Okay, here's my thoughts.

First of all we an identity to establish our presence on the river. I'm thinking hats, patche, decals, t-shirts and sweatshirts with some kind of logo would work. I jave no idea of how to create these products and distribute them...I'll leave that to the more experienced. Sorry Storm'N but I'm not a fan of blaze orange or any other bright colors when fishing...not putting your idea down just that bright colors tends to scare fish. Your suggestion for the "Snagger Free Zone" is great...hmm must of read my mind. Others that come to mind are "Snaggers Are Poachers" and "Snagging Is Against The Law" or Real Fisherman Don't Snag."

Second we need to establish our presence as individuals and groups by our actions.

Individual actions around snaggers are simple. Just catch fish legally, be vocal about catching them legal and the methods/gear you use. Release legal caught fish in front of them and brag about it and how many legal fish you've released beforehand. This really tends to piss them off...and guess what your havin fun.If anyone express' interest in how you're managing to catch fish legal help them out. Give them a legal setup or two and show them how. This type of action will be difficult when your overwhelmed by a crowd so look for waters where you only have to deal with a few. In my case I've only had to make a few brief firm but calm comments to defend my ground and usually spend a lot of time doing the education thing between fish.

Group actions can take two forms. The first simply being a bunch of us getting together for a day of fishing. Show up early and take one or more streches of good water. In the lower Quil where I fish a group of 6 to ten could take over 3 to 5 really good spots and be able to defend them. All snaggers would be forced to spots on the fringes where they would spend most of their time watching us have fun. Several teams on the river would be very dramatic in impact. Word would spread up and down the river in a hurry. If we're all displaying our logo so much the better. This type of action doesn't take a whole lot of planning and should be repeated on the same stretches of water repeatedly. The second type of group action is more confrontational. Personally it's not my style but sadly will be needed. A large group of a dozen or more would be needed with a spokesman or two. The effort should be well planned and thought out ahead of time and announced to the media as an educational event not a confrontation. This type of action would best be used on opening days, preferably weekends, to have the greatest effect on these snagfests as they occur.

we need to work on changing the law sio that there are mandatory minimum fines, lifetime loss of fishing priveleges upon receiving a second snagging ticket, redirection of a portion of these fines to a special fund to hire retired law enforcement officers on a temporary basis, the allowance of bait on rivers like the Quil where it would enhance or legal catchin ability while not impacting nontarget stocks, and finally we need to prohibit certain gear types and methods of rigging that are used for snagging.

We need to work on development of an organized volunteer group similar to the "Eyes in the Woods" group. They are really well organized and effective. Development and placement of signs advertising our presence, purpose and the rules at access sites is another effective tool. We need to develop outreach events for youths to teach them the right way to actch fish.

Finally we need to avoid the old arguments between the different gear type users about who is more pure and ethical. We need a joining between all of us as we all have a stake in this and we need numbers not bickering.

There you all have it. Comment and add to it as you desire.

Always FishOn!
Gooose