I hope all will remember the services of our vetrans and sacrifices made in all the military in past years, and those now serving in today's conflicts.

And give some thought to how sports fishing used to be and figure out how to improve things.

Memorial Day frequently was a good weekend for the Hat Island early kings. Limits were the rule, usually by noon. This was not all that long ago...about 15 years.

Fathers Day was good on Mission Bar for Snohomish Kings. Crowded, but good fishing. Again, not all that long ago.

Every night in the summer dozens of tribal netters pounced on Mission Bar etc. They don't bother now of course. No fish.

The Bubble?? Nobody bothered because it wasn't all that great.

Crabbing was open year round.

Halibut was open all summer.

Lings season was long.

Bottom fish was open.

Port Angeles had great king fishing.

All these things are gone, primarily because of how our state managed the fishery in favor of netting, tribes , commercials etc. These are people who were voted in to office.

I will never forget taking out of state visitors for lunch in Mukilteo and watching their dismay at lines of purse seiners running their huge boats and nets by the old Taylors Landing, now Ivars. Their first comment was ususally "Is this legal? How can the fish survive?"

But it was legal and they took everything they could net..

Another favorite seiner trick was to run their nets right at the "line" by the bait box. They put in and forced the sport boats out as their skiffs pulled in the purse.

So...Washington state had its chance. It had the ability to have a great fishery and reap the economic benefits. It chose not to.

The good news is my expense budget has huge surplus of funds because I don't buy boat fuel, parts, fishing stuff anymore.

Newcomings will probably not belive the above, but it is very true. In fact one of the best king holes as right at the mouth of the Snohomish and could be fished in a very cheap small boat. Lots of derbies (king derbies, remember them?) were won in that spot in he wee hours of the morning. All you had to do is go out early and compete with the dozens of tribal nets stretched across the river and area but they left at sunrise.

Even after the Navy Base ruined that hole and they dredged the river and so the fish didn't lay out front any more, there were still fish to be had....for a while. Now the tribes don't even bother to net.

I haven't even bothered to buy a license, can't see the magic of competing for the several hours and few days of the "openings".

The 6 inch trout openier is looking better alll the time.

Wow that's depressing... hope I'm not singin' the same tune 20 years from now when I am retired and have all day to fish.

If this isn't a wake up call to fish managers to start doing a few things differently, I don't know what is.

Same story in Michigan although for a myriad of different reasons. The river fishing for salmon and trout today is only a shadow of itself 15 years ago. I suppose one's perception of fishing quality and productivity is relative to one's experience measured by time. Guess I'm an oldtimer. So be it.

Much respect for our heroic veterans and active service people.

please enlighten us as to who we should point the finger at?

Agreed - On a + note, I can name a river where fishing for kings has recently gone way up and a season now exists where there hasn't been one in decades.....

Where?

People from B.C. used to come down here to fish!

its listed in the regs


there are still plenty of good places to fish. not as many as in the past for sure, and every year they get fewer and fewer. im probably selling my boat this summer because of that.

This is terrible, the way that the politics have ruined this resource. I grew up in upstate New York. years ago they outlawed netting of all inland waters, no nets closer than twenty miles offshore. Now I hear that the fishing has been phenominal. Salmon,Katherine creek,Oswego, all doing very well. The last license i bought cost me $7 dollars,no stamps,tags, this and that.People were excited about the turn around of the fisheries,and the politicians were loving it,as anything good about the environment they would take credit for, but the fishing wasn't bad even then, now,I guess its great....
We keep saying someday, I hope that I live long enough to see that day here.......

One thing that I do know - the population of this state has grown dramatically in the last 15 - 20 years. We may blame politics, habitat, the Tribes - but we also must look in the mirror. The fishing population has grown dramatically, certianly the fishing resource has not kept pace and that will inevitably mean that fishing has gone downhill.

Excellent observation, Eddie.... keeps the discussion framed in the right context. We all have an incremental impact.... it's just very difficult to appreciate the collective damage of our individual actions. When all you can focus on is how many (or few) fish you are allowed to harvest from this area or that, it's hard to get a handle on the bigger picture.

You can't honestly exclude the recreational impact from the equation.

one sad observation is that the areas available to fish and state funds for the sport are inversely proportional to the number of people fishing.

if fishing is so popular now, why isn't it given as much funding as it should be?

Lets see now.

Janurary: I can go out and catch some Steelhead and maybe a Silver or two and top it off with some Crab.

Feburary: I can go out and catch some Steelhead and Crab and maybe a Razor Clam if we really get lucky.

March: just like Feburary except if I so chose I could go out and catch a Springer.

April just like Feburary and March.

May: some Springers and even a Hoods Canal Shrimp for the cooker and a Sturgeon.

June: maybe a Springer and a Summer Steelhead.

July: more of the same.

August: maybe head to the Columbia for some Hot action on Kings and Silvers.

September: some Kings, Silvers and a bunch more things to catch.

October: I'll be out trying for a limit of Silvers and a King or two if ya look for them..

November: guess I'll just keep on knocking some Coho's.

December: some Steelhead, Crabs and Razor Clams.

I guess we have it pretty bad. No, I don't like the Indian netting the crap out of everything but I can still go out and have a good time all year long.

steelie1, Just wonder what you have done to help the fishery except to sit around and complain? I haven't done much myself but I am proud to be an American and have the privlege to do something constructive and fun.

I have my license bought every year and I can find plenty of fish.

Fishing and enjoying it,

fp

It sounds like your (west coast) fishing is really in need of some serious help. I am from Michigan and I thought we had problems, from the sounds of things (editorials that I have read and from friends) you guys need some big changes in a hurry to help your fishery out before it is to late. I really cannot believe that there are not enough sportfisherman to voice an opinion to make a change for the better.

Gee things aren't what they use to be -

The population in this state has tripled in the last 30 years - 3 times as many people same number of fish means less fish per angler don't you think?

That rapid population growth has been at environmental cost - less water for the fish, poor water quality, more flooding due to timber and development activities have all lead to there being less fish. Fewer wild fish means less fish per angler don't you think?

Rapid development in fishing gear and lesiure time results in each angler being able to fish more often and more efficently. How many of you would give up your GPSs, depth finders, downriggers, graphite rods, modern day reels, travel less so that the pressure on the fish resource would be reduced? Increased angler efficency has resulted in rapid depletion of the resource. Meaning fewer fish available most of the season meaning less fish per angler don't you think?

A sporting public that by and larger refuses to get involved in the politics of resource management and protection. The result is this state spends less than 1% of its budget on natural resources - Dpeartments of Ecolgy, Parks, Fish and Wildlife, etc. Means less fish per angler don't you think?

Rather than blame mis-management it might be better as suggested earlier to look in the mirror. Each and everyone of us that is not consistently fighting for the protection of our fish and their habitats are part of the problem of declining fishing. Whinning is not going to improve things - in fact that and apathy is precisely what has brought us to this state of affairs.

My $0.02!

Tight lines
S malma

Can I get an AMEN for Smalma!!!

Okay, I'll bite....

"population in this state has tripled in the last 30 years " Does that mean the number of fishermen has tripled? Does anyone have hard numbers?

"less water for the fish, poor water quality, more flooding due to timber and development activities" Anyone have hard data on this? I would bet that the water is cleaner now than it was in 1970 and that the timber industry impact is much less now. Has anyone else seen the devastation caused by the timber industry around the turn of the century?

Come on now.....I'm certainly willing to look in the mirror....but to place blame on the recreational fisherman is ludicrous when we all know where the vast majority of this blame should be directed.... Need I remind you...what happened 30 years ago?... Could the Boldt decision have had just a bit of an impact on this? I'm not specifically blaming just the Indians though. In fact I support their treaty rights.

Offshore commercial nets get first shot - Anyone know how many fish they take?
Indians take 50% of harvest - 50% of blame too right?
Puget Sound Commercials get their share -how many do they take?
Recreational fishermen get a share if there are any left. -anyone know exactly what the recreational impact is?

The one point I will wholeheartedly share with you is: "Whinning is not going to improve things - in fact that and apathy is precisely what has brought us to this state of affairs."

I have said before and I will repeat... We need more recreational fishermen actively watching the resource. Our sport will die or be killed by the PETA and/or Indians and/or Commercial netters groups if we don't .

3x the pop but fewer as a % of the pop fish or hunt hence the Red bottom line at F&G. And there is not the same number of fish today as 30 years ago. There is more demand for the generally shrinking resource.

even if the number of fishermen hasn't grown with the population it has grown alot. I'm sure there are more people with boats now than there used to be. Look at how many people are down there for bouy 10. That river is solid boats.
Head to Pt Defiance when the kings are in. Was that ramp that crowded 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago??
Face it, as the population grows the resources sink.

They just had an article about the new tacoma water pipeline. They started it 40 years ago. If they'd started it today they wouldn't be able to due to environmental reasons. Needless to say, ALOT of communities would be facing water shortages. All the resources are in shorter supply now than they used to be.

The more I look into this the more confident I am in my position. Here are some statistics to consider:

The Washinton state population has doubled the past 30 years not tripled. It has about doubled every 30 years since 1910..1910-1940 .75 mil to 1.5 mil 1940-1970 1.5 mil to 3 mil 1970-2000 3 mil to 6 mil

I doubt we have twice the number of fishermen than in 1970. Out of 6 million people, only 150,000 residents buy saltwater licenses. Looking at that number, I would guess that there were probably just as many recreational saltwater fishermen in 1970!

These statistics are from the US Census and WDFW. BTW 400,000 resident freshwater licenses are sold and another 150,000 2 day non-resident licenses are sold.

Sorry Eddie & Smalma. I don't subscribe to your view.

I believe MOST of the finger should be pointed at the State & Federal Officials, Judge Boldt & the tribes. Who have time & time again screwed us over & over & over. Remember the $10 Puget Sound "Enhancement" Fee? I digress.

And YES, I have done something about it. I attend the Compact meetings, joined a couple of clubs and voice my opinions here!

Time after time, it is so easy for us to point the finger at someone else. I did an analysis a while back looking at wild steelhead harvest by the tribes and by us, the sportsmen. It did surprise me when I saw the impact we have is greater than the Tribes. One by one we make little impact, as a group our impact is huge. And I say this not to say that our harvest is the only or even the biggest problem. My thesis is that habitat (and its loss) is the biggest challenge facing our fish. But to deny our impact is to lose all credibility in the arguement - it just isn't true.

Good point Eddie. Like the guy fishing bait on the Snoqualmie last night. No one would notice sand shrimp tails and if they did would they say anything. If you put all the snagged salmon back into the system what would we have.

I think all this blame of the snaggers, netters, tribes, etc is barking up the wrong tree.

Regardless of the growth numbers, the human population has grown tremendously in this state. WIth that has come development, logging, dams, etc. This development has destroyed fish habitat and continues to do so. Its not overfishing that has caused long term decline in salmonid, its degraded habitat.

The cause of degraded habitat is human activity which is chiefly driven by human population growth.

I think we could all quit fishing today and with the current status quo of development salmonid populations would continue to decline.

I'm not saying we sporties don't have an impact. On the whole, (going out on a limb here) we sporties are law abiding citizens that truly care about the resource & practice conservation when able.

My point is that the methods & location of tribal fisheries & distain for cooperating (marking of hatchery fish, nets & more nets completely across rivers where threatened fish migrate, selling wild fish roadside, SHALL I CONTINUE???)

Agencies that are charged with the responsibilities of allocation, protection, enhancement etc. continually in my book fall short of the mark. Can you answer this question?? Who continually gets the short end stuffed as high as it will go? We do. We continually get asked to pay more & give up even more. Less access, less time, less opportunity, etc. etc. Not to say that there aren't a few shining exceptions (Columbia Springers & Halibut tonnage this year). In general, over & over, it is the Sporties who get shafted.