Closing rivers to native retention IS NOT going to effect guides business much IMO, it's a weak excuse used by guides that want to continue harvesting. It's in everyones best interest (if you want there to be native fish left for future generations to enjoy) to close retention of native steelhead everywhere, regardless of the number of returning fish. If killing native steelhead is truly the only thing that gets clients into your boat, maybe you shouldn't be fishing clients in the first place. The quality of fishing won't be effected, if anything it will improve. The perceived quality of a fishing guide should be based on things like his skill lever, work ethic, attitude and whether or not you had a fun day on the water. Look at guys like Bob and Superfly, your not going to see a dead native steelhead in either one of their boats but you can bet theres still a line of clients waiting for a date to CnR some nates. Close the Forks streams, the Umpqua and any other stream that allows native retention and you'll level the playing field guide wise. The weak ones will be weeded out, and the truly good fisherman/guides will shine through even more than they do now.

I saw the episode of Hawg Quest on the Umpqua. It's the last episode of that show I'll watch. "It's the locals right to keep fish" is the dumbest fuckin argument ever. Look around, ALL of our rivers were open to native steelhead retention at one time or another and most of them are now closed to retention (all of them should be) or fishing in general. We've all adapted just fine to those closures and guides continue to book trips regardless of whether or not retention is allowed. If you want to kill a fish, book your trip at a point in the year when the guide can put you on some hatchery fish.