From the 2/25/04 Skagit Valley Herald:

S-W man faces fines for killing steelhead
By MARTA MURVOSH


Officers say they watched man kill wild Skagit fish
A Sedro-Woolley man was cited after game agents accused him of killing a 15-pound wild steelhead on the Skagit River near Gilligan Creek.

It is illegal to kill wild steelhead on the Skagit River and its tributaries. Gilligan Creek runs through federal land near the intersection of the South Skagit Highway and Day Creek Road.

Nontribal members can only catch wild steelhead during the season, which ends March 1, provided they release the fish. The ban on taking wild steelhead has been in place since 1984.

A state Department of Fish and Wildlife officer and a U.S. Forest Service officer observed the man Sunday land a wild steelhead after a five-minute fight, according to a press release from the state agency.

He was using two poles, which is illegal. Anglers in Washington state are restricted to using one pole at a time.

After the man landed the steelhead, he struck it in the head with a club to kill it, according to the officers.

Hatchery-reared fish have had their adipose fin removed. It is a small fin between the dorsal fin and the tail.
Officers said they located the wild steelhead inside the man's pickup truck. The total fines he faces could reach $750.

The man's name and age were unavailable this morning.

Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2145 or by e-mail at mmurvosh@skagitvalleyherald.com

******

Anyone have any more information?

Fish on...

Todd

I say "hang em high"

Glad to hear it. I fished the upper Skagit this past Sun. for the first time, beautiful river, beautiful day and the fishing wasn't bad either

Hang em an bang em!

Some people just dont get it.

guessing that fine he got wasnt worth it considering the amount of steak he could of bought.

Glad they are getting those guys! now if they could only get the nets out of the skag!

Isn't it ironic that this fool gets a big fine and the sleezy indians up thataway can take all the wild steelhead they want?

Are you sure it's that big of fine? I bet he doesn't have to pay anymore than one or two hundred bucks. It needs to be more like a thousand or so, that way these guys think a little bit more about it before they ruin it for all of us!

Grrr...hope they cut off his ??????????

Was out on the deck having a smoke yesterday afternoona and watched a sled drift around the Baker/Skagit corner just east of us...fellow hooked-up on a decent fish then battled it all the way past our place and finally netted it down river a bit...still in view. They were out of visual range (trees) quickly, but I didn't see them release the fish. My guess is it too was wild...solid chrome and somewhere in the 9-10 lb. range. Hope they let it go.

That's the kind of crap (the poacher) that will get our rivers totally closed to C&R as well. I hope they bust him good...if he had a boat, poles, etc. I hope he loses it all.

Mike

Grandpa, what's up with "sleazy indians"? Plus they can't take all the wild steelhead they want.

GP, you can claim you're not racist, but that crap is blatant and disgusting. You can oppose tribal nettng of wild steelhead without rolling in the gutter.

Well said, Salmonbelly. Sleazy, net-wielding, fish-killing, netters would have sufficed.

I can gaurentee that the fine wasn't more than about 100 dollars. My dad and I turned in a poacher on the Skagit this summer that had kept a wild summer run. The guy got a $100 fine for the illegal fish and a $100 fine for not marking it on his punch card. BS if you ask me. Fines should be steeper.
Tim

Not to defend this guy but have you ever thought that he might not have any money to even buy beef for his family?
Not everybody is a scum.
Some may just be very hungry.

If this is the case, would you rather see him go shoplift for beef instead of bonking a nate?

If the choice is to either steel a pot roast from a grocery store, or steal a wild fish from all the rest of us, I'd say yes, steal the pot roast.

Fish on...

Todd

Ironhead, So I guess what that means is everybody who's hungry can just go on down to the river and bonk any fish they want. Hell, why should they even have to carry a license. No, I don't believe for a minute that a guy who can drive to a hole with all the gear you need and then drive back HOME is anywhere near hungry. Just ****ing stupid.

Lets get real her for a second. it makes no difference about the $ for the fish as I said it does in an above post. same for him being poor. If that was the case then sell the gear get some food get a job.

Poaching is not legal for anyone regardless of poor or rich.

He needs to be punished for it and move on.

No need to get in a heated debate about it.

I don't have a good analogy, but it sounds like Robin Hood's poor and hungry Merry Men shouldn't kill that deer with bow and arrows.

I can't stand beggers but I am all for any man's survival instinct to obtain natural food.
Again under normal circumstances, poachers should be dealt with to the fullest of the law.

Seems like you guys are too darn uptight with Washington's stupid ass laws to even slightly consider an unfortunate human being's living situation.
I am not asking you to totally defend this guy yet, but at least give him the benefit of the doubt of being less fortunate than US.

That,s what welfare is for. He could have even gotten a job at McD's. That "hungry poor unfortunate sole" B.S. don't cut it! He was just greedy.

Well, ,as a kid, mom always taught indian lore. I actually find it very interesting! I still like my buddies on the Puyallup. Yet, I find it interesting that we don't all conserve together.I think we all have the same interests, just need to come together to fix this. I was surpressed too, but now am free. Why do they get more rights than I? I am all for equal rights, let's make it equal!

