Looks like a huge victory in favor of the fish!

Finally, somebody had the balls to look at the state sponsored data, the bigger picture and make a call.

This will not stop me from putting hatchery fish in the freezer and continue to catch and release wild steelhead.

Thanks to all who are working to protect the wild steelhead.

74% on this board should by no means be surprising....

I've seen other polls that told a different story. Using those numbers to represent how the average angler would feel is kind of like asking a room full of peta members if fish feel pain.

This board has a number of people listed as being on the WSC Board of Directors, WSC Vice Presidents and other WSC associates.

So, it would seem this board would provide a higher favorable vote.

Here is another poll that shows nearly the same result!

http://www.gamefishin.com/gfboard/forum_posts.asp?TID=4858&KW=POLL

Interesting post Gutz. I didn't vote in that one as I needed a third choice.

I'm pro-release, but not if hatcheries are shut down and an "either/or" poll is too simplistic.

Anyone who thinks these polls reflect the opinion of the majority of licensed anglers is living in a virtual reality.

I never voted here and actually never voted in the other poll except for adding the following opinion:


"The choice is quite difficult because C&R is a catchword that has many diverse meanings.

Usually when someone says they are for C&R they mean that they subscribe to the idea that killing a fish for food is bad but that it's ok to drag a fish around by a line attached to a hook implanted somewhere in a fishes lip, tongue or eye just for fun and until the fish is exhausted. Once exhausted, the fun is over and the fish is unhooked and let go in hopes that it might recover to be played again someday.

I will vote against C&R because sticking a fish with a hook and dragging it around just for sport does not set well with my conscience. For me it is unethical to wound, maim or kill an animal for the fun of it. I would not do it to a dog, a fish or even a cat.

Others have different ethics and moral values than me so for them it may be ok. I have no problem with what others prefer in this respect and also have no problem with some areas being set aside for this perversion. To each his own.

I do feel that those who would make it illegal for others to catch and eat fish yet advocate killing and maiming them just for fun do so with selfish and malicious motives and will advise them to get professional help."

How do you equate WSR with closing hatcheries?

Do you recall the huge uproar against WT when there was talk of closing hatcheries?

I was going to ask the same question Gutz....

Plunker-

Your thoughts on the killing and maiming of animals are incredibly similar to those of PETA, with the exception of the whole eating meat thing....

...you're not going lefty on us are you??

GutZ, as I've said on another board you need to play chess and have some vision for following moves.

Shutting down hatcheries or limiting hatchery production is about 5 moves down the road.

If a person can't see cause and effect, or what may happen after a certain action... then I'm sorry for that person. But sometimes that lack of vision is refreshing.

Gutz & H20 - Here's some more...


The trend seems unmistakable to me.

Increment by increment, one small step at a time, the holier than thou elitists intend to replace traditional values with their distorted mandates of morality.

The hatchery steelhead, chinook and coho are already marked and distinguished from the wild ones that are considered too valuable for harvest and in the not too distant future for any type of angling.

The current trend is to incrementally outlaw bait, harvest and the coarser angling methods directing us all towards catch and release fishing only. At first we will be allowed to catch and keep hatchery fish only and only by select means. Next, hatcheries will be closed and catch and release only will become the rule and soon thereafter it will become C&R fly-fishing only.

At this point the humanitarians and the defenders of the biosphere and the right of the higher creatures to live free from harassment and mayhem will outlaw fishing of all sorts and our splendid slimers will become museum pieces.

I sure hope that all of the above truly proves to be derisive BS as intended.

Well, I would assume the members of this board who voted in these polls are smarter and more educated about the fisheries then the majority of crackers who buy a license. Glad to see we agree

LOL that's not the right Poll Gutz.

This is the one you were looking for:

http://www.gamefishin.com/gfboard/forum_posts.asp?TID=4870&PN=1

Zen;
Look back into your Crystal Ball and see what the future holds if no action at all was taken.

The runs could become threatened by overfishing, similiar to what you see in so many of our Rivers now. At least this a move in the right direction.

GutZ, I don't like any of the answers I come up with.

Head in the sand approach won't work either, so don't think I favor that one.

Just remember that when habitat and native fish runs were impacted by dams and other governmental actions, the hatcheries were created as "mitigation" to provide fish lost because of these activities.

Actually my choice would be to use 20/20 hindsight and not do certain things that were done in our past.

Here's something more to consider...


The members of Ducks Unlimited and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation protect ducks and elk so that they will be available for harvest for generations to come. They don't ask that hunting be restricted to animals farmed and planted for put and take hunting. They don't ask that wild pheasants be protected while hunting only the non-wild pheasants.

We all know that animals can be stunned with darts and revived to be stunned again yet hunters, at least to my knowledge, have never promoted S&R (stun and release) hunting or the mandatory release of all wild ducks or elk.

If you agree with hunting for harvest I wonder what, in your mind, causes you to find hunting for harvest acceptable yet sets you against those who would fish for harvest?

With S&R (stun and release) hunting, just as with C&R (catch and release) fishing, the animal or fish will in most instances live to be stunned or hooked again affording considerably more value and opportunity than if it had been intentionally killed and we all know that, considering the costs, no hunter or angler really needs to kill for food.

The hunters in the groups mentioned promote the harvest of the birds and mammals they love and protect even when, in the case of pheasant, non-wild alternatives are available.

So, unless you would prefer to avoid the question, I truly wonder how fish can be any different than birds and mammals in this respect?

Zen

Agreed but unfortunately that does nothing to aid in future endeavors for the fisheries.

Lead thrower,

It does is one does a "lessons learned" and applies said tips to the future.

Plunker-

Hope you didn't take my comments derisively, they weren't meant that way. I was more trying to have some fun with you than make fun of you. I know how passionate you are about retaining wild fish...and as far apart as we are on most things you are like my number two favorite poster here.

Zen-

So....how long before you figure ALL hatcheries are shut down then?

If I understand you correctly the hidden motive of the WDFW in enacting this rule is to begin the process of ending fishing in Washington State? Seems a lil silly to me....

This 'elitist' stuff is a tired, tired argument. Elitist in the sense that we believe a moratorium on steelhead would benefit the depressed fisheries affected?

No more elitist than someone unwilling to admit the potential that they are wrong. In the case of those crying foul on this decision...who would admit that if their position is incorrect the steelhead that so ardently wish to kill are already dead?

The thing that I love most about this whole conversation is that the liberals have the conservative argument and the conservatives have the liberal argument.

...crazy....

Stlhd... I am smart enough to know I'm not right all the time. If I had all the answers I wouldn't be working for someone else like I am now. It would be nice if I was wrong this time.... and to let you know how to "factor" my remarks, I did like the Kennedy conspiracy story.

Take my comments (on hatchery fish) with a grain of salt, and it is what I believe. But, I'm not going to get into an arguement on said beliefs. I picked that bit of "wisdom" up from someone else on this board.