Northwest Fishing Reports

theres nothing fun about going to an area with your family to have a nice day fishing ,camping, picnicing etc, only to have the area ruined by somebody throwing their catch on the bank to die, usually its carp or the remains of the days catch. it smells bad in the heat of the summer and i've stepped on those sharp bones next to a swimming hole. whats your thoughts?

Stay away from the Green River this fall after the Pinks and chums are in they are expecting 900'000 pinks in the Green this year. Some times fish are left high and dry after high and dry after high water. And some fishermen are just slobs leave bait containers and and tackle wrapers laying on the shore and bank.

Honestly, it does smell bad, but its natural. Fish is completely biodegradable and throwing the carcasses back into the body of water they came from makes sure the nutrients provided by the decomposition of the flesh are returned to the ecosystem. It's legal to dress fish in the field, and I don't see a problem with it. Personally, I don't gut my fish until I get home, but that's just because usually I don't have the time on the water.

Matt

i agree that gutting a few trout at the lake is fine, i do it myself, i'm talking about that bucket of spiny rays that were filleted or that big carp that was left to rot. sure there is always going to be fish that die off and i don't think that very many people do family outings on the salmon rivers, but i've seen and smelled plenty of fish that were caught and left near a swimming beach, or next to a fishing hole that is used often, if you don't respect the fish at least respect the other people using the area to.

panfisher wrote:i agree that gutting a few trout at the lake is fine, i do it myself, i'm talking about that bucket of spiny rays that were filleted or that big carp that was left to rot. sure there is always going to be fish that die off and i don't think that very many people do family outings on the salmon rivers, but i've seen and smelled plenty of fish that were caught and left near a swimming beach, or next to a fishing hole that is used often, if you don't respect the fish at least respect the other people using the area to.

I second that. It is simply a common courtesy.

Half the time I clean the fish at the lake and the other time I bring them home. Every time I bring them home I keep the heads for crabbing and 1/2 the time on the lake I keep the guts too. But when clean them there I through the heads out into the lake a little further and NEVER leave them on the shore. The only time a kill a fish is to eat or am advised to. Like if a lake is over populated with stunted sunfish, or squafish you know what I mean but never for fun. But if I do kill a garbage fish Im not leaving it on the shore. At potholes res. after a huge wind storm the carp will wash up against the bank and it is a TERRIBLE smell, so Im not going to put other people through that

Where I fish it's either dead salmon or other fish carcasses draged out by dogs, Eagles, and Osprey. I constantly see Eagles take fish up in a tree, nibble on it, then release it falling down to the base of the tree. It's natural and it good for the environment. However, an overabundance is unsightly and the smell is overwhelming. Just ask anyone near a river with a strong salmon run. I don't know anyone who just leaves fish carcasses lieing out on dry land and I've rarely seen it done by people.

well I had just reviewed the regs this morning as it was my first time out in a long time (due to college) and the regs say it is illegal to intentionally waste fish....it doesnt say game fish, just "fish"....so after saying that....I think it is ok to toss them back in as if they sink and decompose there is no smell, some may wash ashore, but I dont like intentionally throwing them up on the bank. Not only does it stink but it could also attract predators....on the Pend Orielle River there are a lot of osprey and bald eagles that will readily grab a floater no matter what type of fish it is. I myself have always killed pikeminnows and peamouth and thrown them back in, only in rivers though.

This is now an issue with me. I took my five year old daughter out to the local fishing hole and when we got there she asked me why there were three fish laying on the beach. Someone caught three average trout and decided not to keep them so cast them aside at the boat launch. Try explaining to a five year old why someone would catch a fish then throw it on the beach when everyone knows (according to her) that fish live in the water.

rosskie wrote:This is now an issue with me. I took my five year old daughter out to the local fishing hole and when we got there she asked me why there were three fish laying on the beach. Someone caught three average trout and decided not to keep them so cast them aside at the boat launch. Try explaining to a five year old why someone would catch a fish then throw it on the beach when everyone knows (according to her) that fish live in the water.

Common sense is not so common. I agree, it is unsightly, and hopefully it doesnt bother your daughter too much.

i agree its just common courtesy(not so common apparently) if you arnt gona keep em at least give em away and guts ar fine just please throw em in the water im sur some cannibalistic fish will take kare of em and the bones, please if you dont throw them away in a can at least bag em and take kare of em on your own property

ruthven78 wrote:well I had just reviewed the regs this morning as it was my first time out in a long time (due to college) and the regs say it is illegal to intentionally waste fish....it doesnt say game fish, just "fish"....so after saying that....I think it is ok to toss them back in as if they sink and decompose there is no smell, some may wash ashore, but I dont like intentionally throwing them up on the bank. Not only does it stink but it could also attract predators....on the Pend Orielle River there are a lot of osprey and bald eagles that will readily grab a floater no matter what type of fish it is. I myself have always killed pikeminnows and peamouth and thrown them back in, only in rivers though.

Why only rivers? We had a previous thread where I discussed throwing back trout that get damaged during hook removal (among other things), to allow them to decompose, be used in the lakes natural lifecycle, etc.

Am I missing something about lakes? Inquiring minds want to know..

if they're killed during hook removal y not just keep them?

ruthven78 wrote:well I had just reviewed the regs this morning as it was my first time out in a long time (due to college) and the regs say it is illegal to intentionally waste fish....it doesnt say game fish, just "fish"....so after saying that....I think it is ok to toss them back in as if they sink and decompose there is no smell, some may wash ashore, but I dont like intentionally throwing them up on the bank. Not only does it stink but it could also attract predators....on the Pend Orielle River there are a lot of osprey and bald eagles that will readily grab a floater no matter what type of fish it is. I myself have always killed pikeminnows and peamouth and thrown them back in, only in rivers though.

I was referring to live fish when I reffered to eagles and osprey but you're correct. I'm sure they grab floaters too. I've also frequently seen this on the Pend Oreille River.

Some of the rivers and streams in the Seattle area are littered with salmon carcasses in the fall. Sometimes wild dogs, cats, and critters drag these carcasses around and can smell up an entire town, for example: Issaquah.

I'm surprised to hear that there are so many occurences of people wasting fish and intentionally leaving them on the beach. They should at least leave them in the water where the carcasses provide nutrients for the fry. I realized that not all fishermen eat the fish they catch and when they intend to release the fish sometimes the fish dies but they should throw it in the water or bury it in their garden.

most often then not i,ve come across areas where someone has caught a carp, sucker or bullhead and threw them in the weeds or right next to there fishing spot. this is mainly around our lakes and ponds. river areas that i've seen this is has been on the columbia around the alot of the parks (where families go to swim, play on the beach, play hide and seek in those weeds, etc. this occurs in other areas to but maybe i see more of this because i tend to go to more then one lake, lake area, or stream, plus i'll walk the shore lines, you don't see this stuff from a boat but on a hot summer day you may smell it. as far as throwing fish and or fish guts in the trash around the areas that have them those hornets and wasps don't like it when you disturb their meal. i've found this out the hard way more than once. this is my own observations of over 35 years of shore fishing freshwater and saltwater. <')//<

i agree with throwing the guts and such back in the water but when they throw them on the bank thats just wrong. but, also, today i went down to a boat launch on a local river and somebody had trhown some sturgeon carcasses in, wich normally i wouldnt have a problem with cus i was even watching some small fish get a nice meal out of it, but they put the carcasses right in front of where you launch a boat wich was kind of disturbing, and also half of the fish were very obviously undersized and illegal