bb75, i think u have to catch fish illegaly cuz i cant fish any other ways. all of us (true sportfisherman) fish legally, when the season is open, clamp our barbs on our hooks, and keep the fish in the size limits. so, if u cant catch fish legally and have to do it illeagly and make the seasons shorter and the limit smaller go a head and see where it will take u. chances are it wont take u sum where nice.

Sullie , He said he fishes legally, just see's nothing wrong with a person fishing for salmon illegally.

oops! sorry bb75.

I had a picture of a snagger, his boat # and four witness' and a fish with his corky in its ass coming in tail first. bonk! i called and gave all the info to state cops. Asked to be a witness and emailed them 4 times and heard nothing. They have too much other bs to deal with. The snagger i saw was in a sled on the lower kalama tidewater and was jerking on every cast " oh, I missed em"
this went on for an hour, until i confronted them about the foul hooked fish they bonked. They pulled as a told them i was writing down their hull numbers to report it. never got confirmation of a bust, and know a witness would have been needed to do it.

I had everything for em. It was a slam dunk that could have gotten the boat and everything. Bunch of lazy bass terds.

Gawd I hate poachers! They screw up everything for us law abiders. If cops don't enforce the law, what the halibut are we supposed to do? Whip out our bonkers and bop them upside the cranium? Sheesh! I wouldn't want to do that! Remember...I'm a law abider!

I'm surprised I haven't seen a bumper sticker yet that reads "Have You Bonked a Poacher Today?". Careful now, that saying has double meaning!

~SFJ

So 75 its wrong to kill native steelhead, but its ok to keep probably native salmon in closed waters??

yeah ok

I saw some guys snagging one time at hoodsport, they sure didn't like my little camera that i said was taking video (it was just a digital camera) i have since made a habit of pulling it out whenever i see someone about to pull in a fish and i yell at them to SMILE FOR THE VIDEO!
I've seen many fish released for only this reason i'm sure.

Chip,

Do you have any followup info after filing your report?

Seacat - Left phone #'s with WDFW, guy I talked to indicated he would pass the information on to the local enforcement folks and that they may want to call me. Never heard back. Interestingly, I relayed my experience to an acquaintance the other night who indicated that he knows several local guys who have been keeping kings routinely at Jeff Head. Seems there is not much fear of enforcement. In eight years of fishing the area between Jeff Head and Restoration, I have been checked by the WDFW a total of once!! They seem to apply more pressure to the high density fisheries (Elliot Bay, Tacoma Area), where there are more "targets", but I would think the likelyhood of gross poaching violations are less. The guy I observed the other evening clearly had no concern that the WDFW might be nearby!

Chip,
I could not agree more. Out of the 10 or so times I fished Elliot bay and/or Westpoint, I have been only checked twice while returning to Shilshole. Seems to me that they would check there more often since it is a major launching spot.

They were not even there when Elliot Bay was closed...?? Seems that would be when they would hit there the most since the chance that a boat launched there is going to fish in Area 11 is fairly slim.
I have seen many kings come out of the water while at Shilshole, and these are guys I know for a fact never left Westpoint. Reporting it has so far done nothing.

Interesting, but I'm not really suprised. It's hard to know what anyone will actually do about it. My guess is that it will be addressed in season setting meetings as a general issue, if at all.

Too bad there has to be blatent poaching in Area 10 and seemingly nothing is really done about it.

Thanks Chip.

As a young boy here in Oregon (early fifties) many of us depended on some illicit blactail for protien.

Times have changed. Not many folks depend on game for sustenance. Many are just slobs and some are poaching to sell game.

Law enforcment is streched pretty thin. I report rule breakers. If Law Enforcmnet can't/won't respond then it is up to us to file a complaint.

Can't say I agree with all tha ODFW puts out but without rules where wuld we be.

wallyw

who says it was a native king that he took sinsation? ya ok. what if it was a hatchery? its not my biznus anyways, i do follow the reg books, golfer, ************************* as for when i said screw the rules, i shouldnt have, i messed up, but i do follow the regs, i know the green gets stacked with kings every year, the nets come out in the dwaumish sp??, those are the same fish going to the green if i remember right, why let the nets in but dont allow a season for sportfishers? lots of them hatchery fish jus waste away in the green..