RT, I hate to answer for Zaq but the reason for the angry face is that too many people are thumping wild fish. I don't know if it's because of a sense of urgency due to the up-and-coming closure, but it was especially bad on Sunday. Due to a late start my fishing buddies and I opted to plunk below the dam. The bite was very good by both bank and sled standards. From mid-morning to about 4pm we went 8 for 11. Of the 8 we landed 3 were hatchery and 5 were wild. The 5 wild springers were carefully released by our crew. But, for the members of the hogline out in front of us the hatchery to wild ratio was apparently 100% hatchery Every one of the 20+ springers brought to net got thumped. Also, later in the afternoon a few of the guys in the line (probably after a few brewskis) started sarcastically whistling and howling after each wild fish we released. Needless, to say this mockery didn't sit well with the fellas. Fortunately, cool heads prevailed. We did call the poaching hotline on our way out, though. We also stopped by the ramp to inform the fish checker, but to our surprise with us standing there he turned a blind eye to 2 wild springers mixed in a creel of 8 fish and all he said was "nice catch." Now I can't fault the fishchecker because he's there mainly to record catch numbers and he probably wants to avoid as much conflict as possible. But, you got to think that our enforcers and managers are indeed watching and will factor in poaching as a large part of that incidental take of listed springers. If/when the closure is confirmed later this week, sportfishers, as a group, have nobody to blame but ourselves.

peace out...