Did you all know that there are 50% fewer steelhead fishermen today than there were in 1968? According to the official WDFW data, there were 202,750 steelhead permits sold in 1968, and only 83,142 permits sold in the 1998 - 1999 season! The same decline is true for Salmon permits.

I have seen several people complaining about crowded rivers in the past few weeks, and they all refer to the "good old days" as being less crowded. Since there were so many more steelhead fishermen back then, I find it hard to imagine that the rivers are more crowded today than they were back then.

I'd love to hear what you all think on this topic. Is this a case of fewer fishermen on more rivers? Did the majority of the fishermen only fish the "meat holes" back then? I'll bet Blue Creek and Reiter were real zoos back then!

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Steel-Addicted

The state also stocked alot of water back then that they don't now.Hell even the dewatto and tahuya over in kitsap penn were considered good steelhead waters!There are alot of old boys that won't fish any more because they got so spoiled by all the hatchery fish!Alot of the streams that I fish have runs of these hatchery fish that have incorporated into the streams!Some are pretty screwed up with some very sad looking steelhead returning!

Great thread Steel! It sure seems evident while sampling many rivers over the course of the year that whatever is hot also draws the masses. I suspect that itlCLEO's point has excellent merit!
More people back in the day coupled with spread out fishing opportunities left the illusion of having solitude for the most part. An interesting comparison could be made with data from fishermen to hatchery output ratios from today to match up with those good old days.

Less people are fishing even fewer producing rivers...
Could the cycle ultimately result in nobody fishing as productive rivers have become a thing of folklore! Our current path of riding this out of control spiral will leave many wondering at what point could we have finally put the greed aside and righted the sinking ship.

If the state has chosen not to further fund the stocking of hatchery fish over the vast selection of already diluted ecosystems for purposes of saving native fish why not designate a group of rivers where native runs are non existent and increase opportunities there in a fashion that would give an equal shot to everyone over a spread out field.

Just my .02 and hoping not to get smolted!


FJ...out.

I think you want to consider several things: I can't believe I was living in the good old day during my childhood. I used to fish the Dewatto & Tahuya as well as many others like it growing up. Many of these streams also were not nessecarily stocked with hatchery fish.

Many of these smaller streams allowed wild steelhead kill. Look at their productivity now, they could never sustain the demand. My opinions on increased crowding are as follow:

1.) Since almost all our streams once held runs of wild steelhead, the fish were more spread out through the river system, not kegged up at the hatchery hole. More rivers and parts of the river system to fish, spreading out the population of anglers. 2.) Improved infastructure, roads, transportation, disposable income and less rivers open to fish during the season, who else remembers when the Dungeness used to be open until the end of April? 3. INTERNET!
Anyone others.

There were a lot less people back then that there is now. I used to go fishing the rivers in the summer and on weekends and not see 3/4's of the people that are out there now. That was about 35 to 40 years ago. Now I don't fish on weekends any more,too many people. Too many unruly people out there. Oh I caught more fish back then also. Jim s.

35 to 40 years of fishing experience...need a friend?
Who says long distance relationships can't last? With having 17 years of experience myself I still have 18 to 23 years of catching up to do to be deemed worthy of you prowess! The best fishing advice that stuck in my mind enough to strive for the need to perfect came from an confidently knowledgeable elderly gentlemen with over 40 years
of experience. Only spoke to him over the course of a weekend then never saw him again. If he's still out there on a river along with his favorite
fishing partner, his wife of 40+ years I would let him know that not only has his wife taken it to a different level with his guidance I also have excelled with his gift of sharing. We first spoke as strangers with him telling me of the evenings fishing adventures, then discovering the fact that his adventures and mine were one event in itself. Once he started to tell the story my end of it also folded out like this. Fishing on a large river for summer runs during low flows and light gear hooking hot summer runs during the peak was not the problem. The zone happened to be a nice slick bordered by a heavy torential flow in a most southern direction. Keeping the cartwheeling, line stripping, arial psychopaths in check meant keeping them out of the southern flow. As the story go's from my end I hook a crazy fish that took me into the southern flow in just under 1.5 sec.. The only option was to implore the hook and run option. Keeping my tip up, line taught and running downriver like a man possessed I noticed a man on the other side of the river quick stepping it for his sled yelling over to me. He only made it halfway before the long line release. We exchanged nods and a quick thank you for the try. His story talked of a young man and a fish and his need to assist by nosing his bow to help triumph in the battle. While talking with him as we shared that one experience not only did he teach me his go to glowballing gem he also showed what fishing is all about. I often think of him during those cold dark nights glowballing when a loudmouth feels the need to criticize the terminator setup as I now call it. I relish in knowing personally the effectiveness of his setup and the 40+ years he spent narrowing it down to just that "The most proven method over a long course in time".

FJ...out.

I was not around in the good old days, I wish I was, but could the fact that license cost have skyrocketed have alot to do with it. Many people use to buy freshwater liceses and it was what an extra buck or two for a stealhead punch card. Just like when you could add cougar and bear to your Deer tag/hunting licese for an extra 2 to 3 bucks. I think that the less hatchery fish is a big contributtion to less people, but the cost of adding a Stealhead tag may be another part of it.

