Backtrollin,

Just to reiterate, Smalma addressed the points you asked me about. And I agree with him, especially about the traditional season running through April, since he had a strong hand in setting the seasons and regulations those 37 years ago. I'll just say that under the proposed regulations, which are very conservative, the biological risks are very low, but the quantity and quality of the hand-wringing on the part of the agencies and a few anglers are very high.

I have never caught a wild kelt in March or April nor a gravid female (one with loose eggs). I did catch some kelts as well as fresh unspawned fish in late May back when the river used to re-open on Memorial Day weekend.

I cannot know how many guys will walk on redds, but since the percentage of total redds before the end of April is low, I'll speculate that not many will be walked on.

These are not the reasons why NMFS is dragging its feet. NMFS is slow because it's a bureaucracy and therefor incapable of doing anything quickly. They also want to make sure all the paperwork is airtight enough to withstand potential litigation. It looks like some of our angling compatriots want to conserve Skagit steelhead by never allowing fishing for them ever again. However, opinions not supported by facts should not carry the day IMO.

Sg