Jeff Hickman from Fish The Swing has issued a company statement regarding their decision to cancel their fall steelhead season on the Deschutes.
Unfortunately, I’m writing here with some bad news. Because of the terrible run numbers, high water temperatures, and continued mismanagement by ODFW and PGE, we have decided to cancel our fall steelhead season on the Deschutes. I’m sorry to have to do this because I look forward to fishing with all of you each year, but I don’t feel that conducting our regular business this year is ethical. The risk of killing even one wild steelhead is too many. The river has none to spare.
Admirable statement. Many fisheries around the country are hurting…West Coast steelhead seem to be getting the worst of it. Don’t know what the future holds, but doing nothing is not an option.