The great C and R debate

[fishingmachine]

The way I look at it is we have a world class steelhead fishery, salmon fishery (in parts of Washington) and believe it or not a world class smallmouth fishery as well. A lot of the income in the eastern side of the state for tackleshops as well as gas stations, hotels for tournaments and boat launches are from warmwater guys whether it be bass or walleye or whatever. Keeping those big fish is what keeps the drive for most people and without the drive other things will suffer.

[fishingmachine]

WDFW is actually going to kill off some fantastic fisheries in eastern Washington because they want to make them trout fisheries. So you can see from a bass fishermans point of view we have to fight not only guys keeping big bass in the lakes but also wdfw killing off our fish. Imagine if it was wdfw killing salmon or steelhead out of a river. Bass fishing generates so much revenue in this state in tackle shops, boat launches and all those stores that by messing with the bass fisheries your essentially messing with more then just the lake.

[jd39]

I agree with amx on the aspect that I have seen on multiple occasions a guy with a black hefty bag that has yanked two or 3 5#ers out of a lake while they are nesting to kill them as well as a bunch of other in the slot limit. It happens more then you would think and I agree that because of budget cuts that I don't think the regs would be inforced well enough to regulate a catch card. Lets be honest I know people that don't report a damn thing on their catch card and never get checked. The catch card is only as good as the person holding it.

Fair enough, guess I'm lucky and or naive, besides some of the stuff I saw on the skookumchuck last season most anglers I've come across and all that I fish with are on the up and up and want to do the right thing. The skook is a different story, felt sorry for the fish and river there. Loved hearing the rippers gripe the fish were spooked and wouldn't bite as they ripped weighted hooks at them cast after cast snagging them left and right. Pretty pathetic spectacle, got so bad I almost respected the flossers there lol......or cry....

[Amx]

this is a gross over-generalization.

Yes, but it's still true enough to consider it. The meat fishermen in this thought are primarily those who fill a 5 gal bucket of every Bass they catch, and the game dept person for that area, Potholes, knew about it, and didn't care. And there are those that fish Sawyer every year also, that are from the great country of russia.

And then there are those from that asian country who were disimating the Largemouth population on Banks during the spawn so now at the tournies you can't weigh in a Largemouth during the months of May and June.

Ah, well poachers are poachers and native species or not they should go to jail and all their equipment and vehicles seized by the state for auctioning to help offset the damage they've done (if that's possible). And if the poacher is not a US citizen immediate deportation (I don't even want to pay to jail them, just get them out of here). I have no patience for that behavior regardless of the species involved.

Well, I guess I should have said 'poachers' instead of 'meatfishermen', but the word 'poacher' didn't enter my mind. Sorry.

[natetreat]

No doubt, I hate the killoffs of great bass fisheries to put more tiny stocker trout in. That's just dumb. Some of my old blue gill haunts got killed off for trout and that really was a bummer. Salmon and Steelhead have been hit hardest on the eastside though, all the stupid dams on the columbia ruined it. It's amazing that the fish that do make it up there are there at all. But the eastside is great for both bass and trout fisheries, I'd like to see some more support for bass and pike. I haven't made it out there to fish them yet, but I'd really like to get out to learn those fisheries. The farthest east I've ever fished is the Icicle in Leavenworth and Clellum.

[fishingmachine]

Badger lake a lake that my buddy fishes has world class smallmouth and giant largemouth and is a very thriving fishery but wdfw has decided to kill off the lake for basically planter trout.

[natetreat]

Badger lake a lake that my buddy fishes has world class smallmouth and giant largemouth and is a very thriving fishery but wdfw has decided to kill off the lake for basically planter trout.

That's disappointing. I hate to see that. We should leave the good bass fisheries alone, there are plenty of trout to go around, and besides, nobody but my wife likes to eat the trout.

[fishingmachine]

Washington although not looked at a state with good bass fishing has some of the greatest fisheries in the country actually and I think that yes back in the day the state was a great salmon and steelhead fishery. But as times have change and bass have been around this lake is one of the most diverse states in terms of fishing in probably the whole country. Just because the bass are non native doesn't mean we should just not care about them. Protecting all of our fish in our state should be the main concern.

[natetreat]

Bass and salmon and steelhead don't really cross paths very often except in the columbia area. A little known bass fishery though is the Chehalis river from Porter to Centralia, where they get fat off suckers. But yea, bass should definitely be a priority, many of our lakes didn't even have native populations of trout in them either.

[Amx]

And a couple specie of trout that they plant aren't even native to this state.

