulfed in flames in the parking lot goes unnoticed, and on the other hand we'll have flyfishing only rivers.

What about the hundreds of fishermen that enjoy floating a pink Berkely worm under a float and practice the catch-and-release ethic? I guess they can suck wind. Same with the sidedrifters and bait fishermen.