No need to cry when steelhead sneaks get caught
Some fishermen always seem to be looking for an angle – a way to get one up on the next guy, or better yet, a stab at getting one up on the law.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department gave these connivers an inch in the 2008 Fishing Regulations pamphlets, and a few of them are trying to take a mile.
“We already know of one fisherman who bonked a very nice wild steelhead and said he thought it was legal, but we’re pretty sure he knew it wasn’t,” said Joe DuPont, Idaho Fish and Game Department fisheries biologist in Lewiston.
“It’s been illegal to keep a wild steelhead on the Snake River for many years. Nothing has changed.”
The problem this year stems from a new and poorly presented phrase on the Washington steelhead record card that indicates anglers can mark one wild steelhead. The phrase is also published in the fishing regulations pamphlet.
Here’s the teaser paragraph, as it appears in the pamphlet on page 19:
The 30-fish annual limit for hatchery steelhead has been dropped. The one-fish annual limit for wild steelhead remains. This means that anglers may purchase additional catch record cards for hatchery steelhead. However, if they intend to harvest a wild fish, ANGLERS WISHING TO HARVEST THEIR ONE WILD FISH MUST RETAIN THE WILD FISH ON THEIR FIRST CATCH RECORD CARD, as subsequent cards are only valid for hatchery steelhead.
“We should have emphasized on the punchcard that the one-wild steelhead option applies only to a few designated Western Washington rivers,” said Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman in Spokane.
Alan Myers, department enforcement agent based in Clarkston, said he’s been running into anglers trying to take advantage of this problem in the pamphlet.
A few citations have been written.
“When you go to page 37 under statewide rules, it’s clearly spelled out which rivers are designated for the one steelhead exemption,” Luers said.
“Anglers should always check the rules for the specific waters they are fishing, and if you look specifically at the steelhead rules for the Snake River, there’s no mention of keeping a wild steelhead.”
Kudos to the anglers who noticed the discrepancy this fall and made the effort to ask department staff about the wild steelhead rule.
But no tears need to be shed for the few that have been cited with the $162 ticket for killing a wild steelhead on the Snake.
Legitimate steelheaders don’t want to be your suckers.
Idaho and Washington have the same rules for steelhead fishing on the Snake with one major exception.
Idaho anglers cannot fillet their fish until they get home.
Washington license holders are allowed to fillet their fish on shore.
Idaho officials would like to see Washington require anglers to leave evidence of a clipped fin that designates a fish of hatchery origin.
The wasting of precious wild fish is even more galling this season because the fishing has been so good.
“We have about double the number of steelhead over Lower Granite than the 10-year average,” DuPont said. “A lot of people have been out and they’ve been catching a lot of fish near the mouth of the Clearwater. The cold water coming out of Dworshak probably attracted a lot of fish.”
Last week, however, the Corps of Engineers began ramping down the cold flows Dworshak feeds into the Clearwater.
Hunting notes:
•Pen-raised pheasants will be turned loose at designated release sites before the Saturday opener of Washington’s youth upland bird hunting weekend. Fewer birds will be released this year because of problems procuring birds. Chief Timothy Park in Asotin County is an often overlooked release site.
•The deer disease known as EHD is showing again in southeastern Washington, with more than 30 whitetails reported dead last week mostly in Walla Walla and Columbia counties. The recent warm weather almost surely will push the toll considerably higher.
The disease, which is not contagious to other animals or transferable to humans, occurs in the driest part of the year when conditions are just right for biting gnats, the carriers of the disease.