Stinkfoot: About those 2 manly macho men giving the "air time" to the steelhead for their women- I read about a study a couple years ago, published in Psychology Today mag., about fishermen. Two findings stand out in my memory. 1- The longer a fisherman holds his catch out of the water, the shorter his penis is likely to be. 2- The longer a fisherman's jetsled is, the shorter his penis is likely to be. Well, I definitely buy #1. But I think they made a mistake with conclusion #2. I used to own a 20+ ft. Alumaweld Super Vee. After I read that article I went & sold my boat and bought an older shorter 18 ft. flatbottom Alumaweld sled. Hey, let me warn any of you guys that read the article- it didn't help a bit! Nothing. Nadda. Same ol' crank. Keep the longer boats. . -- Unlike that little farce, the C&R studies in Oregon are real. It was & will be conducted by the ODWF. They use a few very good fulltime jetsled guides fishing 5 rods each on springers stacked thick above the Will. Falls deadline. Well to do members of the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation pay about a double guide fee each for the privilage to C&R & tag double numbers of springers under carefully test recorded guidelines (call ODWF for details if interested in helping out with that study- although I don't think they're hurtin' for anglers). They not only use several different hooking methods (bait, lures, trebles, singles, barbed/barbless), they also tested many release methods (including the idiot "air time" & drop on the boat floor method- call ODWF for verification). The overall mortality rate on these C&R'd springers was less than 7% (2 years of testing so far). These tests are being conducted for input on 2001/2002 spring chinook reg.'s when all hatchery springers will return fin-clipped so that native springers can be released (as has been the case for steelhead fishing for some time now in Oregon). The test results will be used for both angler education for best release methods & for documentaion to the Fed.s that C&R will protect the dwindling stocks of native fish, so fishing seasons can remain open. And yes I do think angler education is effective. - Steve