You are using present tense in your below statements. "What you ARE doing." Kind of hard to be doing it when I haven't retained any chum this year. Never said I don't have tons to learn still...but I also honestly don't believe it's a bad thing to use the fish in that way....my stance has nothing to do with level of experience.
Again, we have differing opinions. I don't consider it a waste to feed my garden with the carcass, which in turn provides awesome veggies the next spring/summer. I interpret that as being used for human consumption. You obviously disagree with me, but we aren't robots. It's ok to have differing beliefs. Doesn't make either one of us a "bad" person.
WDFW can write tickets all day long...the way it's currently worded, it won't hold up in court. If they added a further definition to "for human consumption", then whether I agreed or not, it would be cleared up. But again, wouldn't apply to me because I'm not planning on targeting chum.
This is America. If express my belief/opinion on a subject, that's my right. Just like all of you have the right to express your belief/opinion. No need to tell me to keep my mouth shut on something I honestly don't believe is a waste.
If people choose to continue to hit daily limits, that's their legal right to do so. No matter what any of our opinions may be. The State has set a daily limit and if you want to go out and pull a limit every day, you can. Who are we to tell someone not to? Sure, we can share how we feel about it, but if they go out and hit a legal limit daily and are recording their fish...what business is that of ours? In that case, the State would have to set new limits. And I saw that you added "just to get eggs" in there. My point was, that if I were to run into a nice looking chum that was worth coming home, then yes, I would feed my veggie garden that in turn provides food for my family, and utilize the eggs to hopefully land a fish that I'm actually targeting for table fare. I'm not encouraging intentionally poaching just for eggs.
What if someone keeps hitting daily limits and sticks the carcasses in their freezer...more meat than they realistically ever need? Is that a waste? No guarantee it will ever get eaten...and honestly you have no idea what is done behind closed doors. And that's kind of my point as well. In my personal opinion, I believe if a person caught their fish legally and recorded it legally, it's none of my business what they do with said fish once they get home.
Doesn't make me disrespectful. Doesn't mean I don't care. It seems that you assume you know my intentions, or what "kind of a person" I am...but it's all just judgment based on personal beliefs and opinions that differ from mine. That part is human nature...so I understand because I'm guilty of the same thing more than I care to admit.
At then end of the day, I'm not fishing systems with a chum run...but was just sharing my viewpoint on things, which is what forums are for.
Think I've said all I can say...I'm out of this one.
Cascadian wrote:Mism05 - It is not only about the chum. I am just as upset about people taking any salmon or steelhead from the rivers and dumping it in the dirt after harvesting the eggs. You say you are not intentionally breaking or bending any rules.. would a written statement on this matter from WDFW help clarify that you are indeed breaking rules and would be cited if caught? Of course it is unlikely you would ever be caught unless you go around announcing your intentions with your taken fish.
It blows my mind that you started fishing for salmon a year ago and have already developed such a hard stance on what you are doing. I would think at a year into any outdoor sport, you probably have a lot to learn still and if the majority of the community as well as law enforcement is telling you what you are doing is wrong, then maybe you need to rethink your actions.
In the end, one man doing this can't really do much damage and I doubt you will ever stop what you are doing, so I say go on and do whatever you want. Just please keep your mouth shut about it so more new impressionable people to this sport don't hear you or read your posts bragging about throwing carcasses in the dirt and decide that is acceptable behavior for everyone.
The unspoken rule of eat everything you keep among sportsman often limits the number of fish taken out of our river systems. I know, for me and several other fisherman I know, we start releasing most fish by the end of October because our freezers are already full. If everyone continued to harvest limits everyday just to get the eggs and chuck the rest, that is just more impact on these resources that are already diminished.
By the way, why do you hide your face in your photos?
![[drool]](./images/smilies/msp_drool.gif "Drool"){kind=small}
