Guilty as charged ... this is a very interesting topic to me as it relates to something I have done from time to time in past years.

I don't know about the regs up and down the Skagit and whether or not the entire river is closed to kings, nor do I know much about the actual strength of the run or spawning territory in the river or the like, so I'm going to shift to the Hoh ... which I do know an awful lot about.

About four or five years back, the upper end of the river was closed to the taking of salmon (conservation purposes) ... yet the lower end of the river continued to be open full bore with a limit of two salmon daily. The state figured they needed to close the upper river to help out the run ... okay, fine, but why does the limit stay the same in the lower river??? You've simply put all the pressure in one area with really no change in harvest.

Now, what I have done on occasion, is to ask the fellas if they would like to fish "steelhead" in the upper end with all caught salmon caught (with tackle rigged to minimize possible harm to fish, and likely spawning grounds avoided). The results ... we catch say maybe 10 or 12 salmon on average (figure 10% mortality at most ... see UW studies on scales-set king mortality in in-river C&R fishing) ... we've harvested ONE fish ... now, on the other hand, I could fish the lower river, kill four fish for sure ... hmmm, do the math ... which has more impact on the run??? In addition, myself and whomever I'm fishing with has a nicer trip down the river without too many other boats and much nicer scenery.

A few people also learn through this experience that fishing isn't ONLY about killing fish ... although I admit that perhaps I am not setting the best of examples by skirting the rules ... the regs DO NOT say that we cannot fish these waters.

Perhaps my frustraton with the management policies of the state contribute to my feelings on this one.

Why is it that the WDFW looks at salmon fishing with one of two options: a "kill' em all" attitude when we have decent returns; and a no fishing at all when they are weaker??

Why do we continue to have a two salmon per day limit with no seasonal limit??? Why have the limits for fall fish never dropped to one fish daily? How 'bout a seasonal limit of five (preferable in my eyes) or even ten fish??? After all, on the Hoh and other coastal rivers, the quality of flesh in fall kings is far from ideal!! I see many of the fish retained by both private anglers and some of the other guides that aren't even fit for consumption, yet, they are whacked on the head only to likely be thrown in the garbage later!

Many anglers dream of the fishing opportunities here on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula ... guess what? Anglers here are limited to one fish per day (on the Kenai, you must stop fishing after you keep the one) with a seasonal limit of NO MORE than five for the entire region (some areas, such as the Kenai, no more than two annually. C&R fisheries are instituted when the numbers of kings are down ... which incidentally, has taken place at one point in the season five of the last nine years on the Kenai!

We have C&R fisheries in place for steelhead (hopefully some day, all the wild ones will have to be released) ... why do we never have them for salmon on the rivers??? Surely if the state thinks hooking mortality is okay on feeding, loose-scaled fish in the saltchuck is okay in "selective fisheries", why not on territorial-striking, set-scaled fish in the rivers???

Personally, I don't have a problem with this activity if the gear is rigged to minimize damage to a fish and there are enough fish around to allow for some mortality (such as the Hoh with full-bore season down below).

When will the WDFW have the wisdom to limit harvests and preserve angling opportunities?? This fall's season is a perfect example ... many runs are supposed to be down, so the state closed many fisheries ... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the pressure looking to kill fish from the closed waters will shift to other nearby streams ... read this as: Grays Harbor streams anglers shifting to the northern streams (Hoh, Quillayute system) ... so what does the state do to the regs in these open streams that will likely see numbers of anglers that have never been present before ... liberalize the regs! Same limits, and, that area that I fished that was only open for "steelhead fishing" ... it is now open for a two fish daily limit!!