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The Woods REALLY DO Have Eyes!!!!

8K views 90 replies 49 participants last post by  Daryle Holmstrom 
#1 ·
So my buddy who I fish with during the regular season is a poacher. I have argued with him for years and years about this but he claimed he would do it until he got caught. He has some stretches that are away from the road where he can park in the bushes et cetera and hike his way in. He practices C&R so he acts like it is no big deal. Anyway, I told him that he was going to get caught one of these days and regret it BIG TIME and guess what, it happened a few days ago.

This is basically what he told me, it was his 29th birthday last weekend and he decided to go steelhead fishing on a closed North Sound River at a usual place. He fished and didn’t catch anything and drank some beers and headed home, he than went out with some buddies to get shit-faced and doesn’t remember what happened after that but he got home somehow. So, the next morning at about 9AM he hears a loud knock at the door and being hung over, tries to go back to sleep, the knocking does not stop but persists and gets louder. After a while he gets up and looks through his curtains, he says a very official looked slicked back hair man wearing a bulletproof vest, sunglasses, black pants, and a gun is standing at his door. The man is driving a normal looking truck but it has federal plates. He decides it is time to open the door. The man at the door explains that he is a federal agent who has been brought into the area recently to target poachers and that he is covering several rivers. He has portable cameras he can place in the woods at strategic points and that he records activity at the rivers and at the pullouts for plate numbers. He says he has my friend on video and that he used the plate numbers to track him to his address. He also says don’t bother looking for the cameras because they are tiny. Anyway, my buddy got a HUGE fine, and if caught again will lose fishing privileges for life. The agent says that he is being nice to first time offenders as many don’t realize this program is new and getting bigger and that he wants word to get out.

Anyway, this brought a smile to my face, I am SOOOOO glad to hear something like this is getting going. Seriously, it is about f’ing time. My buddy told me to post on this website to let everyone know and he grudgingly admits that this is great news even though he paying a BIG ticket.

TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS TO TELL THEIR FRIENDS. The woods really do have eyes! :eek:
 
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#35 ·
How long would a camera run on a battery? An hour? More for small cameras. Small cameras don't have the detail to pick up license numbers. Don't tell me they are the best cameras you can get. Uncle Sam doesn't work that way. Plus you would have to line up your shots and it would only work if they park where the camera is pointed or fish where it's pointed. And the number one reason this is bullshit, the tweakers would take the cameras and sell them. Hell, if I saw one out there I'd take it and post it online as a lost and found item in the classifieds.

More than likely agents are more than aware of your friends poaching problem. Without evidence, they decided to stop by and rattle his cage.
 
#38 ·
I did write the post on this thread hastily and at work with my boss not far away so excuse the quick and vague nature but it is seriously SERIOUSLY true.

The details I am not so sure about. I heard it several days after the fact and my buddy trumps things up but it was a fed, he had a vest, he had some official looking vehicle, I admit the plate thing sounds kind of implausable. My buddy wouldn't lie and he had the tickets and showed me.

It is seriously seriously not a troll anything like that.

Okay some responses, I had band practice last night so that is why I haven't repled.

First, the agent mostly busts Indian poachers who use nets, that is his main job, not targeting sporty C&R poachers. I know both both kinds of poachers piss us off but you have to admit there is a difference. My buddy never kills a thing and fishes just like we do. The agent wears the vests because he has to arrest some shady folks on the reservation and maybe even some shady folks off and give them BIG BIG BIG fines. You know all the illegal nets being found on Nooksack some threads have talked about? That is his main priority.

Again, my buddy told me all of this, he said he talked to the agent for a long time getting information and the agent was completely okay with that because he WANTS word to get out. Obviously, the fear of being caught goes a lot further than his actual interventions ever would.

Second, why do you guys think it would be so hard to catch a poacher at his secret spot? The agent admitted he is a big time fishermen and dislikes poachers immensely. He also fishes around here. It really wouldn't be that hard to find the stretches away from the road that poachers sneak around in because they are the ones away from the road. Just walk the river or float it a few times posing as a poacher for one. I know you have to be highly intelligent to be a federal agent so quit insulting the man's intelligence.

Third, why do you guys find it crazy that I have a friend who poaches? He is a good guy and is hilarious. He is also a crazy good fly fisherman. He has many flaws like anybody else including taking risks for the rush of it. I agree it is annoying. I have argued with him about it many times in the past. MANY MANY TIMES. I have never even considered going with him or anything like that. If you guys would give up a long time friend because he fishes closed water 5 days out of the year I think you are being extreme.

