My policy is 100% release on wild steelhead ... period. So no, I'm not going to lose any business from C&R. I believe that I'm the only guide offering both conventional and fly trips operating in this manner (I believe two of the fly-only guides operate this way). And the effect on my business ... my prime datesstill fill up six to eight months in advance and I constantly turn people away because I don't have room.

I would love to see C&R statewide w/o exception ... and not just for steelies, mark all the salmon too and I'll do the same ...

A couple of reasons why I don't think this should go anywhere: IMHO, I don't believe the state managers can as accurately predict the reurns of steelhead compared to salmon ... more varied life histories and role of repeat spawners. Current escapement goals (attn: Mountin' Man) are in all likelihood too low and we all too often see the effects of this ... need an example? How 'bout easing the regs on the Hoh River even though the state has closed it to all fishing twice and mandated C&R another season (this in just the last five years!) ... and they want to liberalize the harvest. BS!!! Once again, it is a 'kill 'em all' or 'no fishing period' pair of choices in WA state ... enough is enough!

Another problem is how these runs are managed as a whole in the Quillayute system ... the Sol Duc has met escapement goals for a number of years ... the Bogey, Calawah, and Dickey have also fallen short on many occasions over the last 15 years ... but because, the Sol Duc run is so large in comparison, the surplus from there usually makes up the difference in the other three rivers and the Quillayute system is then considered healthy ... again, a bunch of BS!

Goodman Creek, leave the few wild fish that do return there alone! I don't know an exact number for the goal in here, but I can't imagine that it exceeds more than a few hundred fish ... yet one angler can take two per day and thirty a year ... that's a pretty decent percentage of the run that one angler could harvest.

I'm sure that many of you have read my journal's over the past few years ... one thing I've never mentioned is that the estimated escapement in that river is around 1200 fish ... can one person honestly tell me that I or any other angler could enjoy the size and numbers of fish that we catch if such regs were in place ... I think not!

C&R works ... look at the Sky, Stilly, most of the BC streams ... this would be a tumble back down a very steep hill that we're part way up.

I'll be looking into this and visiting my 'buddies' in Montesano concerning this matter very soon.