As long as it is legal to bonk one nate it will happen,along with some mortality attributed if released, while giving the tribes a shot at those fish also.

Either it is a viable fishery or not.

If they are as important as some think then the law needs to be changed, otherwise bonk and net away.

I wonder how many anglers that are opposed to killing wild steelhead are happy to kill wild chinook in the ocean or in Puget Sound blackmouth fisheries? Those stocks are ESA listed and many are in critical status with way fewer spawners than the Peninsula steelhead runs. Let's look at some of this year's Chinook forecasts: Stillaguamish 817, mid-Hood Canal 136, Dungeness 556, Nooksack springs 390, Skagit springs 768. Are the steelhead runs that low? Not. Although the state continues to push forward with selective fisheries for chinook, there are still plenty of non-selective fisheries where people on this board are very happy to kill native chinook. What the heck is the difference?

Good question. I think the answer is that people don't really want to kill those wild kings. The problem is that you would have to shut down all mixed stock salt water fishing and use terminal fisheries only to determine which fish are being caught. Doubt that's going to happen any time soon. Using that argument,killing ESA chinook, to justify killing wild steelhead is kind of a two wrongs making a right argument.

I'm not using killing ESA listed chinook to justify killing a wild steelheed. I have no problems with folks killing a wild steelhead if the managers determine there is a harvestable surplus.

I'm simply pointing out the hypocracy of some of the folks that are critical of killing wild steelhead while they continue to kill wild chinook that are actually in worse shape than steelhead on the Peninsula. Shouldn't they be more critical of anyone killing a wild chinook? I recall a very prominent member of this board blasting the state on this board for closing the Area 5 chinook fishery last summer when the reason for the closure was because too many wild chinook were being caught and released and the subsequent mortalities from hooking mortality.

Maybe we should stop criticizing folks harvesting a handful of fish each year and start criticizing the folks that are destroying habitat every day. Oh wait, that might affect my pocketbook. Back to eating our young.

I think that is jizz dripping from the fish..... Unfortunate if he killed it, but I doubt that 22# number came from a scale. That fish might go 12.....

Someone should break the link. They are getting too many views for a Natekiller board. Plus they arent listening and thrasher tried I believe. But who am I.

I see they deleted my comment and locked the thread . .. .all I said was that it should have been released to be able to hit the gravel. . . . . Guess honest opinions are not welcome after all. . .

I guess you trust the managers more than I and a lot of others do. They don't have that great of a track record for reversing declining runs and IMO do too little too late. Releasing wild steelhead is a small step and is not much of a sacrifice to do something positive for the fish. I know some rivers on the peninsula that are rate as healthy by the managers haven't been making escapement goals and harvest is still allowed. That makes no sense to me. Other than that I agree with what you said. Plenty of hypocracy to go around, like when someone keeps a big king in a river they get sh!t on but guys that kill them out in the salt get patted on the back.

Only good thing from that post was the avatar from #5.

Don't support boards like that. Don't be active members or give them traffic. Let them dry up.

Besides that, based on the looks of that guy holding the steelhead (a DARK steelhead at that), he doesn't have the blood circulation for too many more seasons.

Bummer...

For the record I do release all wild Chinook I catch regardless if it's open or not. The one notable exception is the Elliot Bay fishery as the Green fish don't get marked.

I guess everytime I see a big 'ol Native Chinookie I figure it's a Gray's Harbor or CR dip in and think of all the work Doc and others here have done to help those fish!!!

But comparing a mixed stock fishery to an in river fishery is just a garbage argument from the neanderthal "hey look at me world I'm a complete idiot and an ASSHOLE" crowd!!!