There is a lot of good information on this topic, and in some cases my eyes have been opened in certain aspects of C&R.

I would say that I am not in support of statewide regulations for native catch and release, but I am a fisherman and know the rivers in my area have been badly depleted of steelhead and salmon (wild and hatchery). Generally, I release native steelhead; but it's not mandated in the river I most often fish.

I do believe if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem; but this is a HUGE problem for sport fishermen.

I do question, since I-696 was on the ballot, that this may be a step to gain a win for that issue at a later date; as Washington often follows California in conservation regulations. Now, there is still a larger issue that not everyone sees. Even Greenpeace and the Sierra Club are not in full support of banning of offshore commercial fishing off the coast of Washington because that would cause there assualt on the timber industry (logging is destroying the salmon/steelhead habitat) to suffer a humiliating defeat. If commercial fishing is banned offshore in Washington, the runs will become far stronger and the "evil" loggers will be exonerated from the blame of destroying the habitat.

There are a lot of bigheads at work on this. My question is "are we stuck". Is our once joyful fishing experiences now doomed to become that of the modern firearm deer hunter in NW Washington. Going out among the threaded masses of bloodthirsty backstabbers in hopes of getting some needlehorned spike out from under all the rest of the "sportsman" in fear of someone coming along, while the animal is being gutted, and threating the life of the one who rightfully killed the animal if he doesn't turn it over?
What is our end?

I may sound like the prophet of doom, but it looks bad for the sport of fishing through my eyes. We, as sport fishermen, may be part of the problem - a small part.

I am not saying do nothing. I am saying that all we can do is let the managers of our fish and game hear our voices at how unhappy we are with their poor, no less than poor - PATHETIC skills at managing something they claimed they could and when all goes into a tailspin pointing their fingers at everyone else and saying "It was them - It was them - It was them".

I conclude:
The problem is the management
Let THEM know it!



[This message has been edited by RevR (edited 06-08-2000).]