Northwest Fishing Reports

Just saw this and cant decide if it might be good or just make things worse.

http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science ... /72498216/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What a weird article. Doesn't say what waterway they are even talking about.

That's part of what worries me. He talks about "the Sound" like it was some isolated body of water all by itself that can be managed in isolation. He doesnt say if that includes the Straight of Juan de Fuca or not and no mention of coastal waters or rivers. On top of that, he is putting this in the EPA, so it has nothing directly to do with fishing. Its all about clean water - like that was the only problem.

One thing you can be sure of: another government agency getting involved = open your wallet a little wider....

I don't see how it can hurt. Things have gotten steadily worse the last 10 years or so. The govt threw lots of $ at the Columbia and the Columbia runs are booming.

while i'm skeptical of more government, something needs to be done. i've fished the sound since i was a kid and it's just getting more polluted every year. lots of beaches i used to dig clams are closed because of health risks and the resident fish stocks arent coming back (although there's still plenty ratfish & dogfish). it saddens me knowing my daughter will never know the sound as i did growing up

The body of water on question is the green river watershed , also the cedar river and lake wa runs. Having been around the area all my life it does bug me watching the stocks dwindle with little or no management from the state. I also remember those days when we could fish for yellow eye, rock fish and true cod right from point defiance. My cousin works for Oregon fish and game and they don't have nearly the amount of problems because they actually manage there water. Sad day.

Eric the boat guy wrote:The body of water on question is the green river watershed , also the cedar river and lake wa runs. Having been around the area all my life it does bug me watching the stocks dwindle with little or no management from the state. I also remember those days when we could fish for yellow eye, rock fish and true cod right from point defiance. My cousin works for Oregon fish and game and they don't have nearly the amount of problems because they actually manage there water. Sad day.

There could be lots of Kings and sockeyes but the State choose not to run the hatchery.

Exactly bodofish. My partner lives in Vancouver and he fishes the Kalama ritually and this year they put up a wier in the slack water and let unclips pass through and killed all clipped fish on site. I understand restoration of natural runs but real " native fish are basically non existent. When asked if he could have a clipped fish the state worker said he would be fired if they were not returned to the river. Makes me wanna go beat down some doors!

Eric the boat guy wrote:Exactly bodofish. My partner lives in Vancouver and he fishes the Kalama ritually and this year they put up a wier in the slack water and let unclips pass through and killed all clipped fish on site. I understand restoration of natural runs but real " native fish are basically non existent. When asked if he could have a clipped fish the state worker said he would be fired if they were not returned to the river. Makes me wanna go beat down some doors!

It's operations like that, that give our State a big black eye.

Another gloomy update from the Kalama fisheries. My partner found out the automatic wier removed 24000 fish and only let 800 natives upriver. All fish were killed by cutting off their tail and dropped back on the river. Now I'm sorta pissed!

I rarely agree with over-aggressive state regs, but I have read they are trying to promote wild fish. I only want to catch salmon. I don't get into deep issues about wild or hatchery. Maybe there is some benefit to wild genetics. Or maybe it is an issue that is over-rated.

I'm not up on the details either but it seems pretty simple to me. If you want to only have wild fish, then you need to stop the tribes and commercial fishing completely. If not, then you will end up with no fish.

That is 100% right, there should be zero netting on our rivers (and they are our rivers too), and no netting within a mile of the mouths of said rivers. So if they want to net, fine... But you'll do it with everyone else. Getting tired of seeing fish dumped on the sand bars.

As far as the polluted waters I hope they can get something accomplished. If you go up Japanese Gulch in Muckilteo, there is an old junk yard above the creek. The guy threw tires into the creek for years, there were thousands, it was 15 years ago when we started cutting trails in there, so I am not sure if anyone cleaned those tires up or not. But it's stuff like that, that is going right out in to the sound, and there is no way that can be good for marine life. When we used to keep our boat at Shilshole you could see the oil on the water, and I wondered why no one did anything, looking back it should have been us since we complained about it,

The pollution is a particularly concerning to me being a marine mechanic and being based on the water. My boss is also a avid sportsman and our cardinal rule is simple, if it hits the ground it gets cleaned before it creates a sheen( if waters on ground). Growing up on Tacoma I remember the rumors of the pollution along the tide flats til one day I met some one involved in the litigation against the waterway tenants and the money to pay fines was cheaper that the disposal costs. This is the mentality they had then and now it has been a multi million dollar cleanup along the water here. I wish I had the carefree fishing of my youth back.......when we could catch fish!

I agree it is sad to see a steady loss of cleanliness. It will only get cleaned up with major state regulation and enforcement- and I hate trusting the government. The problem is the growing population. Unleaded gas was a plus. Ethanol is not.

We still have a fishery. I'm from CA and so many of the areas have long ago lost theirs. It is going to be a battle.

The problem is who do we trust? We've seen what the EPA has done to rivers and they don't seem to care about ground water contamination, I won't even get into what they have done for emmissions... A lot of us do our small part, I'll pick up garbage when I fish and pack it out. But when you have 10 people behind you who just drop and go it's tough. Magnify that with a business that's been getting away with it for years and pays miniscule fines it looks like daunting task. I personally think these businesses should have to pay and pay dearly and it should send a message that you don't get to do what ever you like to the enviroment and get away with it, even if it means they loose their business. It just might send a message to others that hey we need to clean up our act and now.

It's a sad day when the resources that we the sportsman love are in jeopardy due to large business waste and some of the poorest fisheries management in the world. Kinda like our licenses and taxes.....aren't they supposed to help out game and fish rather than go in the "general fund" to pad some politicians pocket! I feel like a sportsman revolt is long over due to overthrow the current regime! Lol. All we can do is voice our opinion and make it known we are here and willing to fight for the resources we have left. power to the people!

Eric the boat guy wrote:It's a sad day when the resources that we the sportsman love are in jeopardy due to large business waste and some of the poorest fisheries management in the world. Kinda like our licenses and taxes.....aren't they supposed to help out game and fish rather than go in the "general fund" to pad some politicians pocket! I feel like a sportsman revolt is long over due to overthrow the current regime! Lol. All we can do is voice our opinion and make it known we are here and willing to fight for the resources we have left. power to the people!

Viva la revolución!!!!!