Everytime I go to rattlesnake, I see a least a few groups (always seems to be groups) of people power baiting. For those who speak english, I've filled them in on the regs a few times, but it seems to do no good. Anyone know any pratical way to address this? I've seen the game warden out a few years ago, but have not seen any enforcement this year.

What really torqued me off was some punk kid launching his heavy sinker toward my canoe (well away from shore) with my wife and 2 small children on board. He kinda chuckeled to his friends that he almost got us.

You can report poachers at WDFW\'s website .

PhishPhreak
There are some real low life’s that go to that lake to party it up. Went for a drive up to the lake one day with my wife and ended up being chased by 5 guys in a Toyota 4x4. They threw beer all over my truck yelling I was going to fast. They where standing in the middle of the road, drunk and ignorant. Evidentially 10 mph was to fast for them in the condition they were in.

It got ugly, and 5 guys trying to attack me are bad odds for anyone. First one that stuck his head into my window and tried to yank me out of my truck got a T-handled corkscrew right in his left eyebrow. Can you say POWA. Then the dude was too dumb to go away so he grabbed a hold of my steering wheel as I dumped the clutch and took off. Never did see if he had road rash when he finally let go.

Anyway used to love to fish that lake and still do but that experience has taken some of the joy out of it for me because every time I go to Rattlesnake I remember that incident.

Power bait??? Funny how certain groups use that. I remember a discussion on power bait using fishermen a couple of weeks ago and you were defending them. Funny how things change.

This problem of illegal fishing has also been discussed on another board and the generally agreed to method of chasing them off was to tell them the warden has been coming up there frequently and ticketing people.

Or you can take a more direct route and chase them off yourself.

Power Bait, worms, etc are fine when used legally. There is a time and place for everything - you seem to be looking for a double standard that just isn't there...

I also have no problem filling folks in on the rules and do it often, but approaching a group of 5 or more guys who are usually drinking and trying to be a tough guy is usually not a smart move - especially when my family is with me. Again, I was looking for practical advice...

Well then... if you aren't up to it, have someone else go over and tell them.

PhishPhreak

Wow maybe I should clarify. I was just telling a story about the nature of some of the individuals that hang around that lake.

I did not approach any one; they stood in front of my truck and stopped me.

I was not being a tough guy, I WAS ATTACKED at that lake when my family was with me.

My post was not any advice, just a story of what I have seen happen at that lake because of all the people that party on the road side and fish off of the rocks.

If you have the opportunity get vehicle license number's and physical description's, then go to the nearest phone and report them. Never and I mean never confront the perp's yourself, your not trained to do this and it's not your job. There is never any reason to put you or your family in danger. The smart thing is to just leave. Take Care.

License numbers and people descriptions are a good thing. You can input all of that info on the WDFW Poachers page. I have linked it in my first post above.

Lead Thrower - I was not meaning to refer to your incident, but rather bill's reference to being a tough guy and chasing them off.

Bill, as I said, I do often fill folks in on the regs and warn them of the price of getting caught. As for confronting large groups of drunk punks and 'chasing them off', well, how about if you give us all a tough guy lesson next weekend at the lake. That is something that would be fun to watch!

Carl, I've been using that site, but rarely have a chance to get any info that would be useful (lisence plate #'s ect). I'll start bringing my cell phone more though.

PP,

I act the same way I give advice. I've got no problems chasing law breakers off. Sometimes it gives my fishing buddies the "willies"....

Some advice I'd give you is to walk the talk... don't talk the walk. I feel if more people did this then we'd have less problems in society today.

As I said before bill, show me the money!!

I'll be at rattlesnake this weekend, let's pick a time and you can show me how to chase off a group of poachers.

Again, I approach poachers all the time and explain to them the regs - but I'm not dumb enough to physically threaten a large group of drunk rednecks. I'll leave that to you. Put your money where your mouth is. This should be fun!!

We can all meet up there and kick some poacher A**. Or at least out number them. Then have some lunch.

That's what I was just thinking. Kinda like the 'flotilla' they do on the river board. Maybe have a little BBQ and friendly fishing contest.

The only reason these guys keep coming back is because there is not enough legal or 'peer' pressure for them to worry about. It'd be cool to see a group of us sit down next to them and fill them in on the regs. Maybe offer them a spinner or 2 or even a couple flies that they can cast with using a bobber. Then sit with them until they either leave, or start fishing legally.

It seems that every site that I go to this subject always comes up. Us/We complain about the problem but it just won't go away. It seems that when people get their license's they don't read the regs or they don't know where they are fishing or just don't care. You can't have a game warden stationed at every lake to catch the poachers.

I have an idea,why don't we station a game warden at the gate and check everyone who comes thru that wants to fish be checked out. That way you could keep all of the poachers out. But thats not the American way. You could post all of the signs that you can, but lets face it some people just don't care. I think that I've said enough.

PhishPhreak

AAAAAAAhhhhhhhh

My mistake, thanks for the clarification.

PP,

You're a mouthy little weenie. Grow up one of these days and stop thinking the sun rises and sets on you.

Nope... this isn't a personal attack. Just giving you a little advice. Hope you approach your Big Brother task with more maturity. Kids need a good role model.

bill,
You voluntarily came into this discussion and tried to start a pi$$ing match with me. If you can't back it up, get lost. If you can't show us how you chase off a group of poachers, then stop acting all tough like you can. I really don't care if you don't like me or not. I'm not here to impress anyone. But if you can't leave well enough alone and want to keep up the pi$$ing match, then let's just meet and get it over with. But as you've shown, you don't have what it takes to back it up, and you just seem interested in causing trouble.

My appologies go out to those who actually try to use this site for good information. Unfortuneately, some like to think of this as their own personal jerry springer show or something...

Now step up or shut up.

Everybody meet at Rattlesnake Saturday morning? Not to fight with each other but to address the problem at hand, poachers.

I can do early morning - but will be out of town for the rest of the day. Only problem is that the party crowd who does 90% of the poaching comes out later in the day. Most of the poachers I see early in the morning are the non-english speaking kind.

I got room for 1 in my boat.

For those of you not familiar with this lake:

hardware suggestions - small flat fish or hot shots work well in a variety of colors. Very small Dick Nite and Needle fish spoons work will too. I'd be careful using 'pop gear' at all - the stumps will eat them up if you stray from the middle of the lake...

flies - most folks are doing well with small olive wooly buggers. Dries should be dark and very small - but I haven't really tried them too much. Also try chiromonids (sp?), carey specials, damsels (nymphs). I'm sure some others may chime in with other suggestions. Also, be careful of the stumps if you use heavy sink tips\lines.

And finally, powerbait work awesome in this lake!! Kidding!

Single barbless hooks!

-Chad