C'mon, man.

[riverhunter]

Commercial and tribal gillnetting of rivers and the sound. Loss of habitat and spawning grounds. Alaska taking way more then their share. Snaggers. Liberal daily limits and greed. For example the Wallace and sky and snohomish until this year allowed 3 a piece a day the whole season. all this takes a toll on salmon that are trying to rebound. I am a firm believer that we as anglers need to limit how much we take from the rivers each year. Filling more then 2 catch cards a year with kept fish is way more then enough for one person and their families for the occasional salmon dinner. As much as I like to fish I also believe in conservation.

[dj2loud]

holy crap 2 catch cards???? I don't know of anytime in the last 10 years where i have been able to fill 1/2 of mine including humpy seasons... FAWK.....

[riverhunter]

Lol I know of guys who have and I've been there myself on a good year but I usually don't fill up half of the second unless it's humpy season trying to fill my egg stash. What I am saying is that some guys can and will fill 2 or more cards on just silvers and kings. Most of them either have businesses of their own so have lots of free time or others have no real responsibilities except for bills and rent, no kids or spouse so all their extra time and money is spent fishing the rivers. Fishing for some is a way of life and when the salt is open fishing can be easy if you know where to go and what to use. Limits almost guaranteed then we move on to rivers where the limits are more liberal but fishing gets tougher. Not everyone can do it but what I am getting at is that some of those guys are just greedy and while they can stop with just one card their is no rule stating how many cards a person can fill so they keep going until the runs are over. Kings are usually first, then sockeye, then silvers and lastly chum. On humpy years the pinks come third in the list

[jonb]

Ok ok.... Ill admit it... I filled the better part of 4 catch cards. But i was on a limitted income due to a jobsite injury and couldnt work. All i could do was fish to put foid on the table. My time loss paymemts hardly payed the bills and I litterally lived off salmon for months. Eating as many as 3 meals of salmon per day some days. I dont feel good about it, but i had to. It was that or collect welfare. Im not a welfare kind of guy. I am in no way saying it was right. But i did it. This year ive kept 1 hatchery coho that litterally swallowed my jig and was going to die, and 3 chum.

[riverhunter]

Ok ok.... Ill admit it... I filled the better part of 4 catch cards. But i was on a limitted income due to a jobsite injury and couldnt work. All i could do was fish to put foid on the table. My time loss paymemts hardly payed the bills and I litterally lived off salmon for months. Eating as many as 3 meals of salmon per day some days. I dont feel good about it, but i had to. It was that or collect welfare. Im not a welfare kind of guy. I am in no way saying it was right. But i did it. This year ive kept 1 hatchery coho that litterally swallowed my jig and was going to die, and 3 chum.

I can see where than was a survival tactic and not greed. You were basically forced to do so but if I may interject sometimes we are left with no choice but with a limit of how many catch cards I'm sure you would have figured out a different species to chase. Trout maybe, perch for some or any other warm water species this state holds. Heck even some saltwater species will do just fine in that instance. Not saying you are wrong but with limits on cards we as humans always find one way or the other to survive without the help of government aides and programs. Believe me I've been there when the economy crashed a few years back and fishing is all I did and yes most of it was for food. I found some great ways to catch other species and serve them up in different ways. Luckily for me the economy bounced back and now I'm doing better then before it crashed.

[jonb]

I wasn't right to keep that many salmon. Not at all. It was shameful. Although i should interject that most of those were humpies, which are pretty plentiful but Still not right though. i did learn from my mistakes at least. Ill only keep a couple chum or pinks for the smoker each year if i can help it.

[riverhunter]

Don't feel to bad. Everyone keeps plenty of pinks and they still keep coming back in huge numbers. Must be the fact that the gillnetters and commercial guys don't see a use for them as they are not worth nearly as much as other salmon species.

[Bodofish]

Don't feel to bad. Everyone keeps plenty of pinks and they still keep coming back in huge numbers. Must be the fact that the gillnetters and commercial guys don't see a use for them as they are not worth nearly as much as other salmon species.

Gillnets yes, Seiners no, Pinks are certainly sein fair. I've caught a good million dollars worth with a seiner, they may only be $.50 a pound but when you can catch 10k in a day, it pays the bills. They're kind of like Tunas, but they really are the chicken of the sea. Most of the world just gobbles them up! They certainly aren't bad coming out of the salt handled properly.

[jonb]

Ucluelet charters is in bc off van couver island eh? If so yeah you guys have tons of salmon. Much more sustainable than puget sound stocks. There is nothing wrong with keeping fish from healthy runs at all.

[Ian Horning]

Holy crap, I post a thread and boom goes the dynamite.

I forgot I even posted but it's turned into quite the discussion! I appreciate everyone's feedback and thoughtfulness. I also hope nobody got too offended when I made a joke about the corky+yarn guys. I know its a viable way of catching fish, but every flosser and their mother, father, two brothers and sisters, pet dog and deceased rabbit use it to keep fish as well. That's not me branding every corky guy a flosser, but that "one guy" or "four hundred guys" we see on the river saying "I've got a bite" and then reeling in a fish with a corky in their @$$.

