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Thoughts on killing the record steelhead, fallout and ruminations:

14K views 123 replies 62 participants last post by  Salmo_g 
#1 ·
The Sadness of Man, or Why We Will End Ourselves

The man who didn't understand anything killed it. He killed it until it was a symbol of the species with sadness and endings or nothing. We are smart in ways to win, and it will end us. And it was a symbol of the wrong reason to do something. Harvesting a wild steelhead, even legally, is a morally disgusting thing. Taking the fish for glory and shallow pride is rotten. And lying as a cop-out is a bloody, festering thing.

You're fish, Peter Harrison, was a steelhead. It was a wild and clean archetype of the steelhead, brawling with disarming beauty. It carried more environmental significance than you do, considering all species equal, your fish was several thousand times more significant than you. Your choice to harvest the fish makes you a hated man whose generation ought to have past with the extinction of California's beautiful rivers. Jim Kerr should have drowned you on your free cross-river boat-ride. He an accepting man and if others had seen you, it would have been a different type of free trip.

And this is why we are pulling our needs out from under us. Humans are good at taking something until they can't take anymore and must then take something else. It's the greed gene. Maybe its nature's way of letting a species destroy itself in a systematic way. Peter, you have saddened fisherman. Your decision to harvest a world record wild steelhead, for only the purpose of misguided immortalization was wrong. We, the fisherman, pray together on rivers and oceans and in the cold and rain of the west that you are left empty. May every cent you garner from your catch bring you self-destruction, malady and guilt. The guilt that flows fast and freely through your veins. The inescapable type of guilt that obscures the taste of your food and makes you change positions on the couch until you resign yourself to being uncomfortable. May you remember how the fish looked after it was dead, the beautiful eye. The eye of golds, and greens with and blackness deep like every ending put together to make true black.

We are left with only the realization that nothing can bring the fish back, but ask you to please leave now. The program is nearly ruined, and you are worsening it.


The Joker king holds his greed.
 
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#2 ·
Deep, poetic, powerful, resonating; I liked it! I was trying not to get sucked into any of these "bonking wild steelhead" threads, but this one spoke to me. Sums up my thoughts exactly.

If I ever have the fortune to catch a steelhead that big, wild or not, "this must be a world record" would not be the first thing to go through my mind. I'm not above taking a quick photo for my personal glory, but taking the life of such an awesome creature for personal gain is beyond my scope of thought.

I will remember that guys face and if I ever find myself fishing a run next to him, I'll give him a resounding "F you!" for everybody.
-Ethan
 
#4 ·
In some ways I am sick and tired of seeing this topic-the reason being that it's painful-though I'm glad it has kept on rollin as it show's intrest in the WILD issue.:beathead:
The guy didn't catch the state record-He pulled the Wa state biggest fishing Blunder record.
It's not even like it was a world record(and then a world class blunder) it was worse-He killed a fish on what is probably the the most sensitive run in the OP.
That fish was a case of the army sacrificing it's self to save the commode tender:mad:
SHAME ON YOU YOU SELFISH JACK**S
 
#5 ·
Very eloquent and passionate, but IMHO the fishing community including fly fisherman equate being the best with catching the biggest. For a lot of people fishing isnt about the journey is about the destination. If we can help people realize that there is no first place in this sport, than having a trophy to show off would become less important. Easier said than done,but living here in the UK for the past year and a half has shown me that it is possible. The irony here is that it is the fly fisherman who keep and kill salmon and trout and throw a hissy fit when regulations cramp their style. The "coarse" fisherman( like our warm water fishing)really self police a no kill policy on almost all waters.So while we have a long way to go,we can change the way people think about the purpose of fishing.And it sure does turn my stomach to see an amazing fish like that taken out of the gene pool.:beathead:
 
G
#6 ·
deep read for 848 in the morning. valid points. i'm joining the wild steelhead coalition. i'm not trying to see central booking over a fish. but man o man im sure he regrets this keeping this fish now. IGFA can suck on it as well 2 lb tippet class for stripped bass...? really? Dr. Martin Arostegu you know what i'm talking about.
 
