Rule-Breakers Are Now Facing Tough Penalties

Why is it that nearly all law-abiding fishermen and hunters close their eyes to flagrant violations?

And why do so many poachers think they can get away with just about anything? After all, many judges hit poachers with big fines.

One day in mid-January, Sgt. Ray Kahler, who supervises wildlife agents for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, watched two men fish with eight rods on ice at Hog Canyon Lake southwest of Spokane.

It’s illegal in Washington to fish with more than one rod at a time.

For more than 2 hours, Kahler watched the men while other nearby anglers studiously ignored them. The men took turns drilling holes in the ice. As one would watch the eight rods, the other would drill more holes. Then they’d switch tasks.

By moving around, they found feeding trout. They pulled more fish through their many ice holes than other fishermen.

While Kahler was watching, the men reeled in all eight lines and headed for the public access area. Kahler quickly started for the access area to intercept them. But the men, once they decided to leave the lake, moved fast. Kahler was too late. They drove away.

However, he got a description of one of their two cars. And he knew, after several hours of watching, what they looked like.

Not one angler who saw the men called the Fish and Wildlife Department’s hotline to report the violations.

But Kahler got lucky. When he arrived at the lake a few days later, he said, he spotted the same men on the ice. This time, he reported, they used only six rods, four more than they were permitted to use.

He watched them for a long time as they repeated their routine for locating and catching fish.

Finally, after keeping 16 rainbows, six more than the limit, they left the lake. This time, Kahler was ready to greet them.

He charged Jacob and Donald Erie, of Spokane, with illegally fishing with five rods each and exceeding the limit. The two will have to appear in court and, if found guilty, could face a fine of as much as $570 each.

Not surprisingly, none of the anglers who saw the men allegedly fishing with too many rods this time reported it.

Incidentally, about the time Kahler cited the fishermen, he and other wildlife agents completed a case against three young men who had poached deer and game birds north of Spokane. Those men could be fined a total of $8,000.

It’s often difficult for wildlife agents to get evidence on fish and game law violators. They hear about violations, but all too often those who see the lawbreakers never make reports.

Fortunately, some hunters, fishermen and concerned citizens do use the department’s hotline to report violations.

Once in a while, wildlife agents arrest people for snagging game fish. For example, each spring they ticket one or more people for snagging the big lake whitefish in Soda Lake when the fish are concentrated at the inlet.

But the agents know they catch only a few of those who snag fish. Sales of weighted treble hooks at some sporting goods stores indicate there are a lot of people who snag fish. At one Spokane store, for example, snaggers quickly buy 4/0 to 7/0 lead-weighted treble hooks as fast as the store receives a new shipment.

Weighted treble hooks sometimes are used legally. Fishermen use them to retrieve expensive lures and pull up weeds, but they’re probably used illegally more than legally.

Several years ago, many judges, to the consternation of law-abiding sportsmen and fish and game agencies, slapped the wrists of game law violators, even those convicted of multiple violations. These days, judges are getting tougher.

Last month, Lewiston magistrate Patrick Costello revoked the license privileges of Michael S. Kinzer of Spirit Lake, Idaho, sentenced him to jail and made him pay $1,400 in penalties.

The magistrate ruled that Kinzer was a “flagrant fish and game violator” for hunting while his license privileges were revoked. In 1995, Kinzer’s hunting privileges had been revoked for three years for unlawfully killing black bear.

Costello revoked Kinzer’s hunting privileges for eight years. The sentence included 90 days in jail, 45 of which Kinzer must either serve on weekends or serve by being attached to an electronic monitoring device during the months of September, October and November for two years.

To most law-abiding sportsmen, the more judges like Costello, the better for fish and wildlife.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review