I think everyone here is right in some way. I too have fished in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Eastern Washington and Canada. (British Columbia) There is no question that some rivers are far more fertile than others. Maybe I haven't put enough thought into what a difference decaying fish would make in boosting the insect and crustacean populations. But, 30 years ago I was told by a state biologist that NONE of the rivers on the Oly Pen or really all of Western Washington could support native trout. I was dumb enough to buy into that. I never fished for trout in some of the rivers thinking there were none and only steelhead and salmon smolts were in the streams. Then a friend did some "field research" so to speak. He took his 5 weight fly rod with a floating line and an orange bodied stimulator and hiked down a stream I just can't mention and fished the stimulator and was amazed. We then began fishing that river and have caught rainbows to 22 inches. Yes, it's on the Peninsula. We debated as to whether they were steelhead or native rainbows but what threw us is that they ranged in size from 6 inches all the way up to the 22 inch fish. There were many fish in the 14 to 18 inch range. They all had similar markings leading us to believe that they were true rainbows. Someone mentioned dollies. I'm sure they chow on bugs as well as crustaceans but rarely surface bugs. They, as we all know will chomp a fish almost as big as they are! I think other fish are their main source of food. One last thing that no one has brought up regarding bugs is the terrestials. I've seen many fly ants, termites and grasshoppers on the rivers. Plus some insects that I don't recognize. All of which I witnessed being chomped by trout. Going all the way back to what started this post is I too believe that the Elwa is a unique opportunity to try and restore native fish. It has potential because of the way it sets up. I also believe it will take years because there will be a lot of silt and debris to clear out naturally. I can't wait to see it recover. I hope it happens sooner rather than later because I'm getting old!!!!!!