I found this in the local newspaper. cedar river article I used to fish this river 20 years ago. I have some mixed feelings about them opening backup even though it is catch and release fishery they are talking about. What do you think they should do.

I say, stay off them until more studies have been done on these rainbows. This "explosion" of the rainbow population could very well be due to the steelhead population tending to residulize in the Cedar. Why bother being andaromus if your just going to get clobbered by preditors at the locks when you return as an adult? Natural selection currently might be favoring a fresh water resident life style. As crowding continues, hopefully some will return to being anadromus. Wouldn't it be nice to document a rebounding steelhead population? I know there will be those that insist that if the tribes are fishing on these stocks that the recs should be able to also however I feel more work should be done to determine the make-up of this population.

Beezer

The Muckleshoots already have a catch and keep trout season on the Cedar. If this year is anything like the last two years, they won't be waiting until June to exercise their sportfishing rights on this river. I'd like to fish "in common" with them.

The Cedar has been closed to steelheading for twelve years; it's been closed to nontribal trout fishing for a decade. There has hardly been a day during that time that some agency hasn't been studying the Cedar River problem. In the mean time, steelhead numbers have remained incredibly low, smallmouth bass have taken up residence in the river, chinook and coho salmon are barely making it, and scientists are thriving! I have seen as many as twenty 3 to 5 lb trout in one hole on this river. A limited test fishery, or study, conducted by a neighbor confirmed the fact that these were rainbow and cutthroat trout. Maybe, it is time to take some action, and reduce the numbers of these predator species, smallmouth bass included, if we want the anadromous fish populations to increase. Of course, we could always wait until the next geologic period to see if the Cedar River's resident rainbows and cutthroats evolve into the ocean going variety.

There's something un American about letting one group of anglers sportfish while another group must sit on the bank and watch; it's also wrong to tell one group they must release their catch while another group can retain those same fish. Either open Cedar River with the same sportfishing regs for all groups, or keep it closed to ALL sportfishing.

Here's another brain phart to ponder: When will it be time to supplement this river with the best steelhead smolts tribal or non tribal hatcheries can produce? With recent returns of wild steelhead numbering around 50 fish annually, how long do you wait?

I'd like to see it open as a CnR fishery, with selective gear rules. But then agin I'm one of the flyfishermen mentiond in the artical that would like to fish it.

I don't know how I feel about this fishery. It is the states duty to prove that this won't hurt the anadromous salmonid population and I haven't seen any of that.

But so now the state says that there is predation of bigger fish on little fish. I thought they said last year there was no evidence that this actually happen when they dump a half a million hatchery plants in a river of bigger fish. Just makes you think.

JJ

Hmmm . . . summer + C&R rainbow fishing.

Since there is still a struggling spring run of native steelhead in this river, I'll bet a lot of the "trout" that are caught will be smolt trying to find their way to the saltwater.

Not wanting to rain on anybody's parade - just thought I'd mention this coincidence.

Tight Lines!

Brian

Do the Knuckleshoots get to fish any gear and take?