hey guys, this is my last post, whew, in the few short days since i have posted my ranting and raving i have received more replies than anyone else, maybe i should be given a column? whadda ya think bob?

first off, bob and salmo g, hey guys come on, have you been to russia? let alone got your hands on the factual data that is being collected over yonder on the peninsula? obviously not, THE STEELHEAD POPULATIONS IN RUSSIA, ON THE PENINSULA, CONSIST MAINLY OF 2YR SMOLTS, NOT THREE, AND I SHOULD KNOW SINCE I AM SITTING HERE LAUGHING AND LOOKING AT THE DATA, THE ARMCHAIR BIOLOGIST LABEL SHOULD BE APPLIED TO YOU GUYS, AND SALMO, THE FISH DO OVERWINTER IN THE OCEAN, AT LEAST THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION, THE FISH OVER YONDER HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DIVERSE POPULATION STRUCTURES THAN OUR FISH, WHICH INDICATES RELATIVE HEALTH AMONGST THE STEELHEAD STOCKSS, THE POPULATIONS CONSIST MOSTLY OF MATURE STEELHEAD THAT MIGRATE TO THE OCEAN AND REMAIN THERE TO FEED, I IMAGINE YOU GUYS GET MOST OF YOUR INFO. FROM THE MAGAZINE WILD STEELHEAD AND SALMON, ITS A GOOD ONE, BETTER THAN THE OTHER COMMERCIAL CRAP THAT IS PUBLISHED, AT THIS TIME IT IS NOT KNOWN WHERE THE FISH MIGRATE TOO, A GOOD THING FOR ALL OF US BECAUSE IT PROTECTS THE OCEAN GOING FISH, NOW, ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT TWENTY POUND FISH ARE NOT OVERWINTERING IN THE OCEAN, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG SALMO AND YOU TOO BOB, AND IF BOB REALLY WANTS TO GO TO OLY, I WELCOME IT, IN FACT, IF BOB HAS TAKEN A COUPLE OF CLASSES AT A HATCHERY PRODUCING/TIMBER INDUSTRY FUNDED SCHOOL SUCH AS UW, THEN [Bleeeeep!], LETS PUT HIM IN CHARGE. BOTTOM LINE, IT DOESNT APPEAR THAT BOB HAS EVER CONDUCTED RESEARCH HIMSELF, AT LEAST ANYTHING THAT IS QUANTIFIABLE, AND REAL DATA IS THE FOUNDATION OF ACHIEVING A MORE COMPLETE, HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE FISH. AND BOB, COMEON, STEELHEAD ARE A SPECIES, THE SAME SPECIES FOUND HERE IN WASHINGTON, ALASKA, CANADA, OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. THEY MAY HAVE DIFFERENT PHENOTYPICAL ADAPTATIONS, BUT THOSE ARE ONLY PHYSICAL EXPRESSIONS OF CERTAIN LOCI (GENETIC GROUPINGS) WITHIN THE FISH. THE PHYSICAL EXPRESSIONS BECOME MORE PRONOUNCED OR LESS SO DEPENDENT UPON WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT CALLS FOR, SUCH AS A LIGHT SWITCH, TURN IT ON WHEN IT IS DARK AND YOU GET LIGHT, TURN IT OFF DURING THE DAY, HOWEVER, IT IS STILL A LIGHT SWITCH, AND YOU COULD INSTALL IT IN ANY HOUSE, IT MIGHT LOOK DIFFERENT BUT IT WILL STILL FLIP THE POWER ON. SO GUYS, MY POINT IS THIS. RUSSIA HAS RELATIVELY HEALTHY STOCKS OF FISH, THEY SHOW AN AMAZING DEGREE OF PLASTICITY AND DIVERSITY AMONG THEIR POPULATIONS. EX. THEY HAVE VERY LARGE POPULATIONS OF RESIDENT TROUT, THESE GUYS RESEMBLE EVERYTHING FROM A WESTSLOPE CUTTHROAT TO REDBAND TROUT, THEY HAVE RAINBOWS WITH BASIBRANCHIAL TEETH, CUTTHROAT WITH BRIGHT RED STRIPES, ETC. 75% OF THEIR STEELHEAD