great now im not even a .00000002 percenter...... ill never make 10%

So is Todd !

Out of the 60 - 75 fish my boat landed last year fishing the Skagit only one was a winter brat. I know the river pretty well on the upper stretch and fished it hard in Dec with a sled so it wasn't for lack of covering the water. I LDR'd a couple at Illabot that were probably brats cuz there wasn't as much fight or weight as others but for the most part there aren't many brats I came in contact with. Nates were another story though

There would appear to be a problem with releases at Barnaby slough. I fished the river on the 27th, caught nothing, and at the end of the day talked to a Fish Checker guy at Rockport. He talked about how the Cascade has 170 fish in the trap already, Baker river has 260 fish in the trap already, but Barnaby Slough has only 7 fish. Maybe the problem has something to do with conditions in the slough when the fry/smolts are released. He said the largest portion of juveniles are released there and if it's screwed up for some reason this may help to explain the poor returns of adults. Just some food for thought.

If this is true then it does appear the resources being allocated to the Skagit system are a waste, dump them into the Sky or other systems instead.

Looks like the crucial issue is whether or not brats on the Skagit are satisfying the tribal allotments. If they are, relieving pressure on the natives, that's good. If they not being netted by the tribes, lots of unharvested bucks are hanging around the system till spring and breeding with native hens. That is very very bad. Is there any data on the tribal catch to answer this question?