View Full Version : Christmas on the Washougal
GorgeCaster
09-22-2002, 09:35 PM
My wife and I canoot believe that people can get away with the snagging. We were on a afternoon trip on the Washougal and we came to the Steel Bridge to go and look at the Chinook migrating upstream, but it was a disgusting sight. There must of been forty people on both sides of the river throwing eight foot leaders(Washougal flies) and ripping with all of their might. It almost made me embarassed to let my wife see this. There were probably over 200 fish and I bet over half of the fosh looked like Christmas trees. I wish that the DFW would start to crack down on this and try to keep these kinds of techniques off of the river. Maybe we need rule changes to shorten the legal lenths of leaders, make to fines more, jail time, something has to be done to stop these kinds of practices. It is pretty sad when you see a father and son snagging. Way to teach your son to be a sportsman. Sorry just venting.
MetalHead
09-23-2002, 12:38 AM
another Metal Head from washougal, what are the odds. They have been ripping fish on this river for decades and fish and wildlife make a few appearances and write some tickets and they start all over again. most of the fish in the river are the color of my hunting boots and almost as tasty.
KingFisher85
09-23-2002, 06:24 AM
MetalHead-"most of the fish in the river are the color of my hunting boots and almost as tasty"
HAHAHAHAHAHA :grin:
That is so true :grin: :grin:
Jennie@ifish
09-23-2002, 06:32 AM
OK, so why do they allow it?
I don't understand...
Jen
Sometimes, enforcement is driven by the reports of problems received. I wouldn't hurt to report problems like this when you see them. At least then there's a record of the problem.
Washington Report-a-Poacher web page (http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/enf/enforce.htm)
Big TULE
09-23-2002, 11:35 AM
What i have found on the washougal has been very poor response to the snagging and keeping of snagged fish. I was watching at mile 5 last week and i always have the cell phone. So i called. I sat for 2 hours waiting for fish and game to show up and i finally got tired and left. What that shows me is they don't care. I don't know why they don't but the river is in sad shape. I was on the Kalama last year and saw 9 game wardens in one day. Now why can't we get that on the washougal...
TheRogue
09-24-2002, 12:08 AM
Wow!! 9 game wardens on one river??? We don't have that many in our entire state!!
Seriously though.....how do you control it??
1. Close the fishery completely: let the fish rot without being used at all. Granted, in this case they are mostly Tules, so it's no big deal...but what if they were "good" fish??
2. Close the hatchery so this doesn't take place: I understand the main reason for these fish is to add to the ocean and lower river fishery.
3. Seriously ramp-up law enforcement: Personally, I'd rather see sworn officers out on a river like Cowlitz, Kalama, etc., cracking down on these people rather than the idiots catching "boots" on the Washougal....but we here in Oregon don't have the manpower luxury that WA has.
4. Have a couple of "IFISH Education Days": Organize a group of people to visit the area, pointing out what people are doing wrong, and pack some video cameras for those really bad guys.
I don't know the answer.....but you can bet, if that fishery goes away, some of these hard-core snaggers will just move elsewhere. At least this way, they're pretty much congregated in one spot!!
TR
[ 09-23-2002, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: TheRogue ]
FishinMission
09-24-2002, 12:14 AM
Rogue...Oh yes we DO. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there.
BUT....
Phone calls reporting violations certainly cannot hurt.
Mark
TheRogue
09-24-2002, 12:24 AM
FM.....I'd love to see the total number of sworn OSP game-enforcement officers in Oregon. I think it would shock most people. I was disgusted to learn that there was ONE for the ENTIRE SE portion of the state (Burns-Ontario-Nevada-Lakeview). This may have changed, I'm not sure.
Yes, any sworn officer has certain rights and responsibilities concerning game enforcement....but I'd much rather have "specialists" out there, than Joe Buzzcut off of freeway patrol checking the size of my hook, or if my antelope has horns just a hair shorter than the ears.
TR
Originally posted by Jennie@ifish:
OK, so why do they allow it?
I don't understand...
Jen<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Jennie this has been going on for many years over there and it is probably due to lack of enforcment officers. It's as about as sickening a sight as you'll ever want to see.
In the past snagging was allowed for salmon but it was only for the elderly and disabled if I recall correctly. Well it did'nt stop there.
I've also heard that in recent years some guns have been brandished down there.