Ikissmykiss

That's pure undocumented hogwash! Do you kind of people really believe that "conservation" does not include "harvest"?

A lot of sport fishers don't really follow your kind of logic, and neither do I. Why would you think that it would not make Forks any more "appealing" to the "world class fishermen", just because the state still allow Forks rivers to have a harvest fishery on there rivers? Do you really THINK that these "fisherpeople from around the world will chose SE Alaska or somewhere in BC over Forks in the drop of a dime for their "once in a lifetime" $5,000/week steelhead vacation. It could be the other way around....."? As long as they can still catch steelhead, why on earth wouldn't they want to come to Forks to fish?

What world are you living in? Why would these world class fishermen not want to go to Forks to fish? They themselves (the fishermen), and no one else, makes the "decision" if THEY want to harvest the fish, or let the fish go. It's not a decision that is up to you or me, or even their guide, it's their own where legal to do so at. The decision is 100% theirs and no ones else's! Sure, a guide may tell his clients ahead of time that he only practices catch and release, but that doesn't mean that the client has to throw HIS fish back in if HE decides to keep it.

I guess that you also believe that it's OK to kill wild fish by hooking mortally, rather then bonking it in the head. Its an undisputed fact that wild fish will die from being hooked in an C&R fishery, so what makes killing the fish OK for you, but not OK for the other fishermen that chooses to bonk his catch at his feet? The only real difference to the fish is; he dies at you feet instead of 30 or 40 yards down the river were you can't see it happen! Is that a "feel good" thing to your type of fishermen?

Finally, you said Ikissmykiss, You talk up a good line of BS, but the proof is in the pudding! There are a lot fishers out there that are getting pretty tired of people like you, that have no idea whatsoever what they are talking about telling them what is right or wrong. Feel free at anytime to "COMPARE" what YOU have done to assure that "wild" fish will continue to survive in Washington State more then what I have done.

Your kinds of "mind sets" always seem to think alike! Just because a person believes that it's his decision to bonk or release a wild fish, sure doesn't mean that he doesn't work hard to see that "wild fish" maintain a place in our sport fishery. I would suggest that you do a little bit more homework before you make such blanket statement about what someone has, or has not done, for the "wild fish" of Washington State. If my memory serves me right, Bob has not always been, or practiced C&R in his guiding services (feel free to correct me if I am wrong Bob). By his own choose, Bob has decided in the last couple of years to go 100% C&R. No one is trying to discredit Bob for what he believes is right for himself or his clients. Maybe Bob will tell us when he first started going to a 100% catch and release service…. not that it even matters in this issue.

I am a firm believer that fish were not just put on the earth for men to "play with". If that's your own choice, then that's great! But if a person wants to harvest a fish once in a while, then that also great! What really bothers me the most is when people such as you criticize others who in all likelihood have probably done tens time more to help wild fish to reproduce and survive then you have!

Care to tell us what you personally have done?


Cowlitzfisherman