Big Creek springers

[Jennie@ifish]

Guess there is some springers in Big Creek.
Bill said that most people are snagging them.
He said, "Think about it, with the low summer levels and how small the river is...."
Do you think? Do people really do this and how can they feel good about it?
He says they throw spinners and sometimes they land in their mouth.
How can they fish like this, next to someone that knows what they are doing?
I just can't believe it!
Jen

[Jellyhead]

Yeah Jen,

They were in there. I was there on the 26th when it opened. It was a zoo. 4:15 am and there were 16 rigs in the lot. When I left at 6:30 am. there were 40 (yes, I said 40!!!!!) Suprisingly enough, there wasn't a whole lot of blatent snagging in the immidiate area I was in. Flossing, yes. But the fish were packed in sooooo tight in that 400yd stretch from the dam that you couldn't help but foul hook one every once in a while even while drift fishing fairly short leaders.

One bright note----The game warden was there, he was undercover, he was writing tickets. Thank god!!!

I don't know why the hatchery didn't keep their weir open all spring? They opened it up Sunday or Monday and the majority of the fish ran up into the weir.

My suggestion is to leave Big Creek open all year. Barbless, artificial only, March 31-May 26. Let us catch the springers in there while they are acending, not piled up below a dam (which basically what the hatchery is) So they can be snagged on a one day deal, then let in the hatchery, and konked for cat food [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

BTW--I did get two nice springers, Both leagal hooked (inside the mouth) drifting eggs. Too bad the state lets fisheries like this happen. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Give us a chance to catch them the way we should.

Aaron

[TheRogue]

I'll play devil's advocate on this one [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Hatchery fish.....raised to be caught.....Period!! Not to be used as cat food, or fertilizer. If the hatchery has it's quota for eggs/milt for the next year, the "sports" fisherpeople should be allowed an easy run at them. Snagging?? Well, maybe?? Let's face it, it's not sporting when they're stacked in a hole so tight you can walk across them. Take your 2, or 4, or whatever the limit is, and move on. No catch and release, what you get is what you get.

I don't like it at all, but I know that many people feel this way, and they've got a very good point!! Why pay to raise the fish, if they can't harvest them!!

Jellyhead has the right idea about it, keep it open from the beginning, go after them while on the move.

Why not recycle the fish back down the river??? It's done with steelhead all over, why not chinook? Salmon are generally a tougher fish than a hatchery steelhead, the stress shouldn't bother them.

Tough thing, balancing all these different viewpoints, ideas, and laws.

T.R.

[Trick]

I grew up in Knappa about a 1/4 mile from Big Creek and this was where I learned to fish. It has always been bad for snagging. I can't tell you how many snagged fish I have seen over the past 25 years of fishing and it is still a horrible mess from the mouth to the hatchery. All the pay/private areas along the creek are loaded with snaggers in their private sanctuaries. When I was around 11 or 12 I started moving from trout and panfish into the world of Salmon and Steelhead. Beings anywhere I fished had to be on bike or foot Big Creek was about the only show in town. My father was a merchant marine and was an ocean tugger and was never home much and hardly ever fished. My examples while learning where snaggers and at that young and impressionable age I thought that it was OK to do. We used to fish on private land and I swear every person I seen there was snagging. It didn't seem like any big deal back then, but looking back it was a mess and still is. I don't think people realize or care the example they are setting for future generations of fisherman. I know that stream like the back of my hand and I rarely fish it anymore because nothing ever changes there. I came to realize the "sport" in sportfishing and it is very discouraging to fish all day for zero hits and have someone come in behind you and snag a limit in 5 minutes. I take my kids fishing all the time and I set a high standard for them. We catch and release most of the time and they know snagging is wrong. Help me set a better example for them then I recieved from the "old-timers" when I was a kid. Monkey see, monkey do.

I now carry a cell phone fishing and I will report you if I see ya. Don't ruin it for me and I won't ruin it for you. It's a big run this year and I don't want to see our image flushed down the toilet by a bunch of lowlife scum.

Yup Jenny, people really do it and feel good about it. It has been going on since the beggining and will continue forever because its not enforced enough and the private landowners approve of the practice as long as their freinds and clients are happy. Hate to sound negative but I have only been checked twice on Big Creek in 25 or so years of fishing there by a warden. Pretty sad.