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Would you stop fishing? (Steelhead)

8K views 91 replies 59 participants last post by  Citori 
#1 ·
Hypothetical question here with certain intent:

If saving native steelhead meant closing down all river systems for 20 years, would you be willing to make that sacrifice? Look at it in terms of no steelhead fishing what so ever, not even for brats.

I ask this, because we often talk about making sacrifices for the better good, but we're also human, as well as selfish steelhead junkies. I would be interested in getting honest answers. It would be a very tough one for me. I support hatchery programs because of my selfishness, but also know that this selfishness is detrimental to native fish health. So.....
 
#3 ·
Yes with a few if's,
- stop gill netting
- have the government team up with some outside interests to make sure things are going the right direction.
- better enforcement, I so not want to stop so poachers have more fish.

Also do not think that it would take 20 yrs if the got with the program.
 
#18 ·
Yes.. I have the same feeling. Also would want all the money that went to hatchery steelhead put towards improving habitat... removing passage barriers... dams.. etc. as well as eliminating potention pollution sources... and stopping the crazy developement of businesses and housing developements that are WAYYY too close to rivers.
 
#5 ·
In a heart beat. But then I'm only in my mid 30s so I should be around to see the opening and I'd be happy to wait.

Some assumptions:
* salmon, trout, and other fishing wouldn't be directly impacted
* this is part a multi-faceted aproach that includes: working with the tribes on netting, closing down the sale and export of all wild steelhead from WA, habitat focus, fish passage issues, no hatchery steelhead unless part of rebuilding wild fish brood stock program.
 
#10 ·
Did it on the East Coast for stripers with good results, would here also. The beauty with rivers is you could shut half down and fish the other half filled with brats.
My bet is the me/mines would nix it and rather fish them to extinction.

Peter
 
#11 ·
Would said rivers be closed to ALL FISHING during this period? Seems like the only way to reach the desired goal without waaaaay to much wiggle room. And is there data to say that taking such action would be significantly more effective than a 100% C&R ruling for the rivers in question?
 
#12 ·
Yes, for as long as it would take if it contributed to rebuilding healthy, self-sustaining populations. Sure, there are plenty of other things that also need to be done but if this is how I could help save even a few fish, I'd do it in a heartbeat. The fact that other user groups need to make changes too doesn’t mean I have to wait for them to do their part before I do mine.
 
#13 ·
Yes. I have already done just that. I was an avid steelheader longer than many of this boards members have been fishing let alone flyfishing. I could no longer justify contributing to the decline of native fish just because it gives me pleasure to catch them.
I was not going to wait until so and so did such and such. The buck stops here not over there.

TC
 
#24 ·
Yes. I have already done just that. . . . The buck stops here not over there.
I stopped years ago and for exactly the same reason.

Decide for yourself just where the buck stops. If it's with someone or somewhere else, you're part of the problem.

K
 
#14 ·
I'd hate to see it close down for that length of time. I've always wondered about a rotating system where you divide the steelhead rivers up into 3 groups and then rotate them on a 3 year schedule. Open for 3, closed for 3, etc. Problem is that it would drastically increase the pressure on the ones that were open.

I also would not at all hesitate to agree to buy a $200 (or more) enhancement endorsement, assuming the money actually went to enhancement. Heck, I'd pay $1000 if it would improve the fishing.
 
#16 ·
Tim, I made that decision too. It’s pretty hard to maintain the illusion that C&R is ok when you hook an endangered steelhead deep and it bleeds to death in your hands and it's all you can do not to puke or cry in front of your friends. Really puts things in perspective fast and puts you off ever wanting to risk contributing to their extinction again...
 
#19 ·
Tim, I made that decision too. It's pretty hard to maintain the illusion that C&R is ok when you hook an endangered steelhead deep and it bleeds to death in your hands and it's all you can do not to puke or cry in front of your friends. Really puts things in perspective fast and puts you off ever wanting to risk contributing to their extinction again...
I feel you man, this has never happened to me but it would really mess me up.

However, isn't it crazy that you felt that way about your mortally wounded fish and yet there are nets in the river fishing for them...and that you can order them and eat them at a restaurant in Seattle.....Doesn't that make you 100X as messed up?

Like I say it has never happened to me but the things mentioned above mess me up BIG TIME.

I changed my opinion from yesterday, I would happily give up fishing for steelhead under the right circumstances (some of the ones mentioned above)....but those circumstances will NEVER occur.
 
#27 ·
My, aren't we all good, obedient little citizens?:rolleyes:

Actually, I am too; have been all my life. But there are limits. Might it just be that I have a natural right to fish for the greatest of freshwater game fish (in this part of the world, anyway)? (Perhaps that's included under Article 9 of the Bill of Rights - the one that everybody forgets.) If it's true that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," then perhaps that's the point at which I withdraw my consent. Remember the words of the Indian chief, who said, "If you stop us from hunting, then we will hunt mice; for we are hunters."

At the least, we should demand that the authorities design ways of at least quasi-fishing, methods that would do no harm to the fish. How about allowing fishing with hooks that are not only barbless but pointless? I'd settle for an occasional tug on my spayed spey fly.

But if the authorities are as adament and uncompromising as government decisions occasionally are, if I had to carve out my own small niche of freedom in an unfree world, then maybe I'd dress in ghillie camoflauge, and use spare tackle that I could stand to have confiscated.

But I'd still fish barbless.
 
