I understand your frustration, Melanie and I went a few years ago as a second day after fishing Lake Chelan and didn't even catch one, people said the flow was down. that being said I have stated before that there is an ongoing problem with poachers at rufus woods and until fish and wildlife AND fishermen who observe people blatently breaking the law step up NOTHING will change. I can't believe that folks on this site seem to think I'm out of line when I suggested this in an earlier posting about R.W. and that the problem wasn't apparent.How many fish with leaders in their mouths and guys next to you breaking the law does it take? It was his first trip there and it sounds like a lot of the disapoitnment isn't so much not catching fish but witnessing such a flagrent lack of respect for the law or your fellow fisherfolk who bother to obey the regs that benefit us all. If you are not out of cell phone range there report the jerks! Maybe you'll even get an officer who's in the area and get to see them ticketed! Almost as much fun as fishing!. Speed dial the hotline for poachers. It just takes some of us to make a difference.Bob R

Cstarz,

Rufus is just like anywhere. 20% of the anglers catch 80% of the fish. I'm not going to get into the guys breaking the law, but I will say that with more time on that water and a little homework, you can pinpoint which areas to target on Rufus and which techniques to untilize in various spots. There are many areas that are "dead water", and others than are hidden gems. Its never as easy as it seems by reading successful reports.....my 2 cents.

Cstarz95,
Which part of the river were you fishing? Bob, I couldn't agree more with what you've said. Some anglers have said they are not gonna start a shouting match when telling someone that they are breaking the law. I think that as anglers on a body of water that large we have to do some patroling ourselves, the law enforcement just can't cover the whole area. Each person you see doing something illegal that does not get confronted about it will continue on the same path. My theory is when seeing someone poaching/upgrading, go tell them the rules abouy rufus, make it seem like you are just being nice and giving information. If they continue, stand near them and make a phone call or pretend to if you dont get cell coverage there. They will pick up and leave, maybe just to go to a different spot but they will be thinking about the LE. Same thing in a boat, if someone is poaching do the exact same thing, get near them and show that you will do something about it. They will pick up and leave. We have to do something or this recent release of fish will turn into what happened a couple years ago, the fish will get extreme pressure, people will kill many and the fishery will go to crap. I've said this once and will say it again, this is our second chance at this fishery being great, lets do a better job protecting it. Help out the LE, they have a hard time covering that area. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the responses. Bob, I should have done something I agree. My hesitancy was that it was my first time there and I did not have cell phone coverage, plus I was with my wife and the last thing I wanted was drama while we were trying to have fun.

Raptor, I will continue to explore the R.W. area more. With all the private ground around and being new to the area, I didn't want to tread where I was not wanted.

HammerinHonkers, I turned right when I got to the Brandt's sign and fished the second to the last spot before the dead end where the big restroom is located on the turn around.

I do think this fishery is worth coming back to, and I WILL stand up for all the honest folks out there and OUR money going to work for this area. Maybe if I start the charge, others will follow.

next time fish upriver around the pens. fish around the pens at the nespelem pen campground. you should do better up there.

I think it best to consider what WDFW recommends when observing poachers either in the woods or on the water, and that's not to be confrontational. While many of us don't think it an issue, you never know what the lawbreaker will do or is carrying, so don't risk it by making an overture. A discreet call is far more effective, and much less likely to create an incident. If a boat is involved with anglers poaching, write down the registration numbers and report that way.

Some recent reports indicated that "guides" were highgrading at RW, well, the "guides" have reg numbers on their boats, and a phone call would fix that problem, probably forever.

Due to distance, we don't fish RW, but that doesn't mean I don't keep up with the rules there. If I were to spot illegal activity, I'd take a few pictures and make a phone call. Pocket cameras are a neat tool, and quite discreet too!

cstrz95, you did everything right, by bringing this to everyone's attention on this site you do us all a service, I totally agree with hewesfisher in that non-confrontational approches are the best, esp. with your fav fishing partner. I'm lucky in that I use a long lens to "shoot" wildlife but subtle observations and license plate or boat numbers work well, as does a decent point and shoot, WDF used to teach a class in non-confrontational info gathering, don't know if they do, don't really need the class as I don't see too many trends like that on the west side as we usually try to avoid combat scenes on the rivers. I wouldn't mind having a world class fishery like that in my back yard though(you know, within 100 miles or so!) I know that enforcement reads reports on this site (off and on, maybe?) so maybe things can take a turn for the better with eyes open for ALL of us. Bob R

WDFW still conducts training and lists resources on their webpage. For online reporting of violations/poaching visit http://wdfw.wa.gov/enforcement/reporting_violations.html and for info on the Eyes In the Woods (which includes fishing resources) visit http://www.eyesinthewoods.org/CORT/CORT.htm.

WDFW agents can't be everywhere all the time, there simply aren't enough of them and budget constraints will keep it that way for some time. Since the resources belong to all of us, now more than ever, all of us need to protect them. Be safe and good fishing! :-)