It is wonderful that it has been recognized that resident rainbows are an important part of the O. mykiss diversity in our anadromous streams!

Not only are those resident fish part of the historic diversity of the species it is becoming clear that they help provide long term stability of not only the species but the anadromous portion of that population that is of so much interest to many anglers.

The good news is that it is know how to recover that resident life history in PS streams. Tried and true fisheries management efforts to re-establish those resident fish seems to be more effective boosting the wild anadromous population. At in the North Sound region of Puget Sound the typically resident rainbow in the larger tributaries and main stems typically mature at age 4 with those first time spawners in that 12 to 15 inch range. They also have demonstrated the ability to be fairly long lived; up to at least 10 years of age and spawning as many as 6 times.

All that it takes to reclaim that important part of historic O. mykiss life history to prevent angler mortality; no kill and bait bans get you there. The harsh reality is that for many decades the fisheries management paradigm on the region's steelhead streams has been stacked against the resident life history.

Curt