Agree 100%

I'm part of the problem and I try not to complain but it's so gut-wrenching sometimes that I almost feel like hanging up the rods for good, so I complain. A Skagit C&R season would be a nightmarish zoo this day in age but I would fish it for sure.

Seems to be a lot of hate toward WDFW when they are the ones in fact trying to get the feds to adopt a steelhead harvest management plan and change the 4.2% harvest rate. Without a steelhead harvest management plan in place, the only way to have a C&R fishery is to reduce take elsewhere, mostly from the tribes, and we should know by now that it is NOT an option.

from what I can tell, it all seems like a waste of good energy...

Steeliedrew- For steelhead, Bios count redds in the gravel throughout historical indexed stretches of river by foot, boat, and helicopter. For the areas outside of these indexes they use expansion equations and that right there is where the numbers get foggy. In an attempt to clear things up in the case of PS steelhead, WDFW has been looking at these outer areas (basin-wide) basin by basin, for the past 4 years. Steelhead tend to get caught multiple times which makes a strong case against your survey method ; )