You know the whole gillnetting thing just fires me up? It's an insult to let the netters in the columbia at all and incidentally catch the wild fall chinook of the Lewis, and yes if they are still netting they are still catching these fish. The sportsman have not been able to keep any of the chinook in the lewis during the entire season. One of my favorite fisheries on the Lewis is usually right now because there are typicallymany chrome bright 30-50lb hogs in the river but this year very few are to be found. It's also the first year in quite a while they've let the netters in the lower columbia. I thought we were out to protect the wild fish. If you don't have the opportunity to release a wild fish alive you shouldn't be netting. Once they're in the net they're dead. Except those that escape, the smaller fish which the lewis if full of right now, small silvers with net marks all over them. STOP ALL NETTING FOREVER, And you will keep seeing returns of fish. Stop all netting off of the coast and canada and you will see large returns of silvers like we have in the last couple of years.
It makes me sick to think that there are individuals out there who make a living off of netting. It's all a cop out. For all I care in the future we can make all fisheries catch and release, its the beauty of the fight and hookset that I love.

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[This message has been edited by stlhdr1 (edited 11-06-2000).]