I've been visiting this site for a long time and finally registered today just to comment on this thread. I began fishing the Puyallup with my Dad when I was probably 10 years old (sooner than that and I wouldn't qualify it as actual fishing). And the fact is, there are a number of people still fishing the Puyallup that do it the right way. I probably couldn't tell you their names because they are known by the holes they fish, the type of lures they use (spinner guy), or the jobs they once had (the principal). I thoroughly love the Puyallup River but am disgusted everyday I drive by River Road and see what its become. Still, I have to say that as one person who still fishes hardware legally, (I'm the spoon guy) without barbs, and who still catches and releases unclipped fish, I tend to feel defensive when people refuse to separate the river from the people who fish it, and who can't seem to distinguish between people fishing it the right way, and those who don't. Many of the same things can be said of lots of rivers, personally I've seen worse behavior on the Satsop, but I wouldn't condemn the whole lot because of that. The puyallup suffers worse because of its proximity to so many urban areas.

There are great times to fish on the Puyallup, when all the flossers have moved on, and there are a lot of places that are not conducive to flossing. I would suggest that some of you try to discover this other side of the "puke" but I wouldn't want the extra competition.

And another thing, for many people, myself included, we can't afford the drift boats, the weekend trips to the Sol Duc, and we don't have the kinds of knowledge of those river systems that one needs to be successful. I know the Puyallup. I've seen it change from successive floods and from successive levy repairs, hell, there are holes that are legends in my family that disappeared 15 years ago. And there are times of the year when I can find great fishing on a shoe string budget. It would take me a long time to develop that kind of relationship with another river. So please, show some respect. Condemn the practice, but don't put down my river.