I agree that C&R is not a good idea. You end up harming the very fish you are trying to protect, especially if using bait.

Also something that doesn't seem logical. I understand that starting in late December and beyond, there are many more wild steelhead hooked than hatchery.
The normal method is some sort of bait, usually eggs. Then why are barbed hooks still legal? If using barbed hooks, many wild fish are harmed. Why not allow barbed hooks and the first steelhead caught is your limit for the day? The way it is now it is nothing more than C&R until you might get a hatchery steelhead, killing wild ones along the way.

As for coho

1. Keep it closed until January 1, taking the high road. or

2. Open the river around the 20th and use the regs as written. or

3. Open it sooner and the first coho is your limit for the day. No C&R. January 1, use regs as written. Wild steelhead may mess up the no C&R, but maybe not that much in December.