Yup, I have lowered my catching ratio a lot by being stubborn and drift fishing exclusively over the years. Now, after Steelhead fishing for over 30 years I've caught enough to not worry about numbers.

In fact I think I'm going to stop fishing for wild Steelhead. I no longer want to be part of the problem harassing these fish due to low numbers. Again, I've been fortunate to catch some real nice trophies over the years, memories are good enough. I don't think I'll have any regrets.

I've never bought into the mortality rates of catch and release....just a gut feeling, nothing scientific. I have just as much fun in the summer fishing my Sage fly rod 3 weight for trout on the south fork of the snoqualmie wading in tennis shoes fishing Adam flies.