" I beleive that directed C&R fisheries do nothing to preserve fish runs, they only prolong the run" I have to disagree with this one, you obviously haven't fish much for spring steelhead. If every steelhead that was c&R'd by sports fisherman was wacked instead the run could be wiped out probably in two spawing cycles. I would dare to say that probably over half the fish in the Skagit/ Sauk that spawned last year were C&R by sport fisherman. C&R is the only way we can sustain wild steelhead, they are simply too aggressive of a fish to be wacked. I have drifted through a run, hooked up broke off, then on the next pass hooked the same fish. The sauk fish are especially aggressive. I also talked to several guides who were taking scale samples and a few times they caught the same fish twice. good friend of mine who live in Terrace B.C. also has experienced the same thing with the scale samples, many fish are C&R multiple times. With people figuring out how to be more effective of catching steelhead in a river ove the last 10 years what would happen if we wacked them?