ARE ON THEIR RETURN TRIP TO SPAWN FOR A 3RD TIME. WE DONT HAVE THAT HERE, WE DONT HAVE LARGE RESIDENT FISH ANY LONGER, IN FACT WE LACK ALMOST ANY HEALTHY POPULATIONS OF RESIDENT RAINBOWS IN OUR STREAMS THROUGHOUT WASHINGTON, BUT, ALASKA DOES HAVE LARGE RESIDENT FISH AND SO DOES CANADA, COINCIDENCE, NOPE, THE SPAWNING INTERACTION BETWEEN RESIDENT FISH, JACK FISH, AND THE VARIED FORMS OF ANADRAMOUS FISH CREATE A WIDE ARRAY OF GENETIC DIVERSITY THAT ONCE SWAM THE STREAMS OF THE NORTHWEST. SALMO, COMEON, NO ONE KNOWS THE HISTORIC SPAWNING RETURN RATES OF FISH IN THE NW, THEY WERENT COLLECTING DATA THEN, BEFORE THE MASS DESTRUCTION THAT IS. SO, WE SHOULD UTILIZE RUSSIAN DATA AND THE RESEARCH TO PROVIDE US AMERICANS WITH SOME SOLID BASELINE INFORMATION, A PEEK INTO THE PAST SO TO SAY, THEIR PIECES OF THE PUZZLE ARE MORE COMPLETE THAN OURS, AND A PUZZLE THAT IS ALMOST COMPLETE IS EASIER TO PUT TOGETHER THAN A PUZZLE THAT IS SCATTERED ABOUT AND MISSING SEVERAL KEY PIECES (LIKE OUR STEELHEAD AND SALMON IN THE NW) I HAVE FISHED THROUGHOUT N AMERICA FOR FISH FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS, OFTEN SPENDING OVER 250-300 DAYS ON THE RIVERS, SO I TOO HAVE A CLUE, AN INSIGHT INTO THE DAILY WORKINGS OF THE RIVER, AND ALSO INCLUDED IN MY PASSION IS A KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYSICAL SYSTEM, THE DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM THAT PULSES THROUGH THE DRAINAGES. TO UNDERSTAND THE RIVER, ONE MUST KNOW A MULTITUDE OF PERSPECTIVES, NOT ONLY THE FISH. THIS LATEST RESEARCH IS APPLICABLE TO ALL OF OUR STREAMS AND FISH POPULATIONS. THE FISH IN SIBERIA LIVE IN A MUCH HARSHER ENVIRONMENT THAN OUR FISH IN THE NW, GEOTHERMAL VENTS HEAT SPAWNING GROUNDS, GEOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES INNUNDATE STREAMS WITH SILT AND ASH, AND THE OLIGOTROPHIC WATERS OF THE RUSSIAN RIVERS SUSTAIN LESS MACROINVERTEBRATE LIFE THAN EVEN OUR NUTRIENT POOR WATERS. BOB WOULD LIKE US TO BELIEVE THAT WE CANNOT COMPARE THE RESEARCH TO OUR STREAMS BECAUSE OF SIMPLE MEASUREMENTS SUCH AS GRADIENT OR RIPARIAN GROWTH, COME ON BOB, THOSE CHARACTERISTICS ONLY INFLUENCE PHENOTYPICAL DEVELOPMENT. AS FOR CLADISTICS AND PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM, MAYBE THE FELLA WHO REMARKED ABOUT THE SUBJECTS SHOULD READ SJG OVER AGAIN, GOULD IS AN AVID SUPPORTER OF DARWINS WORK, I HAVE MET SJG PERSONALLY, HE WOULD PROBABLY GET A KICK OUT OF THE THEORY THAT DARWINS WORK IS OUTDATED, CLADISTICS AND PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM ARE OLD NEWS ALSO, AND FOR THOSE WHO DONT KNOW, CLADISTICS SIMPLY REFERS TO PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF FAUNA AND FLORA, THUS, A MAP AND ROUGH TIMETABLE OF THE EVOLUTIONARY SEQUENCE OF GENETIC BRANCHING THAT OCCURRED IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE CURRENT SPECIES WE HAVE IN OUR TIME, AND NOW TO PUNCT. EQUILI.: SIMPLY PUT, IT IS THE BALANCE ACHIEVED AFTER A SPURT/RAPID GENETIC GROWTH/DIVERSION PERIOD THAT OCCURS (USUALLY) IN CORRELATION WITH DRAMATIC PHYSICAL/ENVIRONMENTAL/GEOLOGICAL/CLIMATIC ALTERATIONS, THUS THE ENVIRONMENT DICTATES WHO SURVIVES AND IF THE ENVIRONMENT CHANGES ALOT THEN SO WILL THE NUCLEAR GENETIC MAKEUP OF THE SPECIES. THE LAST ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE YOU ASK, THE PLEISTOCENE GLACIATION, BY THE WAY, THE KAMCH. PENINSULA WASNT GLACIATED DURING THIS PERIOD, UNLIKE MOST OF NORTHERN WASHINGTON, THE CHEHALIS RIVER DRAINAGE BEING THE ONLY SIZEABLE REFUGIA DURING THAT TIME, SO 15OOO YEARS AGO, THE CORDILLERAN ICE SHEET WAS RETREATING AND LEAVING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF GLACIAL OUTWASH IN OUR STREAM VALLEYS, THUS WE HAVE SEDIMENT RICH VALLEYS WITH LOTS OF GRAVEL FOR SPAWNING SALMONIDS. BUT WE HAVE KILLED MOST OF OUR LARGE RESIDENT TROUT, THEY TAKE 7-10 YEARS TO ACHIEVE THE GROWTH SIZE FOUND IN RUSSIA, AND DUE TO OUR FISHING PRACTICES THE FISH HAVE NOW DISAPPEARED IN OUR STREAMS. LARGE FISH ARE USUALLY OLD, OUR FISH DIE BEFORE THEY REACH THAT AGE, AND CATCH AND RELEASE IS A PART OF THAT. AS FOR TRIBAL FISHERIES, HEY BOB, YOU MAKE BUCKS OF HARASSING DEPLETED POPULATIONS, BY OVERCROWDING RIVERS WITH FISHERMAN WHO MIGHT NOT OTHERWISE COME OUT HERE, LIKE SALMO G SAID, THERE ARE MORE FISHERMAN AND LESS FISH, SO THAT MAKES BOB PART OF THE PROBLEM. THE TRIBES SIGNED TREATIES BOB, WHICH IS MORE THAN THE RIGHT YOU HAVE TO FISH, IT IS THEIR CULTURE AND PART OF THEIR SPIRITUALITY. WHY CANT GUYS LIKE YOU JUST ENJOY THE RIVER WITHOUT FISHING, LEARN TO WATCH BIRDS, WRITE, DRAW, LOOK INSIDE YOURSELF FOR ANSWERS. WE ARE ALL PART OF THE PROBLEM AND I DONT SEE MANY PEOPLE ADMITING THEIR PART, OR SETTING DOWN THEIR POLES IN PROTEST TO THE POOR MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. JUST FISH UNTIL THERE ARENT ANY MORE IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE IM HEARING. THAT SUCKS, IT IS SAD. AND FOR YOU GUYS WHO WANT BOB IN OLY, ONCE AGAIN, GO FOR IT, BOB WILL GET CHEWED UP QUICKER THAN A SALMON BY A BEAR. HE FLOODED THE PAGE WITH INCORRECT INFORMATION, RESEARCH BIOLOGISTS (MOST OF THEM) WORK REALLY HARD TO STUDY THE FISH AND WOULD BE OFFENDED BY THE SIMPLISTIC VIEW OF GUIDES LIKE BOB WHO THINK THAT THE QUALITATIVE DATA THEY PICK UP DURING FISHING TRIPS CORRELATES TO ACTUAL TRUTHS OR COHESIVE PHILOSOPHIES/THEORIES. THROWING OUT DATA JUST TO REFUTE SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET US NOWHERE, IF YOU ARE OFFENDED JUST SAY SO, IM NOT HERE TO MAKE YOU SMILE, JUST A ROCK IN YOUR PILLOW TO WAKE YOU UP. LOOK AROUND, THE POPULATIONS WE HAVE DO NOT EVEN SHOW A FRACTION OF THE DIVERSITY FOUND IN RUSSIA, SET THE POLES ASIDE BOYS, AND BEGIN TO TAKE CLIENTS DOWN THE RIVER TO SHOW THEM THE NATURAL WORLD, EXPLAIN WHO THE RIVER FUNCTIONS AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ALL THE FLORA AND FAUNA FOUND IN THE DRAINAGE VALLEYS. GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE THIS MESSAGE IS LUCID ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND