I'm betting a few of you want to know what's going on down at the cowlitz. A freaking zoo has been established there already. We got there 45 min before daylight and there was already 7-8 boats on the other side. We fished over there for about an hour or so and gave up. Got tired of hearing "coming down" I guess you can't hold em with 15lb when the fish are hooked in the @$$.


We ran down river to baker and saw nothing caught but the fisherman were there. Yep its only 10:00 and I'm home. Can't stand fishing with goons. There were a few good guys over there but they were outnumbered. I didn't read the seattle times yesterday, but I bet it said go fish the cowlitz up by the barrier.

Oh yeah there is some guy shuttling people over to the other side that needs some brains. He cut a fish off from a lady this morning. She didn't react like I would've.

Well now you know that it ain't worth going unless you're into combat fishing.
Glowball

a little rant;
glowball hit it right on!
There is a herd of fishers in the northwest that you find at all the zoo fishery's.
to be part of the herd you must not have any ethics,principles. or manners,anything you hook is yours to kill,no fishing zones are a challenge to the herd ,fishing regulations don't apply to you,you read fishen & hunten news to find out where the herd is moving next.
In the herds wake are river banks strewn with trash fish line and fecal matter.
Most areas the herd fishes the property owners close to public access after one season of the herd.
Public places frequented by the herd are intolerable at best
Just some thoughts and observations from three decades of river fishing

I have property with a boat launch on the COW between Barrier and BC. You guys are right. What a bunch of freeking idiots. Every weekend I go down there, it is not a problem to pick up a bag of trash.

It is the same low life goons that apply the new layer of garbage every weekend.

To bad there is not a way to cull the herd a bit.

A Friend said fishing was good and I was tempted to check it out but then I said easter weekend forget it. I don't mind the zoo once in a while. It is kind of fun if the fishing is hot and you are next to the right group of guys.

what a joke! i braved the barrier crowd on the launch side for about 2 hours is all. i couldnt even walk down the bank cause there was so much frickin line wrapped around my feet . i have never seen so many crackers in my life. yes i did see that moron shuttling people across, which i'm sure was really great news for the people who were up there first. i seen the guy with the leg brace fighting his fish down the guantlet. he did good for having a bum leg. he did better than all the other crackers with just one leg 2 thumbs for that. i fished elsewhere the rest of the day with a big .

I think down by the boat ramp Roy, Rick turner, Ron lagar, Andy, and Bill would have something to say about you calling them crackers They have been fishing that river since they were born. AS far as the so called snaggers across the way you havent fished there enough to Know whats going on! sure there are exceptions but most the fish taken down are not SNAGGED! I cant explain why without giving you all a big tip about the fishing over there but if your using 15 your using to much! Cracker, Cracker, Cracker!

This does not apply to the many good folks practicing voluntary take tactics at Barrier Dam.

I saw a lot of the successful guys using 10ft.+ length leaders, 2-3/0 hooks, small drift bobbers and 2-3 ounce of weight.

Call it what you will but in reality it's plain and simply called lining. If it isn't lining then what is the benefit of such a long leader? Wouldn't a receptive fish easily take a setup on a 3ft. leader?

If you chose to line fish then there is no way to deny the out side in hook placement more than 70% of the time.

It's not my intention to crack on anyone just calling a spade a spade.

i'm with you fj. .scott

Hey micro
I've fished with those guys over there on the other side and they ain't getting the fish to bite. I don't care if you're convinced they are or not. If it makes you sleep at night thinking otherwise than so be it.

I've also fished with those old timers down at the launch and I doubt they would care what anyone says. I don't think anyone was referring to them. Those boys are egg fisherman not SNAGGERS.

Can't explain without giving the secret. HA Here I'll do it for ya. Use at least a 7 foot leader 10 is better. Tie a double hook setup with your corkies in the middle of the two hooks. Don't bother using yarn (it doesn't stick in scales like it does teeth) Cast out and hopefully your line will cross through an open mouth of an unsuspecting fish. Than yell "fish on coming down". If you don't hook one on the drift always jerk at the end of the drift, and if you miss just tell the guy next to "ya darn missed again".
What a freaking joke. Maybe I'll take the digital camera with me next time and I'll follow you down to the corner and take a pic of your fish with the hook outside the mouth.
Let me know when you're going.

well said glowball!

the technique you describe is called flossing....works well when fish are stacked up and spooked.....like it or not, it's not going away, because it works

Glow ball:
Why don’t we get together I just went with Micro; to the cow last wen & Thursday And I got video of our trip and I’m sorry but you would have to do some apologizing to him.
He’s the most ethical fisher men I ever seen down their, every fish I’ve seen him pull in has always been in the mouth.

