Originally Posted By: Supertrout


Do I plan on quitting fishing for wild steelhead - absolutely not. Do I plan on finding mellower ways to enjoy catching less of them - DEFINITELY. It's something I'd like to apply to many parts of my life - instead of constantly wanting more I'll try to get more out of less. smile


I applaud this attitude.

Making a commitment to tread lighter on a precious and limited natural resource.

BUT...

At what point of depletion is it no longer acceptable to put ANY pressure on them? This where the consumptive user (yes, even CNR guys are consumptive in the sense of "impact' from release mortalities) must look long and hard in the mirror and make a very personal decision.

If there is reasonable certainty that the resource will rebound, then "treading lighter" in times of cyclical or periodic scarcity makes sense. But what if the trajectory points to constant and perpetual depletion?

Are we there? I don't know for certain, but it's looking more and more like that all the time. If so, are we called to even greater restraint?
_________________________
"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!