#7 ·
Awhile back, the Wild Steelhead Coalition led the fight for statewide mandatory wild steelhead release. We won the fight. The mayor of Forks got the Director to reverse the decision for a one fish kill. And now here we are.

It's been like the Bob Dylan song, "Who killed Davy Moore?"

Leland.
 
#104 ·
Awhile back, the Wild Steelhead Coalition led the fight for statewide mandatory wild steelhead release. We won the fight. The mayor of Forks got the Director to reverse the decision for a one fish kill. And now here we are.

Leland.
We need to bring to fight again!

Forks has Twilight now. It is actually funny seeing how much Twilight shit is out there! They no longer can support the claim that Bonking Wild Steelhead is the Economic life blood of Forks. I was in Ace/Thriftway the other day and half the freaking store had a Simms jacket or Sage/Winston hat on. Rafts and rigs parked in the parking lot with fly rods all over the place.

As a final note. This fish Died and that really Sucks. How many other Steelhead are going to get bonked because of this fish being so publicized! I have never seen the Hoh so busy! Letting the public know what is actually going on can hopefully shed light on the issue at hand.

Look at this thread and take a look at what can happen! Some Success from the internet! http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/showthread.php?t=53490&highlight=wild+steelhead+on+menu
 
#8 ·
Leland, interesting history about the fight and the change of decision based on the Mayor of Forks position. I bet it was related to bringing more visitors, anglers seeking those wonderful steelhead in rivers local to Forks, into his jurisdiction. I'm sure more economic influx into Forks would be good for them, not sure that it would be good for the fish of those rivers. Any chance you or anyone else has links to background info on this aforementioned process? I'd like to read a bit more about it and get on board to convince the Mayor that there can be alternative ways to bring more of us out there...isn't that Vampire series bringing some good attention to them anyway?
 
G
#9 ·
....It carried more environmental significance than you do, considering all species equal, your fish was several thousand times more significant than you.
The killing of this fish is truly a sad thing, maybe even more sad than fishing for it in the first place.

Maybe more sad than, in the heat of deeply held and passionate conviction, judging a human being less significant than a fish.

When a steelhead can run into a burning building, jump on a grenade to save his battle buddy, or donate a kidney or bone marrow to save the life of a stranger I will be the first one to get my shotgun out and go down to my local stream to protect them.

I hope in my lifetime I never do anything as morally reprehensible as killing a magnificent, world record steelhead. Let alone drive drunk, steal from my business partner, lie to my kids, cheat on my wife, or, worst of all, judge another mans motive.:thumb:
 
#10 ·
I don't understand why everyone is so upset at the joker who legally caught and killed the fish. That crappy 10th grade poem should be pointed at the state managers and lawmakers, and all of us for not making the state change it's laws sooner.
 
#112 ·
iagree Killing the biggest and the best wastes the naturally occurring genetic lines that are most desired. It's sick how Nature creates and Man wastes. If the State was willing to afford the Mayor of Forks the concession, it should have been with caveat--like a slot limit. It's odd to think that if we ate like wolves, we would still leave behind the strongest of the herd. For that reason, that fly fisherman's act crossed the line. That monster steelhead should have lived to improve the genetic stock in that river. Nonetheless, given the status of wild steelhead, all our rivers need to stay C&R. Like, what was that guy thinking? If we wait for the laws we want to get passed but fail to change our own behavior in the interim, isn't that counter-productive to our professed goals?

--Dave E.
 
#15 ·
i think everyone should just STFU about this fish and go cast a line. When it comes down to it whats done is done. most of us dont agree with the ethics behind the action but it DID happen and HAS happened and will CONTINUE to happen. We live in a nation which the founding principles are individualism and greed. This man, as old as he is, probably has that mentality engrained into him for life. There is nothing we can do about this situation except teach and promote the right way for the today and tommorow. With that said, the laws regarding wild steelhead are f'n stupid and there should be a maximum size for keepable steelhead to help the good genes stay in the gravel beds.
 
