Sledddder -
It remains to be seen what next year will bring. Any regulations on the Columbia shared by Oregon and Washington require that the two states agree - which usually means that when there is a disagreement on the regulations the most liberal one applies. To date the folks in Oregon continue to resist going to barbless.

While it has been most of our experience that going to barbless makes releasing fish easier (common sense?) the available science (?) has shown little benefit from going barbless. It is those studies that serve as the foundation of the agrument of those resisting the change from barbed to barbless.

Tight lines
Curt