[fishingmachine]

both great points guys. I agree it seems some people tend to be more focused that the fish aren't native therefore who cares. With that mentality nothing will ever change. Just cause they aren't native doesn't mean they don't provide a fun resource of entertainment and bring in state revenue

[natetreat]

And a couple specie of trout that they plant aren't even native to this state.

I know right? The hypocrisy of WDFW in this state knows no bounds.

[Jigking Fishhead]

It is sad that the mentality around Washington is to cater to the draggers. I personally have been fighting the WDFW for over three years to not kill off Badger lake. I have presented studies of how many trout are being caught out of badger compared to fishermen hours ,and how the trout which are planters and holdovers are coexisting with the bass, green and brown. Yes the bass have eating trout, but they are a predator. Bass fishing for recreation and tournaments bring a lot of revenue into the state. We stay in the local hotels, buy gas.. a lot of gas I hate to say, we eat in the local restaurants etc..
We help fund the WDFW by purchasing permits to hold a tournament, and they are not cheap. One of the top Elite Bass Pros, Brandon Palaunik came out of Idaho, and Luke Clausen from Washington and because of them sales of equipment and tackle have accelerated in Idaho and Washington both, which brings in revenue to both states. The ones that want to call the bass an invasive species should seriously look at what is actually a native fish in Washington. So let's kill off all non-native species. No one will have any fish to catch if we did this.. I believe it is best to take no bass over 12" to eat and no more then 6.. Idaho does it this way.. and it seems to work.. 6 bass allowed only two can be largemouth and none under 16".

Yes I believe in CPR, ( catch, photo and release) but I feel too if we were to convince the WDFW to have a better slot limit except for competition. Then the meat fisherman and the C&R would have a compromise.

Here is how much the WDFW cares about the bass fishery,, Certain sections of the Colombia river have been closed during the spawn and this year the closure was removed. All of the spawning bass will now be ripped off of their beds. There will go the whole gene pool to sustain this fishery.

[racfish]

About 5 years ago Id catch bass and eat them up. After talking with bass experts and members on this board I went to C&R bassin. Just as much fun and just as rewarding. JMO

[ADT]

I disagree with that nate. those 5 big bass if out of the same lake could potentially ruin a fishery if its a small enough body of water. Its going to be tough to change anything but I don't think the catch record card idea is on par with ur other idea at all. Because you still run the risk of those fish being taken out and the fishery suffering especially if say those 5 fish are 5 pregnant females.

Those smaller fisheries just aren't good bass lakes to begin with. I'm sorry, but that's the case. You've got to realize that bass are not a priority in Washington, they're not native, they eat salmon and steelhead, they're invasive. We don't have the environment for bass here. That being said, there are a bunch of lakes that do have a more viable population that you should be focusing on. The fact that the lake can only support 5 big bass means that it's just not a good bass lake, and really isn't going to get the attention that you want.

They are not invasive , they where introduced to our waters on purpose so we can have a real sport fish. I could care less about trout and salmon personally. Those smaller fisheries 20 acres or so would be good bass fisheries if we stopped the harvesting of large bass. Most of those smaller lakes are also man made so there is no such thing as native in those waters. I for one would rather my fishing license fees where not wasted on salmon and trout ! Lets just hope that the presence of the new bass pro shop in Tacoma will have a influence on our WDFW.

[Amx]

Maybe we should be able to designate where our license fee goes, say river salmon, river steelhead, trout, walleye, Tiger Muskie, pan fish, or Bass. Or maybe warm waters, or cold waters.

[fishingmachine]

AMX what a brilliant idea. that is one to look into.

[racfish]

Maybe do tags for different species. They do hunting that way.Ifin you want a bear you get a bear tag. It could work for other fish other then salmon ,steelhead,halibut or sturgeon.

[Amx]

Maybe charge more for when you keep a fish. If we only catch and release it's just the basic fee. Then if I go wally fishin I'd keep something, and so pay extra for that.

Say $28 to go freshwater fishin only, fishing for anything in freshwater/warmwater, but not keeping anything. Then a $2 tag and catch card to fish for and keep walleye, same for trout, and each specie. $2 for each additional specie that you keep.

[jd39]

Maybe we should be able to designate where our license fee goes, say river salmon, river steelhead, trout, walleye, Tiger Muskie, pan fish, or Bass. Or maybe warm waters, or cold waters.

This sounds like the political debate about where tax dollars should be spent. The left wants them spent on what the left likes, the right on what the right likes. Not a manageable way to do things.
I don't think the wdfw would ever agree to that anyway, they'd need to produce a publicly verified audit trail showing license fees went where requested and they couldn't let that happen...would reveal where a lot of our fees really go, subsidizing commercials and tribal netters with fish that should be allocated to us.