Quiet for a reason..... been away from the keyboard and actually catching fish instead of reading/posting about it.

But never quiet for very long....

For the record, there was never any "bonk the first two" language put in the regs because it was NEVER proposed at NOF.

What was proposed (and passed) was a provision to kill the first two coho regardless of fin status. This would allow anglers to limit out as quickly as possible and promptly cycle out of the fishery, thereby minimizing chinook impacts by getting the fleet off the water as fast as possible. This is how the plan was sold at NOF, as chinook conservation, but "kill the first two coho" was NOT made mandatory as it would be impossible to enforce.

It is ENTIRELY optional.

Regardless, this is what we are encouraging all participants in the fishery to do.... kill the first two coho for every angler in the boat, and go home. If we as a community cannot show the necessary discipline and restraint to do this, then you can bet your a$$ this type of unique wild harvest opportunity will NOT be made available in the future.

As far as the numbers of dead wild coho, assuming a very modest 20% H&R mortailty, the anticipated encounter rate of 20% H:W was expected to yield the same number of dead wild coho in either of three scenarios:

1) ZERO wild retention (clip only)
2) Up to ONE wild retention.
3) Up to TWO wild retention

Again that was under the assumption of a 20% hooking mortality and a 20% encounter rate of marked fish. IT'S ALL A WASH. As long as the mortality rate is well below the encounter rate, then a mark-selective fishery makes sense. But once the mortality rate exceeds the mark rate, the numbers shift in favor of wild retention.

Studies clearly show the mortality on releasing tidewater coho is much greater than 20%. My own observations and "gut feeling" is that it's much closer to 80% when averaged over the entire fleet.