Northwest Fishing Reports

ABOUT TIME!!!! Hopefully this message gets out to the fish hogs.

December 12, 2008

Contact: Jim Brown, 509-826-7371


Over-the-limit Rufus Woods
fisherman forfeits boat

OLYMPIA - A Rufus Woods Lake fisherman cited earlier this year for too many fish in his daily catch recently forfeited his boat and other equipment to the state.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officers cited Pedro Martinez, 46, of Moses Lake on two counts July 26 at Rufus Woods Lake on the Okanogan-Douglas county line in north central Washington. Martinez was cited for possessing 13 rainbow trout-11 over the legal daily catch limit of two-and for failing to display his catch for inspection to officers when requested.

The criminal violations cost Martinez a $250 fine and the loss of his boat, boat motor, boat trailer, cooler, and fishing rod and reel.

A Washington state hearings officer recently finalized the forfeiture of the equipment, valued at an estimated $2,500.

"This case is a good example of how a fish and wildlife violation can end up costing much more than a standard fine," said WDFW Sgt. Jim Brown of Okanogan. "Loss of equipment for serious intentional violations is a strong deterrent to others."

Brown credits other arrests to concerned anglers who are reporting violations they see by cell phone to WDFW’s poaching hotline (877-933-9847) and then testifying to their observations.

=d> =d> Good job DFW!

[quote="nineeleven"]=d&gt]
I hate to be happy at someone's misfortune. But this guy got what he deserved. Hopefully, it'll be a while before he considers poaching again.

Imagine all the fish he has caught in the past and not been nailed for. He will be back I am sure. But for now hope he stays in Moses Lake.

To this guy. How much would you be willing to be that he was fishing with bait too?

This really goes beyond the pale, as far as I'm concerned. 13 fish is way over the limit on ANY Lake, much less one with a two fish max.

And my guess is also that the limit rules are VERY prominently posted at various locations around Rufus Woods, yes?

Wow, and this is just one guy. Imagine how much more are out there.

it really is too bad that we have people like this in our world that abuse what is a priviledge and not a right!!!! more people like this one need to be caught and have the same punishment!!!!

Justice served! I love it.

No_Bad_Skunks wrote: To this guy. How much would you be willing to be that he was fishing with bait too?

This really goes beyond the pale, as far as I'm concerned. 13 fish is way over the limit on ANY Lake, much less one with a two fish max.

And my guess is also that the limit rules are VERY prominently posted at various locations around Rufus Woods, yes?

"And my guess is also that the limit rules are VERY prominently posted at various locations around Rufus Woods, yes?"

YES, in multiple languages, in multiple locations.

This is just one example when there are dozens of people everyday over fishing RW. There hasn't been a time I've fished when I haven't seen at least 4-5 people violating the law. I've heard of 52 fish in possession, 47, 67, 102. I watched 10-15 people at the pens catch dozens of fish with bait and continue to throw them back. This guy has probably caught 100's of fish over his limit and deserved what he got. It wasn't enough IMHO.

Almost every boat I've seen trolling are breaking one rule or other. The majority are using bait and releasing fish caught all day long. You can't fish for hours out there and not catch 20-30 fish in a day.

I really don't have a problem with fishing with bait as long as they release the lip caught fish and don't drag them overboard or net them. If they aren't fishing barbless and bring the fish on the boat they should be required to count that fish in their limit. Time after time I see people dragging fish up on shore or into a boat.

I'm sick to death of the gazillion rules we have now, so I hope WDFW doesn't go nuts on us and enact a bunch of new rules on RW. May as well rape and pillage the resource while you can. It's the hot ticket in our state and by far the most productive fishery we have......

Abuse it ....Loose it!

No_Bad_Skunks wrote: To this guy. How much would you be willing to be that he was fishing with bait too?

This really goes beyond the pale, as far as I'm concerned. 13 fish is way over the limit on ANY Lake, much less one with a two fish max.

And my guess is also that the limit rules are VERY prominently posted at various locations around Rufus Woods, yes?

That doesn't matter anyway - the angler is required to know the regs for the body of water they are fishing. This guy is a poacher, plain and simple.

"Off with his head!" to paraphrase Alice in Wonderland...

Fish On! wrote:
Almost every boat I've seen trolling are breaking one rule or other.

I'm glad the dude got his stuff taken from him. That makes me happy to see karma come around and kick the dude in the rear and in his pocket book...

What pisses me off is that poaching and blatant disregard for the rules and reg's is occurring ALL over the state and all we have is one article/instance lately of someone getting in trouble for it...

A copy of that article and a picture of him crying next to the WDFW tow truck should be posted at every boat ramp in the state. What a jack@ss.

Im glad to see that at least one of the bad ones got caught.

As far as wether he was using bait is beside the point because anyone who uses bait and catches more than the limit (even if they only keep thier limit is guilty) because the law is clear if you use bait even if you release it, it is supposed to be counted as part of your limit.

boat and truck worth 2,500$ not much of a boat or truck.not to say what he did is anything near close to being allowed but he was problabley feeding his family.i have seen the natives over there jig the fish up using big treble hook with lead around it, they would snag them some made it to the boat other left with a big cut in them.nither one is right as far as I'am concernd but one is allowed and the other is notboth guys maybe just tring to get some dinner.

havnfun wrote:boat and truck worth 2,500$ not much of a boat or truck.not to say what he did is anything near close to being allowed but he was problabley feeding his family.i have seen the natives over there jig the fish up using big treble hook with lead around it, they would snag them some made it to the boat other left with a big cut in them.nither one is right as far as I'am concernd but one is allowed and the other is notboth guys maybe just tring to get some dinner.

I think "Feast" is the correct word for that. The limit is enough meat for dinner (provided they are bigger than minnows). 11, that's enough for a "village"

boat and truck worth 2,500$ not much of a boat or truck.not to say what he did is anything near close to being allowed but he was problabley feeding his family.i have seen the natives over there jig the fish up using big treble hook with lead around it, they would snag them some made it to the boat other left with a big cut in them.nither one is right as far as I'am concernd but one is allowed and the other is notboth guys maybe just tring to get some dinner.

Sure he was trying to feed his family. When I'm fishing, I'm attempting to feed my family. Some of these clowns think we owe them more, fishing lakes to death, many times at night. He should be deported.

I have no sympathy for the guy. He's subject to the same rules I am. My little human powered boat is only worth a couple grand, my fishing vehicle, not much more than that.
I'm a little guy too, not a lot of money, but/and I will play by the rules. It's called ethics.

traveling that far from an area (moses lake)that has more areas to catch fish to "feed the family" does not hold water. if you go to the trouble to have a boat and spend the money for the trip you can be almost certain that he knew what he was doing and what the law was. as for the people you see violating the rules a cell phone works great "more than a few have them". the call will give you some peace of mind that you did do something even if nothing was done at that time.