#28 ·
Whoo! What a question! I read this when panhandle first posted. Ive had dinner,desert read some of the responses and thought about what my choice would be. And in all honesty I dont think I could do it. Maybe for ten years but twenty honestly no. Yes I am a selfish steelhead junky, I ADMIT IT! So think of me what you may but please continue reading.Certainly I dont catch a ton of fish every year. I do practice catch and release. Im a relative small pea in a big pot. But even a small pea is part of the big stew. If I were to give it up for even the ten years I would have to be certain that all the ingredients of the ENTIRE steelhead stew be properly prepped simmered and given time to cook. From every pea and carrot to the big chunks of potatoes and meat and of course the gravy. So that in those ten years of simmering all that prepping of ingredients and simmering time would all blend together to make the BEST STEELHEAD STEW POSSIBLE!! And during those ten years I would do all that I could to prep the ingredients and check in on the progress of the stew. It would keep me close to the steelhead and the streams and rivers that mean so much to me. When I really think about why it would be so hard for me its not the actual fighting and landing of the fish. Sure its a great thrill to hook land and release such a great fish I wont deny that. Steelheading is a REALLY big part of my life. It keeps me sane although many think what I do is completely INSANE!@The same people ask "did ya catch anything" and most often the ansewer is NO> followed by "why would you go out and stand in a river all day waving around a pole with a line and a fly on the end of it and not even catch anything! Sounds pretty lame to me!" well Id rather go and tie some flies for the next day of fishing rather than try to explain to them how the lighting on the river was as the sun came up and the mist on river began to rise. Or how it felt to make that hard cast and then mend and manipulate my line and fly just right to get it to fish through that good holding area just right. Or that feeling you get when your fly is really driving in a swing and all your senses are on high alert because you know what can happen at any second. The feeling of fishing a run really well,fish or no fish. finding a nice spot in the sun to lay back and take an afternoon break and thinking "man this sure beats the couch" Steelheading offers me so much more than just catching a fish. It gives me confidence it gives me focus it gives me a drive that I can put to use in other parts of my life. Putting in hours of focused fishing without as much as a little pull yet having to keep that focus and confidence that Im doing it right its gonna happen its gonna happen.... And when that grab finally comes theres a great sense of accomplishment. Now if you told me I could still go out and fish for steelhead only that I could ONLY use flies with no hooks or the hook bends cut off, well you can sign me up for life on that one. Which raises another question for me?? Man panhandle you really got me thinking on this one! I hope you can all see where I stand and why. And if you care to think of me as a selfish steelheader you are entitled to your opinion. This question has me looking at my own opinion of myself also. Kevin
 
#29 ·
Actually, I've stopped too.

The current timing of my work schedule keeps me off the rivers when the brats are in, and I won't chase natives in a catch-and-release season. I believe it is hypocritical for those who do and then want to "ensure that wild steelhead survive." Fishing on those stocks is killing some of them, assuming, of course you actually catch one.

That is one reason I'd like to see expanded hatchery programs in those systems and streams where wild fish stocks are extirpated or past the point of reasonable recovery. By enlightened hatchery management, we might actually have steelhead to fish in more rivers for more of the year.

And by doing that, we'll gain more anglers as advocates. Another benefit would be a stronger infrastructure for fishermen: more little fly shops able to stay open. Without fishing in this state, we'll all be buying from catalogs, whether we want to or not.
 
#30 ·
Lets turn this around a little, we have the two S rivers that you can't fish when the natives are in - the Sky (for almost ten years) and the Stilly about the same, has that helped the runs to return? Wenatchee to name another. Each basin is different and has its own specific issues -understood, but lets look big picture: WE DON'T FISH THESE RUNS.

Please present a river in Washington that has stopped a catch and release fishery and has brought back wild runs...

Do you think the commerical guys are losing sleep over this question? NOPE.

Lets look at Florida for a quick second - They stopped the netting and pushed the commerical fleet off shore and their numbers came back. Stop the nets (non treaty and Indian) for ten years and let the Sportmen's dollar pay for the habitat restoration. I don't understand the "sportmens fault" thing - I think if we give our fishing rights away we will never get them back.

I'm sure thousands of pounds of Wild Steelhead are by-catch in commerical fleets each year - its against the law to have a steelhead game fish on a boat in Washington. So what do the boats do - Man overboard. The state knows it happens (their dirty little secret) and has no way of documenting it. A known UNKNOWN - Let me repeat, the state has no way of documenting how many Steelhead are killed in non-treaty nets each year - Treaty nets, YES.

Try to find out how NOAA is documenting the number of wild ESA listed Steelhead that are killed in the Chinook Columbia commerical fishery. I have looked and can't find a thing -
If I am wrong or off base on this, please inform me. I welcome the education

I would not support it -
DeLe
 
#31 ·
I'm glad someone started this thread. I thought about doing so recently, but thought I was the only one starting to feel this way. The responses so far surprise me.
Yes, I think I am in the process of quitting steelhead. The past couple of times I have gone and fished the Sky, I have left depressed. It has a lot to do with what I have learned on this board: that these rivers' wild fish are in dire straights. And I can't help but think that I am contributing to the demise. Are there really so few wild fish left? If so, WTF am I doing by harassing them?
Ignorance was bliss. . .

So yes, I'd quit if I knew something was going to be done. But not just yet. I have still to catch that perfect chrome buck. . .
 
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