Sounds like a fall report to me

The Herd mentality,Flossing = fish in the freezer.

Not that I have the need for flossing but If there using 2 to three ounces of lead there flossing rig is all wrong they should be using 3/4s to get that 12 to 14 foot leader drifting paralell through the fish. I have been fishing for springers for 17 years down there, among other places, I think I know a thing or two about the rigs. most the snaggers are down there in august when the springers are dark and spawning. That would be a good time for your digital camera FJ. FISH COMING DOWN! WHAT A BUNCH OF FRICKING MORONS!"this ones good for the smoker" LOOSERS! Thats a fishery that needs to go bye bye.

Glowball you dont have a clue. Its not a matter of being convinced its a matter of experience 17 years experience. The other side is where I first started river fishing I fished with the best and will forget more than most people will ever learn. Unless your Dezaree, Darwin, Bill, or Joe You were not there when I started springer fishing. I catch more fish than the few flossers will ever floss (7 to 10 fish a day) during the peak.

For the others out there alot of those (not all) fish coming down are hooked in the snappers, the water is quite a bit faster on the other side and the guys that know what there doing are using ten pound test. I have had many fish in the past take me around the corner. some fish run to the opposite side of the river and hold in the current, the only way to get them in is to run below the fish and pull them to you. The fish do bite!

Yes there are some snagged fish but that is the exception not the rule! This time of the year.

Its been my expierience in the past that The Guys that dont catch anything down there are the ones whining about snaggers. Dont make excuses just put your time in and someday you'll learn how to catch them (maybe). I am getting sick and tired of people that just want everything handed to them. Observe, Deduct Adjust,= fish on! How are you ever going to have respect for the resource unless you learn yourself? (kinda like dad giving you your first car)it just doesnt last. If your making an honest effort and are learning and not doing a bunch of whining Ill be more likely to help out.

Sounds like you're implying that I don't catch fish. I do pretty good down on the ol river.

IN regards to the flossing. You might be the exception to the rule. If thats the case I apologize. I'm speaking from what I've seen over there and heard from friends who've fished over there. Most of those yahoos are flossing the fish. Just because a hook is in the head doesn't mean it bit. Most of the fish are hooked outside in. Not saying yours are so don't rebut the last comment.

Just for the record I'm not complaining about someone else catching fish. It's the whole package that goes with fishing the cowlitz on a weekend. You fishing there for 17 years should know as well as anyone how much its gone downhill. Yeah yeah I know don't go down there then. Don't worry I won't go down there on a weekend again.

QUESTION, to get to the other side of the river, would it be safe to row my pontoon boat across? and how do they fish it, jus eggs or will corkies suffice?

I have been thinking about doing that in my pontoon boat as well. I think it would be fine, just start up river a bit and were a PFD. I have not been to the Barrier in a while and figured I would try that to get away from the Combat fishing, but maybe its getting bad over there as well....

Jeff

On the weekend when the flows are low you could easily make it in a pontoon, no problem whatsoever.

As for the snaggers, I too get disgusted, but as others have said, no one can make them go away as long as it's not against the law. Once they keep a snagged fish, according to a sheriff down at Barrier last year, then they become law-breakers. I sat there with the sheriff last year and watched a bunch of trashy morons snag fish in the slack water, but he couldn't put a stop to it because none of them had treble hooks or kept the tires they were catching.

There IS privacy on that river, with or without a boat, so find some. I manage to, so I'm sure others can as well.

I moved my question to a new thread

There was a younger guy there saturday in a row boat. I think he was nuts though (or really tough) because he was not wearing waders and was wet to his stomach.

I remember fishing that crap down there when I was about 7 or 8 and with my dad, Kinda turned me off and I still have a bad taste in my mouth from it. I guess working at the hatchery for a few years and seeing all the crap didn't help any either. I have an Uncle that fishes it pretty regular. Kinda wonder if he's flossin or if his morales are as high as he would have us beleive...I know there are guys down there with standards, but why in the hell they fish there, of all places, is beyond me...

