I have for years heard the debate as to will it benefit the angler/ or be detrimental to the angler to honestly and completely fill in their punch card and send it in on time as required. Ive heard that by punching all fish caught, if your a successful angler that it would/could give WDFW the idea that the sport fisherman are doing to well and thus more allocation would be given to treaty and non treaty commercial fisherman.

And the flipside seems to be, that all the data that comes from the punch cards, provides valuable data that is important to manage our fisheries. How much info that is obtained from those cards is actually true and accurate??? It is my feeling that there are many fisherman who dont give a sh-- about the data they provide and lots more who dont even turn their cards in. Whats your thoughts??

if the fish doesnt get punched...you're a poacher, plain and simple!

...i have on occasion forgotten my punchard...the fish was always punched by someone though.

Technically having someone else punch it is just as illegal as not recording it. Catching someone else's limit. Not supposed to do it unless it's for a handicapped person with a special license.

And your buddy was illegal as well. "You may not: Possess another person's game fish unles it is accompanied by a statement showing the name, address, license, and tag number, date, county and area it was taken and the signature of the angler who harvested it"
But then you wouldn't have signed it since it would have been ILLEGAL for you to harvest it now wouldn't it?

Not that I haven't bent the rules myself, just tired of seeing people jumping all over someone like above when they themselves are just as guilty. It's all that "holier than thou" attitude again I guess.

sinker-
I know it is just illegal...you bonk a hatchery fish and go to punch it, yet you left your card in your car...what do you do??

Better the fish get recorded then not at all...just being honest!

Just my opinion

I punch my fish because its the law and I fear the consequinces and fines if you were to get caught. However

I think its a waste of time. Valuable information?? I see Indians net hundreds of fish, gut them for eggs and throw the fish back into the river. These fish do not get recorded.

According to the REGS, you are REQUIRED TO:

always punch all my fish...i seem to get checked by the gamers more than most people, probably more than 10 times this year...

Would be nice to hear from the WDFW about what they actually do with the returned(and unreturned) cards. Do they actually count and record the information? How do they account for the unreturned cards? It is hard to understand the value of the catch card data without knowing what they are doing now.

Fisheries doesn't advertise this little fact, but if you don't turn your Punch Card in and you haven't caught any fish, Fisheries gives the Indians an automatic Five Fish so if you have caught less than Five Fish be sure and turn your Punch Card in as the Indians will only get credit for the number of fish you have caught.

This little tidbit was related to me a number of years ago by Washington State Department of Wildlife Officer at a Fish & Game Law Enforcement School a number of years ago at the Fort Worden Conference Center during one of their Training Sessions.

If your with me you can catch my fish & Punch my card it's legal as I've had the Game Warden punch my card for me after another Fisherman caught my fish for me in front of him, of coarse I have Designated Harvester and Companion Cards.

I always punch the fish I keep, but I don't send in my card at the end of the season. Punch card data is used to monitor mostly day to day catches by game wardens. Depending on the river, seasonal catches are determined by creel counts and extrapilated to estimate total catch and return of a given stock of fish. Creel counts are more accurate and relied on more than punch card data because they are taken daily by a certified fish counter and because punch cards can be fudged. Both counting methods are used against each other to build the whole picture and depending on the river may have more weight placed on them.

The reason I don't send in my punch card, #1 they would have a hard time reading it, and #2 I don't want them to know how many fish I've taken out of a particular river. I just assume keep the sport fishery count deflated so not to give more fish away to the indians. If the previouse post about the 5 fish rule on unreturned cards is true, I assure you I'll send in my card if it had less than 5 fish. Luckly, I've been able to mark over 5 hatchery fish each season.

When I got my license last year the guy that issued my license said that beggining this year they will be required to ask for the previous years punch card. If one was issued last year, and you do not provide the previous years card upon request then they won't be able to issue you another punch card. He said this was all made possible by the computerized processing system.

I cannot gurantee the validity of this but this is what I was told. Source: Nothern Sales

Sorry I don't have the source handy, due to being several years ago, but STS ran a story to the effect that a few smaller streams in N. California were closed due to the fact that no one had caught many fish in them for years.

The fact of the matter was, however, that the locals who fished these semi-zippers weren't punching their cards. They made a big stink when the rivers were closed, which was when they discovered that their failure to punch cards contributed to the closure.

Besides, it's the law. The information may not be all that useful so far as tabulating runs goes, but it certainly keeps people from gathering both a morning and afternoon limit.

Fish on...

Todd.

Twice when I forgot to return my punchcard I have received a letter in the mail from WDFW asking for an accurate count. I thought everyone received one if they didn't return their card but I guess not?

I always punch my fish and turn in my card.

Many years ago I didn't punch a fish..and that was because I lost my pen. Got a $105 ticket for that mistake.

Fortunately, the judge was a close friend of the family, so my fine got reduced down to $5!

I hear a lot of whining from recreational fishers about WDFW mismanaging the fisheries. How are they supposed to manage a particular river system, or any fishery for that matter, without data? The more data the managers have the better it is for the fish. The more data the managers have the better idea they have on stock health and future run sizes. AS far as the Tribes go, by the time your cards are analyized the Tribes will all ready have their fish. Allocation is more of a North of Falcon issue, which needs more recreational participation BTW.

If your not recording you harvest and returning you cards, even if it's an accident, your a poacher.

Beezer

How would we feel if the WDFW provided false statistics to us? Or, more specifically, how about if they lied to us about statistics in order to improve their position?

Would we feel that that was dishonest, and less than we would expect of a good citizen?

I realize that there are those that feel that the WDFW already lies, and therefore any dishonesty we give them is deserved. I teach my kids that two wrongs don't make a right.

Sparkey- If you don't punch your a poacher yet you can fish without it even with you and punch on someone elses card..

I'd say it's the same you are fishing without a liecense with you your a poacher too!!PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!!

Forgetting to return your card by the date specified doesn't make you a poacher in my book. In 30+ years of fishing you are bound to forget at least once especially when they keep changing the dates. It should be required in order to purchase a new one but most License agents will not take your old punch card. Now that it's one card it is easier to keep track.

"How would we feel if the WDFW provided false statistics to us? Or, more specifically, how about if they lied to us about statistics in order to improve their position?"
Actually, they were providing false/flawed data for years and finally admitted so several years ago.

Punchcards are nothing more than an insurance policy against the damn game Nazis. I never punch fish unless I have to and I never turn in my card. I give those government workers enough of my money already, I'm not about to help them out in any way. The Fisheries Dept. is as inefficient as any other government agency. There is no accountability and the waste is tremendous. I'm sick of those fools catering to whatever the Indians want. Screw the Indians, if they can't live in our society, then they can head to a third world country and live in their damn teepees until kingdom come!