I don't feel this way. Oh, I find it plenty depressing that the state of our fisheries has come to this situation. And I used to have a reverence for steelhead that exceeded my interest for all other species. Then I came to realize that I'm just a steelhead addict, and that steelhead are just another salmonid. The things that makes steelhead special is that they are usually the least abundant salmonid, and they take artificial flies better than salmon do, but not any better than cutthroat and bull trout.

Although fishing regulations still allow wild steelhead retention on the OP, a survey report I recently read inidicated that only 3% of the wild steelhead caught were killed and retained. This makes CNR incidental mortality the primary sport fishing impact on wild steelhead. Who'da' thunk that 20 years ago? The upshot is that sport fishing mortality barely registers as a factor affecting wild steelhead abundance in WA state. I'm not saying that incidental mortality from CNR fishing doesn't matter; rather I'm saying that at this point it doesn't appear to have enough of an effect to be affecting population abundance.

The crowds of steelhead anglers have a more degrading effect on the quality of the steelhead fishing experience than they do on the wild steelhead resource. What that means for the future is that management of recreational steelhead fisheries is more about social engineering than it is about steelhead ecology and meeting spawning escapement objectives.

I still fish for wild steelhead. And I will continue to do so as long as I find satisfaction in doing so. I've long since selected a fishing method that limits my direct impact on the resource. If the time comes where I have reason to believe that my impact is having an adverse effect on the resource in terms of reducing population abundance, I'll quit. However, I expect that the continuing reduction in the quality of the angling experience will drive me away from steelhead fishing before the lack of steelhead does.

Sg