Salmo g-
I agree that in basin problems are not the proximate cause of the current fix we find our beloved steelhead. Many now agree that the dominate factor shaping our steelhead returns is this extended period of extremely poor marine survival.

However I believe and more and more information is coming out to support my belief that a key to our "steelhead" surviving long term during this period of poor marine survival will be the species ability to rely on alternate life histories; in this case the resident rainbows. Those various life histories are just another illustration of the diversity found in our local populations and how important that diversity is to the long term survival of the species. My concern is that depressed insect production in that portion of the Skagit is limiting that needed diversity.

BTW -
I would love to share a brew or two discussing the "State of the River".

DaveD-
As mentioned by Salmo g the bull trout are headwater fish that spend the early period of their lives in tributary streams. As they become larger they begin moving throughout and even out of the basin (will not go into the specifics now). An abundant food resource found in the Skagit above the Sauk is related to the returning salmon - loose eggs, carcassess and fry. However that abundance is seasonal; typically available to the fish during the late fall to early spring period. By the time that the young bull trout reach the main river they are large enough that their bodies can carry stored fat through the lean periods so that the fish can take advantage of that food resource.

Fish like young of the year steelhead need that summer food resource to develop the fat resources to get them through the winter - that salmon food resource really is not very available to those fish as most juvenile trout go essentially dormant with the following water temperatures in the fall until the next spring. They actively seek out "over-winter habitat" as the temperatures drop into the mid/lower 40s not to emerge until the temperatures warm again. If they don't have the needed fat reserves by that time they will not survive to the next summer. Their survival requires those key food resources as well as that key over winter habitat (usually complex habitat features such as log jams, root wads, boulder complexes, etc).

Tight lines
Curt