Illegal Fishing on the Cedar - What to do?

My apologies for the lost post. Bear with me if you can.

Some of you may have seen my worm dunker rant on the Cedar Report thread last week. To recap, I ran into a guy who readily told me he had landed "20 to 30 trout in the last two hours using worms." I was annoyed he was using spin gear (though that proved to be partially misplaced as another poster pointed out that spin gear is legal on selective gear rivers, so long as the tackle is proper), but the bait bothered me more. I had heard live bait leads to increased mortality, but since he seemed to be releasing his catch, I moved on without saying anything. Now I wish I had.

Fast forward to last night. I returned to the same run and as I made my way through the tail out of the pool the dunker had been working, I spotted a dead fish on the bottom. It turned out to be a small rainbow. It was stiff as a board and discolored, so I assume it had been dead a while. Just as I was about to toss it back, I noticed a 2-inch length of heavy monofilament hanging from his mouth. I moved to the bank to investigate further and this is what I found:







The hook - a large (maybe #6) offset octopus hook - had pierced the two rear-most gill filaments, then embedded in the throat next to the esophageal sphincter. The mono was cut clean, so I assume the angler simply cut the line when he saw it was gill-hooked. The discovery soured the evening for me, so I packed it in.

On my way home, I kept stewing on it. While insignificant (it's not like I stumbled upon a major poaching operation), I think it's indicative of one of the main problems facing the Cedar (and all rivers): ignorance or outright disregard for the regulations.

So what to do about it? One idea that has been floated here before is signage. I am not aware of any signs on the river indicating that it is a selective gear fishery/CR only/no bait (please correct me if I'm wrong). I've heard others say that when confronting bait anglers, they often play dumb. Unfortunately, I bet at least some are telling the truth. While it's no excuse to not know the regulations, I bet some simply see other anglers on the water and assume the water is open to all forms of fishing. A few well-placed signs could help educate the public (or, at least, give all of us something to point at when "educating the public" on our own).

I want to spearhead an effort to get signs posted at popular Cedar River access points. To get started, I'm planning to contact city/county/state reps, WDFW, and any non-profit that might be interested in the cause. I'd like to hear your feedback on who to write to, where the signs should be posted and what they should say, and any other suggestions (e.g. revisions to future regulations) for how to better protect our rivers.

To the cynics:

I understand that no amount of signage or threats of punishment will stop all poachers/gear violators. Those who consciously disregard the regulations aren't going to be convinced. I also realize that mortality cannot be completely avoided and that our rivers face larger threats (pollution, development, etc.) than individual fish kills. However, we may be able to make a small difference by making the regulations more visible. If we care about the rivers we fish, we can't simply throw up our hands and declare even small efforts to protect them futile.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Feel free to PM me with any concerns or ideas you don't want to share publicly.

Steve