Fourth, why is it so hard to believe that my buddy would be relieved about an agent partolling the area? Even though he got caught, he knows that there will be justice for all those illegal nets with dead rotting natives in their mesh that many of us find on the Nooksack with staggering regularity.

Also, as you may have now realized it happened on the Nooksack, and some of the oldeboy locals Indian or not treat it like SHIT. I have heard some of the most bizarre things said of the river like it deserves to be treated like a trash dump and its fish pilleged. The river could definately use some help from someone who isn't afraid to step on some toes, is willing to work in a bulletproof vest, and can shoot straight.

Lastly, as far as the cameras and their specs/details; maybe the agent just stakes out under camo and made cameras up to give people more fear. Afterall, 10 tiny digital eyes is a lot scarier to a would be poacher than 2 human eyes on an entire river system.

Also, whatever my buddy told me, was what the agent told him. Take it for what it is worth, the point of this thread is to let you know he is out there, and he is busting people, and is ready to do some dirty work for the good of the fish we all cherish.

And again, not a troll, not bullshit. I am being dead serious.
 
#45 ·
I did write the post on this thread hastily and at work with my boss not far away so excuse the quick and vague nature but it is seriously SERIOUSLY true.

The details I am not so sure about. I heard it several days after the fact and my buddy trumps things up but it was a fed, he had a vest, he had some official looking vehicle, I admit the plate thing sounds kind of implausable. My buddy wouldn't lie and he had the tickets and showed me.

It is seriously seriously not a troll anything like that.

Okay some responses, I had band practice last night so that is why I haven't repled.
:rofl::rolleyes::rofl: Now I know he is messing with us.

I had band practice. CLASSIC
 
#42 ·
"Even if it is a lie it's a lie worth telling if it gets people to" invade Iraq and depose a dictator who won't give us favorable oil contracts.

Bangel, it's a slippery slope.

Lying aside, if Jason's story is true, I applaud the agency that is working FOR us honest fishermen trying to conserve the resource we love so much.

As for the micro-camera technology, that's no problem. Wildlife biologists (and law-enforcement) have been using micro-video for years now. Resolution is good and batteries are up to the task, especially if equipped with motion sensors to conserve battery life when not needed.

D
 
#40 ·
Well I've never seen the fed while out and about. I run into everyone at over a hundred days a year. And I know all the poaching holes. I would love to show him (the federal agent) what I know. Why don't you see if you can get the name of the agent. I'll contact him and show him where they are killing them right now. So PM me with info to contact him.

I don't hate anyone.
 
#41 ·
This is the strangest thread yet.
O.K. Jason B I believe you.
It's about time somebody (Fed/State) was out there enforcing the game and fish laws.
I say go get'em and throw the book at'em.
I know someone who fishes like your friend? (C&R poacher my ass) He bonks'em and eats'em.
I won't call this guy a friend and I would not go fishing with him even in open waters. Just my .02
 
#43 ·
I revoke my previous statement. I use motion sensored trail cameras all the time for scouting whitetails, elk, and turkeys before archery seasons. They are kind of spooky as you don't notice them. They also work great. I really do believe this story now, I mean it is logical that there's a fulltime agent working on one of the most heavily poached streams in the region. Thanks for letting us all know what's being done Jason.
 
#48 ·
It is true you guys! Why the hell would I make this up and post it on a fly fishing site of all places?
 
#47 ·
I mean band practice as in a ROCK AND ROLL BAND.........You know what I mean?.... The kind of band all of you WISH you were in if you aren't already. :p
 
#64 ·
FYI -

I don't know a damn thing about Jason B's story. I just thought I'd add some information about federal agents. Most fish and wildlife enforcement in this state is performed by state WDFW agents. However, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has about a half dozen federal special agents in WA state, and NMFS has several (I don't know how many) federal fisheries agents in WA state as well.

It's not likely that any federal agent is working the Nooksack full time. If one is working up there, it's more likely to be part of an emphasis patrol in response to repeated tips about illegal fishing. As to why a federal agent would be involved, it's the same as when NMFS agents arrested the chinook poacher on the Skagit a few years ago. It was a guy who repeatedly flaunted the regulations intended to protect ESA listed chinook. The guy had five wild chinook, so they made an example of him, seized his fishing gear, truck, boat, trailer, the works, and fined him nearly $5,000. While it doesn't happen often, the upshot is that it can and does happen.

