Caution!!! If veiwing a dead wild steelhead offends you please hit your back button.

This big guy came off the Quinault from the nets today. It weighed in at 32 pounds and 13 ounces. Total length was 43 inches and the girth was 23 1/2/ inches.
You can see it at www.geocities.com/lettyrene/
under daily pics

Letty, I followed the link to your daily pics and the 33 pounder is not pictured, but two guys are and one of them looks like Marty. Are the nexts coming out on the Quinault soon? I'm heading over there this Friday so it's nice to know there are some big boys coming through. Thanks

That must be the wrong photo or I am looking in the wrong place for it!! I have been known to maybe streeeetch the truth a little but I will turn in my license if either of those fish in the photo goes over 12 pounds!

Crayfin

sorry, try now

Sure would have been nice to see him Spawning in the upper river, sigh!!!!!!

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"Just say HELL no to sovereign nation!!!!!"
SRBC Boyz

All I have to say too bad that fish got cut off on his spawning journey, but whoa!!! That is a $#%&#@! toad!!!!!

Nets = 1
Steelhead gene pool = 0

i'm speechless

nets =1
gene pool =1
Letty lost a bigger one up river 10 miles 2 weeks ago.

Probably went for a buck a pound....what a bargain! With the low flows this year the tribes should really pound the nates! What was that I heard earlier in the year about the tribes concentrating on brats and laying off the nates. More smoke. The way I see it now....

Wild Steelhead gene pool = 0
Tribal Leadership IQ pool = nearing 0

I'm sorry, I can no longer respect Washington Tribes for their sellout of the wild steelhead. I'm certain there are tribal members that disagree with what is happening to the wild steelhead (and I respect them) but since the tribes as a whole support widespread netting of nates (given nates fragile existence and low market value).....I have little that's positive to say about the tribes. Given that sport steelheaders would payoff the tribes to layoff steelhead in general and nates specifically...my opinion will not change until the tribes relent on commercially netting nates.

Ridge,I couldn't have said it better myself,.....well maybe but I don't think I can spell all those cuss words.
Since they took all the nates from the Chehalis system good to see there are some still left.....Oh thats right....IT'S DEAD TOO

Well, here we go again.
I dont want to be sending anyone spinning out of control unnecessarily, but has anyone considered the fact the Quinault do operate a hatchery and at least make an effort to sustain their own fisheries???
I dont know all the details about the fiscal side of the operation, but it seems at least they are somehow more entitled to harvest what they want. I dont believe they do a lot of fin clipping, so are you absolutely certain it's a wild fish?? There are other tribes as well, with hatcheries in operation, and I believe their right to harvest fish in their usual and accustomed locations and methods is better supported than those who dont. Dont misunderstand me, I still have a problem with non-selective totally lethal fishing methods.(Gillnets)
I'd be right with you, if the fish in question had been from the Quilleute, Chehalis, or the Cowlitz system.
Another couple of points to ponder. From all outward appearances, the Quinault seem to do a better job with their fishery program than the State. It may eventually work out that the state has to look to the Quinault for surplus eggs and milt to mitigate the genetic depletion of their own broodstock.
Although it's nice to think of a fish like that returning to the gene pool, other considerations are in effect as well. The tribe doesnt maintain their fishery for aesthetic reasons. Consider their rights as well as your own.
'Nuff said for now.

Sure the Quinalts have the best hatchery,probably on the west coast..why....because they are the only one s that get to fish it unless you want to fork out 300 bucks.
I don't have a problem with them netting "Their" river but when I see boat loads of dead nates from the Chehalis and Hump systems etc.(Opps incidental catch).....Then I got a big problem

Netting the natives is an unforgettable sin in my book. When I see that 32 pounder I am in reverie. When the tribes see it, they see about $25 worth of meat. Sorry about having to relate the harsh reality if that offends anyone. I am all for working out cooperative solutions to declining steelhead runs with the tribes, and I am a huge fan of their hatchery program, which protects wild genes. However...the bottom line is that the tribes are selling what people like myself consider precious for pocket change. Pretty damn pathetic.

The Quinalts have 100% control of the lower river and I'm sure they wouldn't share it with you unless you're willing to pop for $100 a head......hunter (had to say it!). Can't really say they're putting fish in the river for sportfishers....wake up...it's for their back pocket. I'm all ears to hear of a tribe in Washington with a deep abiding love to preserve nates outside the Quinalts. I'm at a loss.
On a separate note congrats go out to the 30 or so who punched a nate on the Quileute System over the weekend....never mind those fish that didn't get checked. Feel free to choke on your prized catch. A picture says a thousand words...what are you thinking!

I keep hearing that they are there fish, It's there River, and that the lower section below the lake is. But that fish could have been destined for the upper river.hmmmmm Diferent story. Thats as much our river as anyone's.truely a loss

My God, if it's legal to keep nates in a particular, then that run isn't in danger. 30 fish will have almost zero impact on the run at all. Less than half of one percent. I'm all for the catch and release of natives, but if a person catches a trophy nate, in a river that's legal to keep them and he wants to mount a trophy, so be it. Give the guy a break. Now, a person who's filling out their punch card on nates is a different story. I'm talking about the people who keep 1 or 2 nates every few years.

Hey! wa fisher read the post again. 30 fish last weekend!!, 1 weekend of what 14 or so, you do the math!!. These #'s were in the seattle paper yesterday which only represent those who were checked and not all those who slipped by the checker and the poachers. And just because the flippin F&W says it's a healthy run doesn't mean squat. It might be healthy today, but with the state's head burried and increasing pressure, the OP rivers will be just like the puget sound rivers.

Show me where there are 30+ nates taken every single weekend. If you want to C&R every single nate you catch, that's great, more power to you. But there's no need to harass the people who want to keep a trophy nate they catch. Again, read my earlier post, people who consistantly keep nates, and fill out their punch cards on nates are a different matter. But a person who catches a trophy nate and wants it mounted, that's great, more power to them.