Except for one of the plunkers down on the Hoh that was checked by the fish checker. He had whacked (and not punched of course) a nice fat 10 lb wild hen.

When the fish checker asked why he whacked the fish, he stated that he wanted the eggs. He also stated he was NOT going to eat the fish. Just wanted the eggs.

Probably not the norm, but just sad.

Makes me wonder how many wild steelhead never get punched, and are poached just for the eggs.

I am about opertunity. I don't fish for food I fish for fun. I supports a 90 % or better survival rate of a released fish more than I do the 100% mortality of a fish in the cooler.

If fishing was about grocerys, we would all be dumbasses.

"People kill [wild] steelhead to EAT them."

...Or to hang trophies on their walls, show their friends, and get what's "rightfully theirs."

I bet those double stripe 25 lb. bucks ate up fine, though.

Aunty, pointing out the change in you from what you were to what you are now is not a personal attack, unless you want to take it that way.

Anyone who may want to have a useful conversation with you, but is not a CCA bandwagoneer, will be immediately alienated by your attitude and anger. Don't call yourself a victim of personal attacks when you bring it upon yourself with nearly every post you've written in the past month.

Michael, I agree that typical management of our resources is on an "everything is just fine" to "Whoa! Stop the presses!", either/or basis for decades.

It's trying to find the balance in between where all the work needs to be done...slowing or stopping the declines in any species before they go from point A to point Z with no mention in between.

CnR is one of those balance points, if used correctly...more time can be spent fishing, more fish can be caught, and more fish can still make it to the spawning grounds than would have otherwise went there. Serves the dual purpose of increased quality opportunity along with more fish on the spawning grounds...a win-win situation, unless you can't fathom fishing without bonking.

The egg issue is responsible for a lot of the fish that are bonked by clients with their guides...because the client gets stuck eating a winter run steelhead (about a 2.5 on a scale of 10, beating out humpy, chum, and dolly on the "taste" scale), and the guide gets the eggs.

It's extra lame because one buck can spawn with multiple females, and the females are pretty much the only ones that can make a return spawning trip...selectively taking them makes it even worse.

Fish on...

Todd

Let me jump in here for a bit.

Todd, you really need to get your attitude straightened out...your recent elevation to diety-ship has turned you into a militant.

How'd that sound to you? Feel like you are being called names?

I can tell you that it sounds like name-calling to me. I have had a few disagreements with different folks here (having one now, in fact :/) but I don't believe I have resorted to calling any individual any sort of adversarial adjectives. You advertise yourself as a lawyer and yet I agree with Aunty. You seem to find it difficult to be professional when addressing others if they disagree with you.

Concerning the topic at hand, I think both you and Aunty have good points, but I must say that, to me, you come across like an addict who can't quit fishing. (no offense)

Slab, if you consider telling someone to adjust their attitude as "name calling", then you are too sensitive, my friend.

I know what "name calling" is, and that ain't it...that's just a little friendly advice from someone who knows Aunty, and has seen her attitude deteriorate considerably in the past few months, to where she is almost incapable of rational discourse on these subjects...no posts are made by her without some sort of jab or attack at someone, and wild steelhead advocates are in her sights on this one...

When she told me a few weeks ago that I was "fair game" as soon as I didn't jump on the CCA bandwagon and made some comments about Gary's ignorance about the effects of his lawsuits, I didn't realize she was going to go this far off the deep end...guess I know now.

Fish on...

Todd

Thanks for the response, Todd. Look, all I know is that I wouldn't mind fishing with either one of you and hope to at least run into you somewhere sometime. Is it any wonder that we can't show up as "a force to be reckoned with" under the common flag of Fish Forever?

No offense intended, but it was lawyers and judges who got us into this damn mess that can't be undone. So we all get frustrated and look for an answer other than the one that needs addressing. Commercial interests benefit too few locally, but still we dance to their tune and fight among ourselves over what we will give up next.

Actually, it wasn't lawyers or judges that got us into this mess...it was sportfishermen, first, who created the mess with the Puyallup and Nisqually Tribes and their steelhead fishery (which was taking something like 7% of the fish runs at the time)...which lead to Slade Gorton taking the lead, both as the State's mouthpiece, on the front side, and as a commercial fishing money pot, on the back.

Under Slade's sage leadership, we eventually got slapped down hard two dozen times, after the State utterly refused to acknowledge the first several attempts to get them to back off...and the final result of that was...

The Boldt Decision.

Racist sporties, overzealous politicos with their hands in the cookie jar, and ignoring court decisions...that's what got us to 1974...after that it's just been a gigantic clusterf%*k trying to keep our heads above water enough to not drown.

Fish on...

Todd

El Defenso Resto:

Gorton was born in Chicago, Illinois and served in the United States Army from 1945 until 1946. He then attended and graduated from Dartmouth College. He served in the United States Air Force from 1953 until 1956, continuing to serve in the Air Force reserves until 1980. Meanwhile, he practiced law, and entered politics in 1958, being elected to the state legislature of Washington, in which he served from 1959 until 1969, becoming one of the highest-ranking members. He was then Attorney General of Washington from 1969 until he entered the United States Senate in 1981, defeating longtime incumbent and state legend Warren Magnuson on Ronald Reagan's coattails and an "it's time for a change" ad campaign.

No doubt that Gorton was a lawyer...but it was not because he was a lawyer, but because he was an asshole, that we ended up with this mess!

See ya on the river!

Fish on...

Todd

Hope to see you, too!

How are they different? Just kidding, Lawyers are like cops...everyone hates them until they need one

Easy with the walls there guys, we need to find some things in common, and get together.

I think everyone who wants to harverst fish should have to foster parent 2 little fish to every 1 they kill. Feeding, diapers, Sand Shrimp mobile...the whole works.

I like that idea...Maybe I could learn something about them that could help me a few years later to increase my pathetic catch rate

Don't forget the schooling, HookedUp. Fish like schools. Schooling is not cheap.

Yeah and then they start messin with hoochies and ho's... yikes...
I'm off to Iowa and Nebraska for a week. I certainly won't be hurting any fish from there!
Cheers,
Neal

Yeah, I don't even want to know what those little fish do to the pink worm..

Ugh.

Regarding habitat restoration....Check this out :http//blogs.nwfc.org/weblog/newsnet/atom.xml You'll have to sort through some stuff, but it speaks of Skagit and Snohomish habitat reclamation.. A good start? I think I posted about this before, but it was one of those (insert crickets here)
postings...Whoops, I meant for this to be on the hatchery thread...

Neal,

Iowa and Nebraska? In the first week of April?

Dood...that sucks almost as bad as breaking your ankle snowboarding.

Gonna come over to our side of the puddle for some toads later this month?

Fish on...

Todd