I think the federal agents mostly work ESA cases along with marine mammal act violations. And they do wear bullet proof vests. The reason? Game warden and fish and wildlife enforcement is the most dangerous branch of law enforcement is what I read. They always encounter people with loaded firearms.

Sg
 
#67 ·
FYI -

I don't know a damn thing about Jason B's story. I just thought I'd add some information about federal agents. Most fish and wildlife enforcement in this state is performed by state WDFW agents. However, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has about a half dozen federal special agents in WA state, and NMFS has several (I don't know how many) federal fisheries agents in WA state as well.

It's not likely that any federal agent is working the Nooksack full time. If one is working up there, it's more likely to be part of an emphasis patrol in response to repeated tips about illegal fishing. As to why a federal agent would be involved, it's the same as when NMFS agents arrested the chinook poacher on the Skagit a few years ago. It was a guy who repeatedly flaunted the regulations intended to protect ESA listed chinook. The guy had five wild chinook, so they made an example of him, seized his fishing gear, truck, boat, trailer, the works, and fined him nearly $5,000. While it doesn't happen often, the upshot is that it can and does happen.

I think the federal agents mostly work ESA cases along with marine mammal act violations. And they do wear bullet proof vests. The reason? Game warden and fish and wildlife enforcement is the most dangerous branch of law enforcement is what I read. They always encounter people with loaded firearms.

Sg
I knew CH and he did flaunt it to the extreme, he lives in Idaho now, the other poacher DZ never did get caught and is now deceased. They both had the Kings dialed in when they were legal before the nets.

Daryle
 
#69 ·
Chadk,

Yes, federal agents can bust treaty Indians who violate the ESA and other federal laws. Examples have included Lummi Indians who killed bald eagles and claimed treaty and traditional practices, but the law is clear that they are supposed to get their eagle parts from the supply maintained by the US Fish & Wildlife Service from dead birds found and turned in, etc. Killing ESA salmon outside the restrictions imposed and allowances permitted by the section 10 fishery agreements are also enforceable actions. Remember that there is a certain amount of allowable take of most listed salmon under the ESA.

Tribal land and reservations are federal land held in trust by the US government for Indians and tribes.

Sg
 
#71 ·
I am awed by the way some of you belittle and berate folks who post here. Does not seem to matter what they post, there are a few that just cannot wait to flame and discredit. I started Fly Fishing because to the level of character that fly fishermen seemed to have. I wonder, do you treat the fish you catch the same harsh way you treat some of the folks who post here? FFS lighten up for a change. Maybe his story is true, maybe not. Either way it is not beyond possibility of fact.
 
#74 ·
I dont know if this story is true but what I do know is that Yes there are cameras being used at spots to catch people doing things they shouldnt be If anyone is from the O.P. and ever gone up to Johnson creek area I know for a fact they are using a Very small video camera to catch people driving up the road and dumping garbage!! and its working!! so I wouldnt think it was to farfetched for fish and game to have a few cameras around. this particular story does sound bogus though!
 
#75 ·
I'm not sure how bad a poaching problem you all have out there but the fact that the poster had known this guy was actively poaching and did nothing about it, makes the poster IMO just as bad as the poacher himself!

I would have no problem turning in a friend if he poached...I don't need friends like that. Matter of fact, this past year I had a friend who I took deer hunting on a ranch I have permission on. He shot the deer, hung it in the garage and left it rot because he was to lazy to butcher it up. Needless to say, we are no longer friends.

I think you need to re-evaluate the friends you keep and what you really value in life.
 
#77 ·
I'm not sure how bad a poaching problem you all have out there but the fact that the poster had known this guy was actively poaching and did nothing about it, makes the poster IMO just as bad as the poacher himself!
Than you are an idiot. Hate to say it. It is thinking like that that got us the Bill of Rights in the first place. I never crossed the line in this isntance nor did a damn thing illegal.

I would have no problem turning in a friend if he poached...I don't need friends like that. Matter of fact, this past year I had a friend who I took deer hunting on a ranch I have permission on. He shot the deer, hung it in the garage and left it rot because he was to lazy to butcher it up. Needless to say, we are no longer friends.
Thats great but your friend also sounds like an idiot.

I think you need to re-evaluate the friends you keep and what you really value in life.
You are an idiot.

I didn't post this thread to have people tell me I am guilty by association abd that I should end a friendship with a long time buddy. :beathead:
 
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