What did you see this year that sticks out?

Funny- 13 people in a 12ft aluminum boat trolling for pinks.

Strange- I counted 48 people fishing the mouth of Tokul creek one day last week. With 12 more parked trying to decide if they should try it or not. 3 of them from Japan. Whats the point?

Sad- All the garbage on the rivers, all the snaggers and justthe shear numbers of people fishing.

(1)Funny/(2)Strange/(3)Sad

1....Hooked a silver downstream of a sweeper...immediately swam upriver beyond the sweeper, jumped back downstream over the sweeper, wrapping me around the tree. Needless to say, it got away and I had to retie.

2....Caught a small brat hen (5lb) with a crooked lateral line. I bonked it, took it home and filleted it, and was amazed that it's back had been broken as a small fish and how well the break had healed. The roe was screwed up as well, with a portion of it actually black and shrunken. Not the kind of fish that needs to be spawning.

3....I'll go with the trash..very disheartening. Also the number of new "No Trespassing" signs. No doubt we are headed more and more toward "pay to fish" and crowd yourself into the only public access spot. That's fine for people who can afford the price, but what about the kids? Absolutely sucks...

Funny - People fishing for salmon in Washington rivers.

Strange - People fishing for salmon in Washington rivers.


Sad - People fishing for salmon in Washington rivers.

Is anybody noticing a theme here...

Funny - Pictures of the meat fest on the Fraser and Vedder

Sad - See funny

Strange - Why someone would bother driving the three hours to the Fraser or Vedder when they could just as easily catch bigger, brighter more numerous fish on the Olympic Peninsula

3 fisherman in one of our coastal ports were dockside taking pics, proudly, of their limit of halibut this June. They were doing this near by my boat while I was cleaning it and I noticed that the two smaller fish weren't halibut at all. They were saying comments like "fish and chips" and "eating well." I did not want to break the news to them and seem like a know-it-all, but those were arrowtooth flounder. I think I'd rather sample the spiny dogfish than those little slimy buggers. The fish checker came over and measured out the hali for the quota and not the others. It was say 20-25lbs. "Why aren't you gonna measure the other two," they said. She broke the news. Then they came and ask me my opinion of those flounders. I thought that was funny.
Strange was the Gilnetter on the Hoh who was clubbing the live pinks removed from his net and chucking 'em back in. I don't keep 'em from the salt or the fresh myself, but mine swim away live. A Forks-area guide also witnessed this while with clients and was taking digital pics. I forget who. I guess you could call it sad too.
Sad is the draggers offshore. If you've never seen bycatch from ours, or any waters, I'll spare you the details.

Funny....My young friend Tyson (15) who skipped church to go fishing trip and re-baptise himself only his hat remained above the water about 3 feet deep very cold..

Sad....while fishing the vedder watched a fishermans body float by from upstream, lator found out when they finaly got him he was dead. there was nothing we could do to get him. water was flowing way to fast....

Strange....People leaving jigs sit on the bottom and lining/flossing kings.. the fishing style is not whats strange is the fact that they swear the fish are biting.....DJ

Hey h2o,

It would appear that that the intended meaning of my first post was somehow lost in translation, so here it is again in simplified form:

The strangest, funniest and saddest events I witnessed this year all occured while I was fishing Washington rivers. No dis on the rivers themselves was intended.

p.s. The Fraser/Vedder meatfests are closer to where I live than the OP meatfests.

Swing and a miss...

This style of fishing reminds me of a little river up north called the Samish. What'd I win? Is that the one your thinking of?

ding, ding, ding you won, yes it's the mighty samish...same place Tyson did the swan dive...

Ha, I used to egg fish that back when I was taking classes @ Western. I had a guy tell me they bite steelhead jigs. So I saw him on the river but he had no float, just the jig on the mainline. I had to ask, "do you retrieve it?" He said no, just leave it on the bottom and they hit. Basicly they'd swim into his line, he'd jerk, every fish was spooked, occasionally he'd get one in some orifice or another. There not gonna bite my eggs now.
Don't fish there anymore, and I hear itsa zoo these days, not the college memory I care to relive. The ones I would relive are unappropriate for a fishing forum post.

Most interesting thing I saw, happened at Nootka Sound. We stay at a friends cabin that sits back in a cove. There are always Bald Eagles there. Just as we entered the cove entrance one day, I watched a young Eagle take off from a rock on the right side of the cabin and an adult take off from a tree on the left. The adult nailed the young-one in mid air with a big WHAP!! The young-one ended up in the water dazed. We were ready to go pull it out when it started flapping and swimming to shore. The wife of the cabin owner said they had lived there for a many years and that was the 1st time she had ever seen/heard that happen.