G
#17 ·
In all reality, the only way to assure the recovery of these stocks to place a temporary moratorium on fishing for them. It sucks but C&R, for stocks this jeopardized, is Russian Roulette.

This situation could have been avoided if the IFGA would take the position that no new world record will be recognized for ESA listed species.

For me, I am just not sure I want to fish for the damn things anymore.:(
 
G
#21 ·
OK, so after I post I start looking all over the web for this story and what I see is INSANE!

People are threatening this guy's physical well being, I mean come on people this is out of control. None of us where there and know the truth about the condition of the fish. The poor guy won't be able to go out in public for years.

Irrespective of what he has posted about the circumstances, which seem credible to me, based on a simple Google search I discovered the guy is a serious, committed conservationist. He belongs to a number of conservation organizations and even petitioned the state to plant carp in a local pond.

Breathe people, breathe.
 
#29 ·
Irrespective of what he has posted about the circumstances, which seem credible to me, based on a simple Google search I discovered the guy is a serious, committed conservationist. He belongs to a number of conservation organizations and even petitioned the state to plant carp in a local pond.

Breathe people, breathe.
For this reason he should have known better! With this logic if someone is a philanthropist they have the right to kill someone, just once, because of all the good they have done prior to committing murder.
 
#22 ·
I don't care if the act was legal. It was the wrong thing to do. It reminds me of a favorite passage in The Earth is Enough by Middleton:

"Everything went black and then a sun like no other sun i had seen, a sun of boiling reds and rusty oranges, rose over a land I did not recognize. Suddenly there was a naked creature with long black hair and somber eyes standing at the edge of a great green forest that stretched without a break to the horizon. The creature has an eagle feather in its hair.

"Preacher, I knew instantly that that creature was man. It was us. Nature had spit us out as if we were something sour, unnatural, tainted, grotesque. And the creature took the eagle feather from its hair and flung it to the ground, stomped on it, took an oath of revenge on the earth, the earth that would not let him back in. The man had a troubled heart and sought to soothe it by conquering the earth, subduing it. He would be the highest creature of them all. He would be king, the earth's master. But you know, your Eminence, even his own kind would turn on him, bring him bad news. Soon, that dolt Copernicus would tell him that this world wasn't the center of the universe, that everything did not revolve about him in a contrite submission. And that dumpy, scruffy-looking limey Darwin would spring the surprise of evolution on him, kick him out of the lap of the gods and into the trees with the apes. And that nut case Freud hurt man most of all, shattering his moral heart and mind, letting him know that he was instead a creature of considerable perversion. A troubled creature indeed."
-Elias Wonder, 1969
 
#23 ·
The general irrational response is warranted. Lack of a response would just insure that people continue to do this and think it's OK (see Buck's post above. In what world does legality=morality? Ignorance is not an excuse.) In essence, this guys being martyred for a good cause. We clearly can't win politically, so the state has forced us to create a social awareness that killing wild fish is not OK by other means. Violence? That's what people resort to when they truly believe in something. Not much is going to change that, and rightly so. Violence is the one thing that keeps the true issue, overpopulation, from further destroying everything. We're just animals trying to pretend otherwise.

The good news is that a lot of people will think twice before doing this again. Which is, after all, the point.
 
G
#36 ·
Zen, I truly respect your ability as a fisherman as I have, over my time here, searched a number of your posts. And 'Borg, as I live in Vancouver, I may actually run into you on a river someday.

However if overpopulation is the problem and man (as species vs. individual) is destroying the planet, then I respectfully submit my nomination for the two of you to be immortalized as the first to voluntarily give their lives in the name of steelhead recovery. You will have my undying gratitude.

It is specious to argue that because an individual fisherman killed an individual fish, glorious as he may have been, justifies your utterly self centered rage that said fish will no longer be able to propagate progeny for your "ethical" brand of recreation. Give me a F----n' break.

I genuinely hope when you are this mans age and have the life experience he has that you are never presented with a situation where you have to make a similarly difficult decision.

Get off your high horse or put your gear away.
 
