I was raised in that area and agree they have been "managed" into oblivion. Back in the 60s, yeah I know I'm dating myself anyone with the ambition to hike the canyons on those creeks could have a field day on wild steelhead. The coho runs were excellent too. Now it's all gone. Hell they even wiped out the chum run on the Duckabush. It’s a damn shame and much of it was done with the full knowledge they were doing it. Since the habitat on most of those rivers is little changed I have to place most of the blame on harvest. Back in the late 70s, maybe it was early 80s they opened the canal to harvest for both cowboys and Indians. They did it for four years as though they were trying to wipe out the runs. It worked... Of course seals, clear cuts, low oxygen etc. didn’t help. But the Duckabush chum run was quite strong through 2005. Now it’s very nearly extinct.

Many of you will remember John Chamberlin. He wrote a bit and fished those rivers a lot. He's gone now, so are his beloved steelhead. It's a damn shame.


There will never be any meaningful recovery on those small, delicate rivers.