As far as the Jigs on the Samish. Don't get me started. Yes I have fished with them. I will also tell you that there are better fisherman up there than me. I have netted well over 100 fish the last 2 years for people. I have also taken the time to OBSERVE close up fish hooked using Eggs and those hooked with Jigs. I will say some fish are lined just like I see more fish tail hooked, fin hooked etc off eggs(and lined). A lot gets into who is using what and how good they are. What I would like some of you "ALL KNOWING" brains to explain are the jigs I've seen buried down the throat, the fish hooked in the roof of the mouth and the tap-tap-tap, set and the hook is buried deep in the mouth. Also the fact that I have seen Jigs moved in on people just like I have seen the same thing with Eggs. So keeping with the theme.

The fishermen that think they have all the answers and know everything!!!

Me, I'm not totally convinced either way.

I don't claim to be all knowing, just responding to what I thought was funny/strange/sad is all.
I think intentionally snagging fish is a sad sad practice. Its illegal, and it can't be as much fun as seducing a fish to strike. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way, and I don't claim to know everything. I've been humbled many, many times.
Nothing personal. I've unintentionally hooked fish that didn't intentionally take the hook just like everyone else who's done enough fishing.
I apoligize for the mis-understanding.

jaydee

No need to apoligize. The Samish issue is something that has been brought up here before and bugs me because I know most people have not taken the time to study it. Snagging is illegal and is different then foul-hooking a fish unintentionally. The unintentional part happens to me when you have a lot of fish in a small area(Samish, Solduc etc). I hate it. Waste of my time and stresses the fish. That is a whole other subject.
I didn't believe they picked it up and I can not say I'm 100% sure they do. But I have experienced and witnessed to many things that lead me to believe that they do.

Anyway, thanks.

two really funny things... both clam digging...

One is the person wearing the rain suit with the legs taped around the boots. A wave hits above the waist and procedes to fill up the rain pants, the tape did a great job holding the water in.... You shoulda seen them waddle up the beach with those water balloons around their legs...

The other happened to my aunt (as she was holding the lantern for us clam digging of coarse), A huge wave crashes behind her that was far bigger than her boots. As she was running up the beach the wave catches her and passes her, it is coming in faster than she can get away. Now, in about a foot or so of water, she hits a clam hole, BAM... hisssssssss.... She lands face first in the water. As steam is pouring from the once lit lantern all you could hear my uncle screaming "Now how the hell are we suppose to see?!"

It was a fun ride back to the trailer park

Good post!

Funniest: Watching a dude jump off his boat to save his bulldog that had jumped in at Olson's in Sekiu. The capper was when he said he just couldn't understand why the dog would do that two days in a row.

Strangest: I watched this guy at blue creek boat ramp rev his Mercury outbord pump with the pump out of the water untill it started to blow massive steam out of the exhaust and then he contiued until it threw a rod. Then he was puzzled when the starter wouldn't turn it over any more. After that I switched from the "motor warranty theory" to the "I'm glad I'm not sharing the river with this guy for awhile theory"

Saddest: While fishing the chehalis, I had to explain to my rookie guests why several large King salmon and a bunch of coho were rotting in the hot sun on the beach in a set gill net at low tide. Earlier we had released a large bright king. Fortunatly they got to take home some Coho

Funniest was for me a couple of days ago, me and a freind floated about a quater of a mile down the river on a piece of shelf ice until we reached my car. Was pretty nervous, but in the end was glad we did it. Two summers ago during a fishing tournament a guy was in a major rush to get out, the took off the saftey chain and the cord connected to the winch. My freind told him that isn't a good idea, the guy said he has done this plenty of times. We we pushed off and were on our way out, and we look back and the boat is sliding off the trailer. Was one of the nastiest sounds when the lower unit was skidding on the cement, the boat slid about halfway off the trailer when it stopped. Or when float fishing, I was mending my line and a goose flew into it and proceeded to spool me, luckily I was able to get the line connected to my float and pull on it until its feather popped out, the goose wouldn't let me get near it without it hissing at me.

The saddiest thing is seeing two ducks dead in one day all wrapped up in mono, mad me really angry. Or seeing two guys is spring catching steelhead cutting them open alive taking their roe and tossing them back.

Saddest: Having to release a beautiful dead king salmon in area five and watch it sink to the bottom.

funniest: watching the guy that just got done yelling at a cop, launch his new 24-26 ft glass boat onto the pavement at Everett, real moron.
Saddest: the story about the guide killing that cop in Alaska.
Strangest: watching guys snag chum and high fiving like they have actually done something special, on the Sky. was really stupid.

Funny: all the boots I've seen kept
Strange: How about the homeless people setting up a tent city right at one of the most popular bars on the Sky?
Sad: Watched a kid snag a humpy on the Skagit, drag it up the beach, then leave it there while he ran off. Five minutes later he returns with his sister and a camera. She takes several pics of him, then they "release" this fish that had been laying on the beach for over five minutes. Needless to say it didn't make it.