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hatchery, we will continue to have sporadic seasons at best, like the several short openers in 2004 when frantic fishers beat the Lake into a froth in 90-degree heat, while sockeye snickered from the cool depths. We have an ally in Councilman Dunn, who is an avid fisherman himself. Unfortunately, the opposition of a very few has resulted in unconscionable delays. Hopefully, with growing support for the hatchery, these last hurdles will be overcome. Chuck Wischman, a past president of our chapter, has been very instrumental in moving this crucial project forward. Getting back to our meeting, we were very fortunate to have fishing guide and author Pat Neal who traveled all the way from Sequim to talk to us about fishing the rivers of the Olympic Peninsula for steelhead and salmon. Pat's slides showing eye-popping steelhead approaching 30 lbs. were evidence of the considerable success he brings to his clients, several of whom were present at the meeting to provide first-hand testimony. Pat fishes the great rivers of the Peninsula, including the Hoh, Bogachiel, and others. In between fishing stories, Pat drew upon his literary talents to share with us some of his unique philosophy on fishing, getting along with others (including the tribes) and life in general. Autographed copies of his book, Wild Life, were also available. Our Lake Washington chapter is one of the smaller in terms of membership, but we are large in terms of having a lot going on. Our coho incubator enhancement program met several challenges this winter, but through the hard work of Roger Urbaniak, Dave Powell, Charlie Fahsholtz, Bob Secrest and the rest of the crew, thousands of juvenile coho made their way into the Lake Washington watershed. We are planning and already working on a fund-raising auction, scheduled for July 14th. Our last auction was four years ago and was successful to the extent that it has kept us financially viable. We now need another "injection" of the green stuff in order to continue providing our membership with interesting programs and activities, with hopefully some left over for RFA and the sportfishing cause. At our last auction, some of the most popular items were Lake Washington and Puget Sound fishing trips donated by our members. We plan to have more of those, in addition to guided trips, donated retail items, and much more at the July auction. Our next regular meeting is Thursday, May 12th, at 7pm, with the featured speaker being Tom Nelson, popular Skagit River guide, who will present on the subject of catching Summer Chinook. As always, members of other PSA chapters and the public are welcomed. See our updated Website with an excellent article about the chapter's coho incubator program.
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