ok i wished to avoid associating myself with this event, but some outlandish ideas expressed here have forced me to chime in.

the fish was caught by an unguided BANK ANGLER. originally from England, and yes it was his first ever steelhead. swinging a fly. it was hooked in the lip. i rounded the corner above where it was caught just in time to see the guy bashing it on the head w/ a rock.

i'm not sure who the Port Townsend references were aimed at, but if it's Jim Kerr you couldn't be more wrong. You could be less presumptuous and considerably more informed. Jim is a good friend of mine, and strongly supports WSR, to the tune of killing ZERO wild fish last year. Also, he lives here in Forks.

I weighed the fish out of morbid curiosity. It hung my spring scale to over 30 but under 31 pounds. my slightly beat up but originally 30 lb anchor weighed in at 29 lbs for comparitive purposes.

some photos exist. i'd like to get Bob's opinion on the posting of them before doing so.

for the record i support WSR and this whole thing really bummed me out.