Without having solid numbers to back myself up, gut feeling tells me that calling escapement "made" for Chehalis Chinook this fall is bull$hit. Not only would the forecast have been significantly undershooting the actual run size, but they would have to have been out there counting redds under 20 feet of muddy water.

Lame.

Counting the mixed Humptulip and Chehalis stocks in 2-2 when doing the numbers for the Bay has always been crap...for two reasons; the Hump numbers have been pretty good, and the John's River area of the Harbor is almost entirely (if not entirely) Chehalis Basin fish...the number of Humptulips fish caught in the bay during the sportfishery is minimal...at best.

When I asked last year about why those aren't broken up, I was told they couldn't...now, when using the numbers to establish last year's escapement, all of a sudden they can be?

Hmmm...

Fish on...

Todd