What if the rules for fishing all salmon and steelhead were this simple, curious about the thoughts from this board.

All barbless hooks
Seasons open year round
Release all unclipped fish
Retain any clipped fish you want

Wouldn't this make life simpler, of course for this to really work we would have to push for and help out in getting everything clipped.

What are your thoughts?

Jim Bain

I love the simplicity and it doesn't bother me if someone takes home a dozen salmon in one day if it will be eaten. I do have a problem with wide open seasons. The redds would become a killing field even with C & R.

If it were only this simple. I got clipped last winter to keep me from spawning. I would be one nervous fish under your proposal. I say leave us "clipped fish" alone. We've been through enough already. Hehe

Simple works but we still need possesion limits and 100 % clipped
Only in a perfect world

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Row Quietly and fish a Cataraft }<<(('>----<'))>>{
Release all Wild Fish

Makes a lot of sense, Jim. The state would be concerned about hatchery escapement minimums (since hatcheries aren't going away anytime soon), but WDFW otherwise might like the "simplicity" of it all.
I see that there's a seed sprouting, from our past attempts to protect all wild steelhead, everywhere in the state. The F&W Commission Workshop schedule for October 6-7 lists a briefing on "wild steelhead 'no harvest' policy" at 1:50 pm on the 7th. The workshop will be held in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Bldg in Olympia. Bob Gibbons is shown as the key staffer.
This is a followup on the FWC's request to the department to evaluate the impacts of total C&R of wild steelhead.

well, i don't disagree with the barbless hooks, or the keeping of only clipped fin fish (although it'd be real tough on rivers planted by the tribal/federal hatcheries), but i disagree with the rivers and creeks being opened all year.

one, fish do deserve some sanctuary areas where they can just do their thing. two, certain times of year, rivers can be just full of non-target species, such as smolts... and maybe shouldn't be open for fishing. personally, i see the summer "everything is open" season in the same way. many of our smaller creeks that are open to trout fishing throughout the summer are full of smolts, and the likelyhood of catching a legal fish is slim. while these same creeks may fill with fall salmon, winter steelhead, and fall sea-run cutts... many are deserts for large fish in the summer months. sorry for adding more complexity to a discussion about simplicity <G>

the regs are complicated because they have to be. if all we had were trout rivers with one or two different species of trout, things would be easy.... but plug salmon, steelhead, cutthroat, dollies, resident trout, and smolts all in one river system, and it complicates the fishing regs, especially if one or two of the fish species is depressed while others are strong.

cb

I'm not willing to give up fishing opportunity for simplicity. Like Topwater said, the regs are complex becuase they have to be. One example of lost opportunity if you allow the retention of only fin clipped fish would be Skagit chums and humpys, I'm shure there are many others. Each run should be looked at and appropriate regulations put in place for the protection of the fish. I just don't see the benefit of loosing fishing opportunity for the sake of simplicity.

scaly, if you or anybody else goes to that meeting you mention please post some of what was said. i think the department personel will downplay any benefits because i don't believe department personel, especially biologists like c&r very much. we'll see, but i can imagine mr. "msy" gibbons telling the commission there isn't any need for c&r because he and his biologists are doing such a wonderful job managing steelhead throughout the state <G>

cb

I hear ya, Chris, and have to agree. The good news, if any, is that they seemed to listen to us last year when we yelled for better protection for wild steelhead. So, we need to keep up the pressure.
I won't be able to get to the FWC workshop, but hope someone else will report on it here.