It cannot be denied that we see good results as far as returns with the Snider creek program. This year has been another year of trophy sized Brood stock. I have read the Hood River studies, and other data on the subject. I dont think uou can take results from totally different watersheds and form a base line for Snider Brood success. We are seeing better and better fishing with many unmarked fish in December. A few of the old timers in the OPGA claim these fish were not present in the numbers we have now, 40- 50 years ago. We have talked with the tribes and the state, unfortunately most of the data is from the tribes. As OPGA members, we keep tally on how many Snider encounters we have in a season. I bet our average is 15 per guide, with many catching over 100 in a season. The tribes data may show a dozen or so. So what gives? Are we more effective than 15 gill, and drift nets? Or is a hatchery marked fish not suitable for market? And thus not factored in to daily catch? Or is the fishery tech or fisherman not looking for our left ventral clip? Or have the Broodstock developed gill net locating sonar? I don't get it. Contrary to thought, we are not looking to capture the largest of steelhead for the program. I think the larger fish I have tubed were in the 14 lb range. I want to say it is 30 hens and 15 bucks. A very low mortality rate, unless you factor in a fish kill for suspect Virus.