Ah, the first "Bash Bob" post of the season

Funny, it comes from someone who has said before that he keeps wild steelhead.

Trying to prove that I'm imperfect? If so, mission accomplished! Never said I was anyhow. Perhaps myself and Parker are hypocrites, but I can live with it.

Why? A combination of biological facts and personal values.

First off, I think there's little doubt that wild salmon are more numerous than wild steelhead, especially in the rivers that I fish. When was the last time you had ~750,000 (typical sockeye return on the Kenai) steelhead come up one of the rivers you fish?? Hmmm, trout fishing on that river is pretty much all C&R too.

Secondly, and quite important in my decision to selectively (more on this later) harvest wild salmon is the fact that salmon are semelparous ... they spawn once, period. You take one salmon out, and you know your impact. Steelhead are a whole different ballgame. They do not share the semelparity trait with salmon. You take one steelie out, maybe that fish was going to spawn one, twice, maybe four times, you don't know!

Of course, fin-clipping problems play a role in my decision too. Is it wild, or is it hatchery? From my understanding, salmon do not have the tendancy to nip at one another as much in the juvenille pools so you do not get the same degree of fin damage as you do in steelhead. Makes the distiction much tougher.

You say that " ...you should be for or against killing all wild fish, not a select group that you happen to favor and promote."

To this, I say "Yes, and no". If there is a particular stock of fish that I have extra concern, or show preference for, so what?? I do, and I don't see the big deal in it!

I have serious concerns regarding the success of our current steelhead escapement models. I must disagree with your statement: "There are many more opportunities to kill wild steelhead in WA state than there are wild salmon." Hogwash! Please document for me! I would like to see total harvest numbers for the state!

And what if we even say that last statement of yours was true? Ever wonder why for so many years why you bought a FOODFISH license for salmon, and a GAMEFISH license for steelhead?? Wonder why in-river commercial fishing for steelhead was banned thirty years before I was even born? Steelhead ARE special !

This isn't to say that I don't make any distinction between hatchery salmon and wild salmon in my fishing. Occasionally when fishing is very good I might get a few fish for myself ... guess what they end up being 99% of the time ... clipped silvers!

Perhaps you missed the picture a couple of days ago of the nice female king my clients let go ... happens more and more in my boat. In fact, some clients want to target silvers and when we know the fishing is decent enough to support it, we'll let all unmarked silvers go, hens or bucks, to find clipped ones. I will admit though, that we limit this practice to our Washington fishing as our fishing techniques in Alaska don't afford very good survival for released fish. Look around the site, you'll find some pictures of wild salmon being let go.

I have also spent a number of hours on the phone with biologists in Olympia and Montesano suggesting one king limits over the years. This hasn't gotten anywhere yet, but hopefully someday in the (VERY NEAR) future, it will. We've made progress with the steelies, maybe we will elsewhere!

Don't care for my reasoning? Too bad, you can call me a hypocrite if you wish, but I'll be damned if you say I don't give a hoot about them as you insinuate