I don't know what the effects are on a caught and released fish but I think I can say they have a hell of lot better chance of survival than being bonked on the frickin head!!!! Plus over the 50+ years I've fished for steelhead I have caught the same fish in the same day more than once over that time frame.

It really blows my mind that anyone would even begin to argue the affects on wild steelhead OR any fish for thst matter. If the % of mortality was even .0000001 percent. That is .0000001 more than I want to hear about.
Do you part to handle every fish to the best of your ability. Plain and simple.
You should need a study to tell you that our fisheries are declining, and sport fisherman ARE PART of the cause.

And yes that includes hatchery fish that your hard earned money funds to produce.

Better idea to bonk all hatchery fish. At the end of the day help limit your impact on wild steelhead by using the handling information so our share can potentially be more successful on the spawning beds.

I liked the part about limiting contact, but goes right out the door on the coast!

So what do we do about the coast? Any ideas for proposed changes? All in all in Washington we seem to be doing a better job of handling the fish compared to our neihboring states lots of pics of wild steelhead held in the air, sometimes in boats with out a drop of water coming off them, not too sure that is providing a higher survival rate. Perhaps this graphic can provide some level of awareness that we can do a better job and limit our personal impact, especially with our share in Washington.

I will get flamed for it but its time to ban fishing from boats on the coast(until there is some rivers in P/S are opend to relieve some preshure).No one is trying to limit them selves. How many native steelhead do you need to catch in a day? 2? 10? 30? I know some guides that do exceedingly good out there but have no restraint, espeacialy the fly guys beading. I know its fun to catch fish but come on stop being greedy

Bonk them all, sure that's fine.

But it still doesn't change the laws I'm affect for handling steelhead. It doesn't make a difference be it wild or hatchery. If you intend to release the fish...keep it in the water.

Play by the rules or sit on the bench.

Very little is accomplished in western wa in regards to habitat protection, steelhead management, and enforcement. Having grown up on the upper sky and now living on the upper Clearwater in Idaho, the ways of managing a resource is night and day. Today I watched f&g collecting broodstock from fisherman via hook n line, trucks with tracking devices studying migration rates, and enforcement doing their thing. Lots of hatchery fish, lots of wild, and lots of river for people to spread out and catch fish. If everyone was on the same page we could have killer steelhead fisheries in PS for native steel and hatchery fish, or do nothing and get what it is now...

In regards to hooking mortality and reproduction; a buddy messed around with a big buck hatch only to have leader snap and fish roll back to the drink. 10 min later I hook same fish and gave him his hook back and said, " told u steelhead weren't puss***"

yeah a big buck hatch you likely whacked... hook a big buck nate let it go, catch it again, let it go, and see what happens in 36 hours....

if anyone denounces that hooking fish multiple times doesnt affect them, id think thats a pretty dumb thing to say....

and Mr. paige does have a point, ive been saying this for years, it is greed... straight up... gotta have more pics, gotta have more fish, gotta have this that ect.... then bitch about the numbers...

be happy with what ya got, or well, its going to be gone... soon...

No truer words have been quoted on this site in many a years.

Damn Stam.

I AGREE
With my # of days per fish the steelhead have nothing to fear from me!

no, sh! t that eyefish brings threads are more thought provoking. I'd still hire stam to fix my car however.

Dern straight...

Wont be a need for overzealous witchhunting much longer as we'll all be shut down soon enough at the rate this states heading.

I don't care what you know etc it is all wrong. but I likened steelhead to tarpon, snook and reds on the east coast. basically it isn't the sportsfishers fault. it is everything else. ie god damn nets

I continue to see wild fish out of the water, held by the supporters of WSC. . Get yur soldiers in - line yo! And they wonder why they're not taken seriously? ????? I really believe this is all about ego and not the fish...sadly were too 'tistacle to give in. If pride trumped our egos we'd be at the table hammering things out, and the money flashers would be all but ignored.

Keep fish in the water... GOOD. Wet your hands before handling them... BETTER. Claim sport fishers capitalizing on the rare day when they get an opportunity to catch numbers is what's wiping out wild steelhead... BUSH LEAGUE.

Anybody posting comments to the effect they would choose to stop fishing after one or two encounters when the bite is on is LYING, and I'm calling you out on it. But don't worry... I don't think that makes you greedy, especially if you, like me, get skunked more often than you catch more than one. They're called glory days for a reason. If they happened frequently, there would be considerably less glory.

Yes I would limit my self, as i swing flies for steelhead. After 2 fish landed I would switch to a lighter tip, still hooking I would switch to a floater with a wet, still hooking put on a skater. I get more enjoyment watching my friends get into fish so they would be the priority.. For the common working guy that has a big day once a year no big deal, but the guides out there doing it over and over and over with no self regard for the resources is whats the problem.

Good on you for exercising restraint, bk. I Spey fish, too (not exclusively), and I can honestly say that if you have ever caught so many fish on a Spey rod that you needed to restrain yourself, you are my hero.

FF- No not yet not even close but I don't fly fish for #s. I fish gear some times and if I was ripping em I would try some thing else. But alas I have'nt fished since January and probley wont till late March if I'm lucky so steelhead are safe from me!!!!!