Quote:
these steelhead are being caught above shepfalls. so i'm certain thier not strays. i can understand hatch fish in the trib mouths. i'm referring to well within the trib.


Why? A stray can navigate the fish ladder at the falls just as easily as a wild fish or planted hatchery fish. Years ago, I landed a sphagetti-tagged summer run on the upper Wynoochee.....turns out it was a stray from the Columbia River system!