I too, am annoyed by snaggers and people keeping foul hooked fish. But I don't agree with your equating flossing to snagging. A snagger is trying to hook a fish and doesn't care where it is hooked, whereas a flosser is trying to hook fish in the mouth and doing no more harm than a bait or lure fisherman. Snaggers are repeatedly jerk setting on nothing, flossers that know what they are doing impart a swing. Where do the critical draw the line? Fishing for reds in alaska is a lining fishery, fly fishing for kings on the kasilof is a lining fishery, any fly fishing where you are using a swing will line fish. When I go to a fishery like barrier, blue creek, samish, wind, etc. I am going to put fish on the table as efficiently as possible without breaking any laws. I am not going for the atmosphere. There are plenty of other places I'd rather be fishing. It has been my experience that the biggest finger pointers are the ones not catching anything. My advice is to figure out why you are fishing the zoo. Is it so you can complain about the liners catching all the fish, or is it about putting the fish on your plate instead of your cat's.

A fish hooked OUTSIDE the mouth is an ILLEGAL fish. So I guess thats where the critical draw the line. You're right if I was a snagger I wouldn't complain about other snaggers.

Jeez guys - lighten up!

Fishing is supposed to be fun.

I go to the barrier to fish for people. I like to use the smallest corky in the box and a #2 green hook. After hooking a couple of fish the folks begin to drift down on me until I need to be careful with my backcast. then I move a hundred feet up the river and start it all over again. It's great fun draggin' folks all over the place.

If it wasn't fun I'd fish somewhere else, wouldn't you?

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."
Doug Larson

First off I do not believe in snagging and wish there would be more tickets wrote!!!!


Globall- I'm not sure thats right about outside of mouth being illegal..I have always read gill plate forward..unintentionaly of course....which means NO 10ft leaders...Or jerk jerk jerk!!!

Not too sure what you are reading TM!

The below is not a tirade against TM. Just a tirade in general.

That gill plate forward line is a load of crap. Always has been, always will be. You hear that line a lot on Snagger Row (insert your favorite here).

The State Wide Definition of snagging is:

"Attempting to take fish with a hook and line in such a way that the fish does not VOLUNTARILY take the hook(s) in it's mouth"

If you are fishing in a region with Selective Gear Rules:

"If any fish has swallowed the hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it should be kept if LEGAL to do so."

IE, since snagging isn't legal, this is still a line of BS. Also, most of the popular snagging institutions don't happen during a selective gear fishery.

I hate hearing that gill pate forward BS "excuse to snag" on the river.

What's that they say? "Ignorance is no excuse for the law?"

I used to think this board was about fishing, now after reading this topic Its about *****ing and whinning. I remember about a year ago when a guy could get a fishing report with out hearing political stuff. Yes some people snag, some people floss, some people use eggs and plugs. But you people apparently dont fish at all because if you did you would see that the barrier Dam and Blue creek arent the only places to fish on the Cowlitz. Thats just were few of the idiots that pick up the seattle times or fishing&hunting news on friday night looking for all the answers thinks those are the hot spots. Ive met some very nice people from this board and had a lot of fun fishing with them, but would sure hate for someones son or daughter to stumble across this web sight and start reading some of the topics.

Very well said Werner!!

Funny thing is, all these people moan and groan, so don't go!! Like Werner said, the Barrier Dam and Blue Creek aren't the ONLY places on the river. If you have a boat, go explore, that's what I do.

I'll say two things about fishing the Cow last year and into this year: 1) I NEVER fish in the crown, I always find my own place, and 2) I HIT FISH LIKE CRAZY!!

If you don't like it stay away, it's that simple, but don't bag on the river like the entire thing is trash.

Yeah way to go werner! It would be horrible if a young fisherman or fisherwoman was to stumble across this thread and find out that their snagging father is breaking the law. I'd hate for kids to find out about ethics and what being a true sportsmen is about.

Flossing is like shooting a deer with your gun during bow season. Not a slam dunk but its cheating. Not much satisfaction in it but you get to eat venison for dinner.

There I was thinking about the June 1st general river opener in Wash. and kind of missing it because I now live in Ireland. After reading these posts I almost forgot, I don't miss that one bit. Keep up the good work boy's, i have to go and C n R some sea runs on my local, oh ya I'll probably be alone. Just letting you envy me as I give you [Bleeeeep!] about the Cowlitz. Fish on!!

You're just hopped up on Stout again, aren't you headshakes?

I'm with Glowball. If you need to floss a fish, I hope you're man enough to not feel proud about it.