The Columbia is open for steelhead. So my son and I went down to do some plunking. After being at the beach for a bit the bell on a nother plunker down the beach rings. Fish on and this was one fighter. Well we watched him fight it for about 10 min. When he got it to shore low and behold it is a 20# + chinook.
Well I say to bad its not a steelhead. The answer is (I keep anything) well at this time I see that he is fishing with three other drunk guys and I back off. I know that we all want to keep our fish but what would you guys have done??
Keep The Rivers Clean!!!

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dank

Take them out and Shoot them.... No just joking.
Great question. Well there isn't really any YOU could of done. I think if someone gets a poaching ticket they shouldn't be able to fish in washington for 5 years or something. Well that is a thought. I think the shooting one is better. joking.

Chris

You did the right thing by backing off, especially since your son was with you. Was it possible to get their license plate number? If so report them to the poaching hotline. I think the important thing in your situation is to talk to your son about what these guys were doing, and explain to him that these guys were breaking the law. Even if you could not get the license number I would report the incident(date, time, location, etc.) any way. Maybe they will increase enforcment in the area if they are made aware of this. I reported some killing of native steelhead on my home river earlier this winter and was suprised to see some enforcement the next weekend.

B Mac, you hit it right on the nose! Kalamabama, especially with your son with you. A good learning lesson for him, as hard as it may have been not to force the issue, it was a good call. Take care

Doubletake

I would have called 1-800-477-6224 on my cell phone. It's the Poaching Hotline. You will be surprised at how effective it can be. I probably would have gone a step further and wrote down some license plates and descriptions of the inDUHviduals.

Everyone on this board who carries a cell phone on them should program this number in to their speed dialer.

Honest fisherman shouldn't put up with crap like that. That's how "we" get a bad name.

Report violators. They *do* get caught.

Parker

Kalamabama,
Parkers right, I just was looking at a news release from the WDFW web page where five guys were arrested and convicted for poaching sturgeon on the Snake River. All from a tip from another fisherman. I think that with the reduced money and enforcement that it could be us that makes a difference when it comes to reporting poachers.
Tight lines, Jeff

Parker hit the nail on the head again. Thanks for posting the poaching hotline number. We need to report violators directly at the scene of the crime!! You never know when one of our few game wardens is close by.

One thing we need to remember is that ignorance is no excuse but often times people retain fish or fish illegally becuase they are not hardcore fishing fanatics like us and they just don't know any better. It sounds like the guy kalamabama described was well aware of the regulations and just did not care. These are the lowlifes we need to report.

RIGHT ON PARKER! Thanks. Add cam corders and snapshots to the cell phone in. And not just for anglers, but also any unethical & treaty abusing Indian netters that are outside their quota laws.

Some people think they should live by their own set of rules,when the rest of us try to do the right thing ,Hey nobody likes to release a large nice fish I'll never forget my first 30# plus chinook I had to let go ,but now I get a kind of warm fuzzy feeling when I release a large fish...take down the license number turn their poaching asses in!!!