Every flosser uses Wal-Mart brand 20-30lb mono though. That's a PROVEN fact.
That's also a joke.
A true joke.
Just kidding.

What the heck am I even doing salmon fishing in WA, I could literally cross the border, fork out $100 worth of a license and $40 in gas and floss fish. With dental floss. With my bare hands. Improving reproductive success by making those fish more appealing to female spawners.

In the mean time, I'll do my best to catch fish and not see another rod doing so.

Ian

[riverhunter]

Ian the problem with your comments is your attitude. Sounds more like bragging. When I see guys snag fish anywhere I make it my point to make it my problem. Call them out on it and even go as far as threatening to call the warden. Don't take it the wrong way but bragging only makes you as bad as that the guy who take candy from a kid lol. Just a joke. Or is it. Sympathy can go a long way better yet empathy can make you a better person. Hope you take this as a compliment and not an attack as I've seen what you can pull out of the waters. Impressive to say the least

[jonb]

Flossers stink. They litterally smell bad.. This is a proven fact. Google it. Lol

[riverhunter]

As bad as the cheap dental floss they get at dollar tree!

[Ian Horning]

The way I see it, I would have nothing to poke fun at if they followed the rules.

I don't make fun of guys doing legit stuff. And I wouldn't go so far as to call me a bad person. And trust me, if I ever had a guy listen to what I tell him, I would keep trying to reinforce proper ethics amongst every snagger or rule-breaker I see. I still try my best, but the anecdote below is a good example of how my interactions usually go. Either that, or they just plain don't listen.

I called the warden on a guy who kept a wild silver at whatcom creek illegally a couple weeks ago. He took the fish to his car and then resumed fishing. I could see that as a red flag regardless. It's how some guys keep over their limits, by stashing fish. And yes, he could have been trying to keep it fresh, etc.... but it was still a wild silver. Even if it was a hatchery, he hooked it in the side, not the mouth. He's at fault regardless.
I had caught and released a similar looking silver an hour prior, it was a very small and may have been the same fish.

He took off along with his buddy when I called.

The warden never showed up.

I do get what your saying, your not wrong. I am essentially bragging that I'm a better fisherman than flossers, I think any legal, ethical fisherman can take that prize. I don't mean to say that I'm a better fisherman than anyone else here or elsewhere who fishes within the law and ethical boundaries.

Sidenote: I'm a very sarcastic person. My "arrogance" is generally sarcastic.

Good on you for keeping the bad guys in check and for ethically pursuing our fish. There needs to be more guys like you out there.

[jonb]

My arrogance is usually sarcasm based aswell. But flossers do stank and i hate em... "open up your heart and let the hate out." -Chapelle

[riverhunter]

Same here don't like to see 3ft+ leaders being chucked out in the river. Only reason to use corky is when you are trying to imitate single eggs floating down and 18in to 30in at the most extreme is all that is needed. No black, green or silver corky is imitating anything that is naturally taken by fish. If using corky the best colors are colors that look like eggs predominantly orange colors or red colors. Personally I love to see that bobber disappear underneath the water which is why I mostly bobber fish. I get a rush knowing that fish willingly took my presentation not forced in its mouth.(or in its a$$ or side) pisses me off every time I see a fish being dragged in that way even if accidental. Those are then worn out and tired and who knows if they recover fully from that. I only fish to catch what I can keep LEGALLY.

@Ian not calling you a bad guy just trying to help you think outside the box as I'm a firm believer that cockiness and bragging is another form of no self confidence. I might be wrong in your case but they're is other ways to express your confidence besides bragging. The way I do it is help others by sharing knowledge at what not to do. Never showing secret spots or any spot as a matter of fact but instead showing techniques that have worked for me!

[fisherman92]

Just my 2 cents on the corkies. I don't fish them often but when the river is a low and clear (especially on particular rivers) I have caught some of the nicest coho and had some of the best days fishing single green or off color corkies. All IN the mouth too. Despite how others might fish them or yank and the end of every drift which is stupid. Anyways just saying everyone has their preference. I'm not a huge bobber guy myself. I free drift eggs/bait/lures quite a bit. Sometime Ill just lose more gear.

[riverhunter]

I can agree on the low clear conditions myself fisherman 92 and I've seen off color corkys catch legally but for me I like egg colored ones just because several species including steelhead love single eggs at times. Either way its the yank at the end of every drift or in the middle that I can't stand. Also those guys who think 5ft leaders are needed. Heck ice even seen up to 10 ft leaders ridiculous. Still love that bobber disappearing. I get a kick out of that

[fisherman92]

I too have seen 5 to 10 ft liters from groups before. Crazy stuff. I just gotta get more time with a bobber. I just hate when I lose the whole set up and it costs more and takes longer to rig.

[riverhunter]

Bring 2 rods. One for float fishing and the other for another technique. Shoot I usually bring 2 if not 3 just so I don't waste as much time rigging up