Sunday, December 13, 2015

The Internet Makes Many Mighty...

























No Bait.  No Barbs.  No Kill

And a little bit of in river refuge for the fish.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, based on the North Coast Steelhead Advisory Council recommendations,  adopted 4 common sense rule changes for the rivers on the Olympic Peninsula 

These changes had to happen.  Years and years of missed escapement on the majority of the rivers on the North Washington Coast and having to deal with co-managers who are netting the runs to death, anglers had to take a leadership position to lessen impact on the ever dwindling resource.

To some, you would thought the sky had fallen.  Fish recovery is such a political quagmire, but the devolution of discourse on the internet....especially on the side of the street that oppose these changes is down right nuts.  NUTS.

The examples of internet tough guy syndrome came in hard and fast

"All the catch and release guy's kill a ton of fish. I'm still going to kill every "wild steelhead" I can. Leave our hatchery fish alone"

"Even with a ton of opposition the commission does whatever the fly fags tell them too because they are getting the golden handshake somewhere along the line and the only way the commission is ever going to listen to the common man or average sport fisherman is for all of is to stop buying licenses and fish elsewhere just for one year......if 300,000 of did not buy a license in 2016 because of the arrogant , elitist rules they are adopting I fucking guarantee you we would get a few spots at the table and this shit would be over turned.......lets band together and just say no to buying a license in 2016 until they quit fucking us and give is spot at the table........fuck Miranda Wecker and the rest of her elitist posse.."

"Screw the wild fish and make a lot of hatchery fish for us to kill. Most of the wild fish comes from stray hatchery fish and are interbred. The tribes don't care either so why should we. Everybody is afraid of endangered species. Last time I checked there was lots of species extinct and guess what, the world did not end! Get overy it!"


Then you have this article.  Lots of LOLz in that one.

Reminds me a lot of a South Park episode, except change jobs to fish.






















Lets think about it a second.   

You make no changes, stay the status quo.  Runs continue to decrease and  it stays the ONLY place in the state of Washington, and about the only place in the damn world you can keep a wild fish.  

100% of a run are caught at least once.  ZERO inter river refuge for the fish.  

Folks, the Endangered Species act is knocking at the door.  Once that comes in, we as a state and as sportsmen have NO control.  

Yes, the 800 LB gorilla in this situation is the relentless netting by the tribes that have rights on these rivers.  The Bolt Decision means we have to co-manage the fishery.    Big changes are needed in their approach to the fish runs because they wont sustain in the future with bank to bank gill nets.

Also, a few popular myths to dispel.

There is no fly fishing vs gear fishing agenda.  Absolute red herring

These rules are not meant to take opportunity away from gear fisherman.  

The "agenda" is pushed by some secret illuminati of rich, old white fly fishing only men and women.  Nope, the proposals where submitted by the North Coast Steelhead Advisory Council which was made up of guides, sports, fly and gear fisherman.

As a matter of fact....when WDFW held public comments in Olympia back in November, people who spoke in favor of these changes were there in mass, out numbering the nay's 4-1

Control what you can control.  Make the changes necessary to enhance the resource and lets do what we can to bring the co-managing tribes to the bargaining table.

And when you feel like bitching on the internet.  Go ahead, it does nothing to help.  Get involved, now.

8 comments:

  1. I absolutely despaired of the attitudes I witnessed when I fished out there. I thought it was bad in Michigan, but the entitled, whiny, ignorant bitching I witnessed out there was off the charts. You have so much more at stake out there. I think stocking has to be about the worst thing that has ever happened to fisheries in North America, if for no other reason than the sense of entitlement and utter disregard for the well-being of native fish and watersheds it produced. Stay strong out there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the gear gays exhibit more homosexual tendencies than the fly fags, given their fascination with gaudy, bright color schemes and lots of shiny metal bling. Not that there's anything wrong with that...what is wrong is the number of times I've had conversations with gear gays who reveal their ignorance by claiming if there was any scientific evidence that hatcheries harm wild fish, they would convert to becoming wild fish advocates instantaneously. Last I checked, there were at least 50 papers detailing the specific ways that hatchery fish ruin the fun for wild fish and every one else. Apparently, not one of the falsely opened minded gear folks have seen even one out of these 50 papers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I gear fish. I supported all of these proposals 100% from the get go. The whining and sniveling, misinformation, and finger pointing from both camps (fly vs. Gear) was horrendous. The split between all anglers is something I just can't wrap my head around. I got involved long ago. I am thrilled that the proposed rules passed. Its a win. A big win for the Wild Steelhead. Either get on board now, or watch ALL steelhead fishing go away with them being placed on rhe ESL. Gear article!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Personally just fine, if not happy with all but one: fishing from a floating device on upper Hoh. Frankly, the water in question should have simply been closef period Feb. 28. That gives the fish sanctuary... plain and simple. It will now be busier than ever through that stretch with the thought of no boats, even though few that are very familiar with that area typically spent too much time up there in the second half of the season.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Personally just fine, if not happy with all but one: fishing from a floating device on upper Hoh. Frankly, the water in question should have simply been closef period Feb. 28. That gives the fish sanctuary... plain and simple. It will now be busier than ever through that stretch with the thought of no boats, even though few that are very familiar with that area typically spent too much time up there in the second half of the season.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I lived for a year or so near Seattle, and had the fantastic opportunity to fish the Stillaguamish near Deer Creek, pre-mudslide. Those hallowed steelhead sparked a fly obsession that burns brightly in my heart to this day. Doing what it takes to protect other runs from our arrogance will never be a popular road, and will only get harder as the years go by. Sportsmen, whether fly or gear, might learn too late that they bickered about two sides of the same coin for too long to make a difference.

    ReplyDelete