Ok, looks like I wasn't clear enough. Let's keep this discussion about keeping large natives on just the lower Quianalt (Indian guided only) river. Also, let's keep this discussion focused on trophy native fish over 25 lbs.

Are you guys really telling me that if you caught the WA State record fish (native) on the lower Quinalt while fishing with Robin Rhoades, you'd let it go?

Why? The regulations state that you can keep one native on the lower Quinalt (at least they did last time I checked). Are you saying that all/most fisheries peoples/biologists are idiots and that they have no idea what they are doing?

Some food for thought:

I graduated from the UW School of Fisheries in 1991. I specialized in salmonids (ie salmon and steelhead). I'm very familiar with the Quinalt river and what goes on there. Seeing how a good portion of the hatchery fish on the Quinalt are not adipose clipped, how do you know what you are catching? Yeah, I know the "rule of thumb" about perfect fins on natives, but that does not always hold true. If you think it does, than you've never worked in a hatchery. Last time I checked, the Quinalt had a very healthy native population. With so *little* fishing pressure (key point there) on the Quinalt, taking a native or two does not hurt the population.

Are you also telling me that only genetics contributes to large fish? Doesn't easy access to the coast and low predation have any effect on a 2-time returning fish (IE, large fish?)

Don't get me wrong. I release natives, although I generally keep what I catch when fishing my one day a year trip on the Quinalt. I don't see anything wrong with that, and I have yet to see any evidence that tells me keeping a native on the Quinalt is bad.

I can't and won't say that for any other river in the State.

PS. I don't keep natives on any other rivers (period), reglardless of size. Our State Managed (non-tribal) rivers are all messed up and unfortunately there's very little we can do. Personally, I think no one should be allowed to keep any native on any State Managed (non-tribal) river.

Don't get me started, but why the heck is the Sauk open for natives? Now that the Sky, Sno, and Stili are closed for nates, guess where all the fisherman are headed for meat fishing? Yup, the Sauk. How many years of this do you think it will take until the Sauk has an "endangered" run of natives. Not long. Sad.

Keep those lines tight and I might sound like a hypocrite for saying "release the natives on our public rivers."

Parker