I've had some stellar days in years past.....obscenely good days, both salmon and steelhead so I've had a "taste of it" which is satisfying.

On the other hand, the locations of many of those good days are but fragments of their former selves or are outright closed. That's the pisser. Even more so when I stop to consider every one of those spots fell on hard times due to mis-management in one form or another.

Sad indeed.

A few traditional spots remain consistent which is a plus but I also find myself adapting.....branching out to try new spots and, in some cases, new techniques and yes, I do find exceptional fishing sometimes still.

The most troublesome part for me nowadays is having to navigate trips around an exploding population being crammed into fewer and fewer rivers. It's not fun, it over-pressures the wild fish and in the end when it becomes un-bearable for a lot of dudes, they will say a collective "fu__it!" and quit buying even more licenses, strapping the dept even more.

I think future, consistent, quality steelhead fishing is in big trouble in western Washington. Salmon, not so much. It's turbulent times we live in and I'm really curious to see what I will be doing for recreation in 10 years.