well, i don't disagree with the barbless hooks, or the keeping of only clipped fin fish (although it'd be real tough on rivers planted by the tribal/federal hatcheries), but i disagree with the rivers and creeks being opened all year.

one, fish do deserve some sanctuary areas where they can just do their thing. two, certain times of year, rivers can be just full of non-target species, such as smolts... and maybe shouldn't be open for fishing. personally, i see the summer "everything is open" season in the same way. many of our smaller creeks that are open to trout fishing throughout the summer are full of smolts, and the likelyhood of catching a legal fish is slim. while these same creeks may fill with fall salmon, winter steelhead, and fall sea-run cutts... many are deserts for large fish in the summer months. sorry for adding more complexity to a discussion about simplicity <G>

the regs are complicated because they have to be. if all we had were trout rivers with one or two different species of trout, things would be easy.... but plug salmon, steelhead, cutthroat, dollies, resident trout, and smolts all in one river system, and it complicates the fishing regs, especially if one or two of the fish species is depressed while others are strong.

cb