Todd, with all do respect. We've had organizations working for different fixes to the problems we're facing now and about all the sport fishermen can see are more closed seasons for fisheries we once had leading to less opportunity over all. You can hammer on youf point every time it comes up but it really doesn't do anything but divide us once again.

I tend to flyfish but won't consider myself a flyfisherman. Why? Because of the elitist attitude that my method is better than yours. Swing vs nymph. If you nymph fish for steelhead you're nothing more than a gear chucker and if you prefer to swing all you're doing is dredging bottom and flossing.

That's why I just consider myself a fisherman. My point? Not one group has achieved the goals that I would like to see as a sportsfisherman. Maybe different "fronts" can achieve better results. Yes, I'm an optimist.

I go back to one of your main arguements from this past fall and one you seem to have with CCA. You continue to say that nets aren't the problem. It has more to do with habitat. You hammered that point home time and again this past fall/winter when debating this whole CCA thing. In different threads we discussed the lack of chum making it back to the streams and the fact that they were being netted heavily on a depressed run out in Puget Sound. Those fish should have been allowed to hit the streams. Don't the steelhead and salmon depend on that nutrient "biomass" in the rivers to feed on? In that case I'd say netting had a huge impact and one that won't be seen for a couple years. But then we'll just blame it on ocean survival when maybe it had more to do with not enough nutrients in the rivers to supply the juveniles before heading to the salt.

Not as well informed as most of you on this board but some of it just makes sense. And the biggest rub is the whole STFU if you aren't FULLY informed because you're doing more harm than good. And that leaves us depending on a few people fighting our battles regarding fisheries. More participation is required but unless you know as much as me you're doing more harm than good?

There doesn't seem to be a good answer to these issues. So, I guess I'll just continue to do what I've done. Search out the chum line to peck at what's left.