Hey...did any of you guys here about that guy down in Oregon City that thought he had caught the first Spring Chinook??? He went into the tackle shop claiming he had the first Spring Chinook of the season. The guy working there took one look at it and told him to get the hell out of his store. It was a huge wild Steelhead...over 20 pounds. Now fish and game are looking for any clues that might bring them to this clueless poacher. Anyone that can't tell a Steelhead from a Chinook shouldn't be fishing for the darn things to start with.(That's why they put those little pictures of species in the reg pamphlet every year.) All I have to say to all of this is ....WHAT AN IDIOT!
Tell me what you guys think about this?
Wiggle wart - <*))))><

What can you say? I guess even an idiot can learn to fish. Now getting one to identify a fish is another story. Worse thing about it, he'll probably never get caught.

Now that's a true idiot!!!!!.Where do these people come from?????.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I love the way the stories get bigger and meaner as they get passed on by more and more people. Yes there was a guy that brought a 20+ lb steelhead into I believe it was Fisherman's Marine in Portland thinking it was a springer and some other people in the store thought so to. One of the clerks and another fisherman id'd it as a wild steelhead and the guy sulked off into never never land. It appeared to be an honest mistake and hopefully a lesson well learned by the offender. There was a thread on the ifish board about a week or so ago about it. There is also a poster on the ifish board that is an Oregon fish cop (thats his moniker, go figure eh) that posted that depending on what the intent of the fisherman was or the lack of intent (I know ignorence is no excuse) is how he would be sited. Now before we beat the crap out of this guy on the board ask yourself, am I perfect, have I never made an honest mistake?? I bet most of us (including myself) cannot answer yes to those questions!!! I am not defending what the guy did, just sharing what I know.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

Hey guys, I'm always amazed that even some of the people who claim to be avid fisherman can make mistakes like that.
About three weeks ago I was looking through some pictures my boss had of some of his "steelhead" and other various outdoor photos he had on his computer. Now my boss is a part owner in a fishing lodge, fishes alaska yearly for salmon so he's has years of experience and is generally on top of everything.
Well, then we are looking through the photos and he says that this was the first little "wild steelhead" of this year. I ask him to blow up the picture and sure enough it's a small chinook salmon, no doubt about it in my mind. Black gum line, slightly grey color (this fish has been in the river a little while but not red yet) and pretty good photo quality. So, I tell him that it's not a steelhead and of course he disagrees with me and states that the guy he was fishing with is the guide he uses on his satlwater fishing trips in AK for salmon and says "that guy knows what a salmon looks like". Yeah, well maybe in the salt, this fish was no steelhead.
So even experienced anglers can make mistakes sometimes. The good part about this mistake was that the fish was released unharmed. I think we as sportsmen have a resposability to know how to ID the fish species we are fishing for and also to help others in learning how so these mistakes don't happen again,

Cheers,

duke

Mis-identifying a fish doesn't necessarily make you an idiot. Taking it to show it off at your local tackle shop sure puts you in the running.

Certainly makes me feel better... at this point, I'd be happy to catch a 20lbs. anything, and now, I know it's possible.

Who was it that wrote, "ignorance is bliss"?

G-spot
Seattle

I see lots of guys like that on the river every time out. I fish an area where part of the river is closed and just today there was a guy fishing right under the closed waters sign! Some guys leave their brains at home when they go fishing!

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