NEN

I think I must be missing something here? Isn't the steelhead catch record card INCLUDED FREE with the freshwater license. I'm not sure how the statistics in the first post were arrived at, but ANYONE who buys the freshwater license can legally fish for steelhead if they wish. Think of the hordes of people who buy licenses to fish for salmon. You know that a majority of them also try their hand at steelheading as well. Thank God some aren't very successful! But the fact that they are even out there trying is what makes everything seem so crowded nowadays. With the population growth that WA has experienced over the last 20 or so years that I've lived here, I find it very hard to believe that there are LESS steelheaders than in 1968. But then again, what the hell do I know.

Many years ago the license used to cost 4.50 but you paid extra for every thing else. And of course the fish limit was 16 fish. Isn't it funny that the cost of your license went up and the amount of fish went down.

Still cheaper than a one day ski lift ticket!

"Data" can always be mis-leading. As I recall the steelhead punch card in the 1960s was issued free with the fishing licences so folks would pick up a card on the off chance they might go sttelhead fishing. Those that actually fished was much lower than the number of cards issued. Since the cards are again issued with the license I would expect the number cards for this year will be 100,000s (especially of 2001's exceptional salmon fishing). Another thing to remember is that at that time must folks worked straight shifts (days only) making much hard to get a way to fish. Anyone that could get away to fish 5 or 6 times a month was consisted to be very hard core. Now there are lots of folks that fish that often in a week when conditions are good.

Also the anglers then weren't nearly as well equiped today. I would venture to say that many today would have a tough time getting a hook into the water with the stiff glass rods and knucle-buster reels of that period. Boats were also much rarer then. During the late 1960s I was certainly a "hardcore steelheader" and spend a lot of time on the Snoqualmie. When the "Ricker" access was first developed I spend a many enjoyable days on the Fall City to Ricker section of river in an old john boat with 10hp outboard. Other boats were so rare that for a couple seasons in that period I could count the number of other boats steelheading seen for the year on one hand.

The number of hatchery fish planted were actually less than today and the smolts were not as high of quality as today's fish. Remember the first of the big rearing ponds (Barnaby on the Skagit) came on line in 1963, Whitehorse a few years later, and Reiter not until about 1974. The first returns of hatchery summer runs on the Snohomish was in the late 1960s and the early 1960s for the Stillaguamish.

Yes the old days were something but I not sure today's fsihing isn't comparable though certainly more crowded - more hatchery fish (at least on the good years), better gear, easier transportation, better information and longer seasons (can now fish virtually year-round).

Tight Lines
Smalma

Another "old-timer" here. I started fishing seriously for steelhead in 1960....geez, that's 40 plus years ago! I fished every weekend, mainly as a bankie on the East Fork Lewis. I caught fewer fish then per hour or day of effort than I do today. Is that because fishing is better today? Better gear? More experience? Who knows. But from my experience the "good old days" were not.

Back in December, I ran into an old-timer on the Tolt River. "Any luck?" I asked him. "No," he said, "this river just isn't what it used to be. I've been fishing it for 30 years, and you used to be able to come out here just about anytime you wanted and catch steelhead. Now you're lucky if you can catch one fish a season."

We parted ways.

Six fishless hours later, I too called it a day and headed home.

Oh to have experienced "the good ol' days"...

In 1968 steelhead (& salmon) punchcards were free with your license. In 1970 they began costing a dollar or two. Many of the cardholders never fished for steelhead, or maybe only a time or two. Steelhead punchcard sales nosedived after the (dare I say it?) Boldt decision in 1974, and have never returned to the former sales levels, due possibly to a steadily increasing price (until last year when they automatically came with the license again) and the perception at least of fewer fish to catch.

Also since 1968, there are more roads along more rivers, likely a 1,000-fold increase in boats, more leisure time, and vastly better equipment. Even if there are fewer fish overall, it is far easier to fish for them in many more places than then.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Here's a couple more reasons to add to those already mentioned:

In the ol' days, you could fish waters that aren't even open, today. The Ballard Ship Canal was a popular spot for a lot of Seattle steelheaders. The Cedar River, King County's third largest stream, was very popular with south end anglers. It has been closed to steelheading for almost a decade. The Sammamish Slough was accessible along most of its length, and was heavily fished by eastside residents. It has been off-limits to steelheaders for almost as long as the Cedar. A favorite spot of mine was Tokul Creek, above the hatchery and up into the canyon. That area was closed to fishing when the gun range was built. Issaquah Creek no longer offers winter fishing opportunity. When you add to this list the number of fishing spots that have been privately developed and posted, you can see why many of the remaining accessible areas have become crowded.

Seattle area steelheading was much better in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, than it is today. You didn't have to go to the OP, or to SW Washington, to find good fishing. Now the rivers of those regions are becoming crowded as many anglers are more than willing to make the commute to find fishing as good as it was in the past.