#25 ·
It's sure great that none of the rest of us live in glass houses. It sounds like no one else has ever done anything they regreted. Enough is enough. I'm sure everyone has gotten the message. Release ALL wild fish and if you don't sure as hell don't tell anyone about it.


Saint Michael
 
#28 ·
It's sure great that none of the rest of us live in glass houses. It sounds like no one else has ever done anything they regreted. Enough is enough. I'm sure everyone has gotten the message. Release ALL wild fish and if you don't sure as hell don't tell anyone about it.

Saint Michael
The "glass house" argument is the battle cry of moral relativists. Doesn't really apply in a debate of right and wrong.
 
#26 ·
This guy bonked a legal fish for gods sake. I can understand that people are emotional over the issue at hand, but this is getting blown a little out of proportion.

Let's all remember why we are here... We take great joy in throwing artificial hooks towards fish and giggle with glee when the sharp hook goes through the fish's face and is now under OUR control. Once the fish is exhausted and unable to fight anymore, we lift it from the water or not based on our clear state regulations, take a picture and place it back in the water to swim off like nothing ever happened. We then gloat in the fact we only tortured it and didn't kill it and place ourselves on a moral high ground above those evil men who legally kill these beloved creatures.

Give me a break, we need to be emotional about our resources, but lets direct it in the right direction and go after the retention issue instead of going on a moral crusade against a conservationist who bonked 1 fish.
 
#30 ·
Tribal netting is a part of the problem that we have very little influence over. What we can influence is C&R practice and attitudes of fellow anglers on the river. Are you oversimplifying the issue on purpose? Or are you just venting some personal beef with Zen? I know you're not dense, just trying to figure out why you're trying so hard to be.
 
#32 ·
All the ills of the world are no excuse for doing what you can do personally when you can do it. The discussion this event has engendered brings value. More people understand about not killing wild fish and that it is wrong - no matter who does it, when they do it, and for what reason.

The killing of this fish is done, and cannot be undone. But perhaps the next one won't be killed. Good for us.

The two things that separate us from lower life forms are opposable thumbs, and our ability to learn. Let us learn... and use our opposable thumb to release wild fish.

My $.02
 
#33 ·
You're fish, Peter Harrison, was a steelhead. It was a wild and clean archetype of the steelhead, brawling with disarming beauty. It carried more environmental significance than you do, considering all species equal, your fish was several thousand times more significant than you.
Naw, I actually liked that part. Just because someone is capable of running into a burning building by being bipedal, and capable of whatever else due to opposable thumbs, doesn't alone make them of more significance, and does not mean they would actually do it. I wouldn't figure on that dude running in to save me from a burning building - unless he was sure that the Mayor was gonna offer him the key to the city or something.

I actually observed a rainbow trout at rocky ford use it's snout to keep it's mate upright after someone released it and it was too tired maintain... the other fish was literally nudging it to keep it upright - and it worked. Another fish revived that fish. Another time I hollered at some migrant fellas that had several bait caught rainbows in a bucket and convinced them if they didn't return the fish to the water and leave that I would press dial to 911 (I had no cell service) - one of the fish was extremely difficult to revive and after about 30 minutes or so I finally had it swimming freely but it would not leave my side, apparently equating me with safety and survival rather than predation. I had to thrash a bit and scare it to convince it to move to deeper water where it wasn't so damned warm.

I think these small examples, and the behavior of game birds that mate for life, and many other examples show clearly that the size of the brain, or overall complexity of the organism, is not key to the commission of acts that we as humans would deem compassionate, and are more likely deeply ingrained instinctual reactions that just work in terms of survival. I agree with the above quote since natural selection unchecked would surely over time weed out idiots like this who are incapable of managing resources - ah, but the caveat, unchecked... as our current state of technology has made it so even the dumbest and most incapable human animals that are born in this day and age manage to live and reproduce.

Well written Zen.

A tad more than my 2-cents.

(as I was writing I had not seen your opposable thumb comment, Citori, that was not a jab at you in any way, just making sure that's clear... :) )
 
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