Angg,
Thank you for your short but precise explanation.

I am just trying to use this example to build a logic to correspond with fishing rights and neccessity.

I guess not too many people are interested in reasoning now a days. There living in "The Good Ole Day" with the hang em high and hang em all attitude that grampaw use to preach.

Gilligan creek is close to SEDRO but is off the beaten trail. There is a muddy 4 wheel drive trail into the area. and the ironic thing is the only time I ever fished there I found part of a old gill net stuck to a stump just upstream from the plunking area. The first time I ever fished the skagit was Gilligan creek with a old friend that I flew with when I was in the navy.
He told me that much of the fishermen that fish there catch and bonk most everything they catch its a well known poaching place so I wouldnt go speculating about just what this guys lack of this or that was. His karma caught up and he got caught. I never sent back to fish that spot, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when it comes to poaching and I know some of the guys who fish there pack heat....DJ

SciGuy

My sentiments exactly.

...hang 'em high.... for all the people to see.

Ironhead,

Your words...

"...have you ever thought that he might not have any money to even buy beef for his family?"

"Seems like you guys are too darn uptight with Washington's stupid ass laws to even slightly consider an unfortunate human being's living situation."

"I am just trying to use this example to build a logic to correspond with fishing rights and neccessity. "

"I guess not too many people are interested in reasoning now a days. There living in "The Good Ole Day" with the hang em high and hang em all attitude that grampaw use to preach."

I appreciate your point that he may be too poor to put food on the table, even though I totally disagree with it.

I find, though, that your "good ole days" that don't allow "hang 'em high" are exactly the same "good ole days" that say "do what you gotta do, in spite of the law".

If you think they are stupid ass laws, I hope you still go out of your way to not violate them...or I sincerely hope you get busted, too.

Fish on...

Todd

This "if I catch it, I kill it" mentallity has led to this:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/regchng/feb1204d.htm

And if escapements don't improve it will lead to this:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/regchng/feb1204c.htm

Now this is an issue I would like to see addressed by the WSC. Maybe proposing a bait ban after Jan. 31 or a selective fishery starting Feb. 1 w/hatchery steelhead retention until CnR seasons start.

You guys crack me up. Some nucklehead gets caught poaching and what comes up? The homeless, tribal rights, and welfare!! lol You guys are a diverse group, and Im happy to be a part of it. IMO I think the fines arent stiff enough, this kind of crap happens all too often.

If you can't see the politics, social, and economic conflicts in this minor case, then you don't really have the ammo to fight for fishing or conservation equalities.

Todd, thanks for offering me the bait, but I won't bite this time. I have a small obligation right now and can not get too much involved with this kind of politic.

Peace and
Good Luck.

This is all very interesting and shows a great deal of concern from all sides. I never realized fishing as a kid that someone had been fighting for my right to do so. I never understood there were so much politics involved. I took for granted that fishing was my right. There are always different sides to things and I look at all. I still can't see the injustice of a man fishing and bringing it home to feed the family. Is this any worse than a man netting fish and throwing the males on the bank to die when someone could've had dinner? Believe me, I've already had the debates and have heard all about the LAW. I follow the rules and know mostly people that do the same. But, there are so many fish wasted with these laws and so many people hungry. There must be a middle ground. Reasonable people should be able to come to an agreement. There should be no fight as they are all our fish and we should all be protecting them, not fighting each other.

If the guy could put gas in his truck for the round trip, and bait for his hooks, he should be able to by that pot roast. My 2 cents.

Triple the fines....

How do you guys know if the turd even eats red meat?

IronHead,

To take your analogy just a touch further, suppose this guy broke into your house and robbed you to get money to buy a pot roast. Would you still be saying, well he must be poor and just needed money, so we shouldn't prosecute him.

Poaching is essentially stealing fish from other law abiding spotsman. If you are going to allow people to break laws based on their social situation, where do you draw the line.

The law is the law, you choose to break it, you better be prepared to pay the price.

Cowlitzfisherman,

Yep, gillnetting sucks. But didn't your mama ever tell you, "two wrongs, don't make a right".

Yep!!

She sure did!

But she also taught me to "fix" one of those wrongs when you run up against it

The old he might be hungry arguement. Ya gotta love that one.

Have yet to meet a hungry person that did not smoke or drink too much. How come you never see the hungry raiding someones garden?

I am sorry but I can think of about 1000 things that would yeild more calories for the energy used than Steelhead fishing with a rod and reel.

penalty for sport fishers harvesting wild steelhead should be.

1. life time loss of fishing and hunting privledges for life..

2. should be a felony with a minimum fine of 15,000 dollers per offence.

3. confiscation of all gear and vehicles used in the crime.

hell no it's not excessive we are spending millions to keep these fish from going extinct. a sport fisher taking a wild fish is like him breaking into your federally insured bank and talking all the money.. NO different!!1

CFM
And then???