Will the 22 year old record stand indefinately? With nearly all wild steelhead catch and release how would this be possible with the given peramiters for verifying a record fish? I came really close this winter. Within a few ounces. Mabey a new record. Measured really, really close! Any ideas for updating verification rules of a C&R species? Can it be done?

the record will fall, when someone gets a big one from the quinalt. its possible to get a world record and still release the fish, so i'd have to say that it would be possible for the state to change their requirements. the only thing holding the state back from a catch and release record would be the verification part. good pictures might help with that. i think that the biggest problem is that most fishermen are terrific liars and 26 pounds becomes 33 pounds very easily.
there are a lot of catch and release records on the igfa website. the main thing you need to have is a certified scale. i've seen scales vary as much as 10% if they are not certified.

The state record summer run (35 lbs) is a record that will probably never be broken. That record has stood since 1973. Any chance was eliminated when Dworshack dam was built on the North fork of the Clearwater. The fish that spawned in this river where perhaps the largest strain of steelhead on the planet. The old timers in the area have often told me that bigger fish.. over 40 lbs were caught, bonked and eaten and never recorded. ( Keep in mind that these are the same guys who will tell you that they used to take the racks off monster sized bull elk and chuck em down the hill because they never found a good recipe for eating them...) However, having been all around and seeing some of the racks stashed away in barns etc... I believe some of these guys