What the hell is going on down there?! Peer pressure to release snagged fish, undercover enforcement, tribal fishers getting tickets. You guys are making this stuff up.

There is another tool available, a program put on by DFW called "Eyes In the Woods".

People can get trained to be reliable witnesses to the exact crimes you are describing. They can then call Sheriff/Trooper/DWFW and report the crime.

The difference between average Joe calling in a Wildlife violation and "eyes in the woods", is that the cops know they have a better chance of actually convicting the offender, and thus are more likely to find the time (prioritize) your report.

Here's a good example. (Pardon any inaccuracies, but it went down something like this...) Whatcom Creek Chum season. Same ol' snagging hole as any other, except downtown Bellingham. A few years ago, an "eyes in the wooods" volunteer, tired of the snagging violatins, get cooperation with DFW and spotted several snaggers for then. He provides complete descriptions and tactics. DFW then spends a day providing 'enhanced enforcement' and with the help of the "eyes" guy spotting with binoculars and a radio, they pick several snaggers and start writing tickets.

If you want a little 'satisfaction' without bringing a sniper rifle, this is one way to help.

Thanks

Yes the Tribal Police have getting on the Tribal kids about their fishing tacts this year. I have seen it a couple of time where the police have caught the kids in the act of snagging. It is a good sign when this happens.

Krijack, I too have been the victim of these intimidation tactics. Its disgusting that snaggers push legal fishermen out of a good spot just to spook all the fish.

They tried that "they don't bite" routine with me as well...

They just don't bite the garbage those guys are using

ok im an ignorant fool that got nailed by game warden early in the trout season for selective gear rule. tried to download the regs from the internet and couldnt so winged it. my girlfriend got free i got nailed. could have been worse i thought, but it turns i should have fought it as 3 in 10 years can get you suspended? anyway, i think i saw that you have to have barbless hooks at thomas eddy? definitely see them rolling, but only 1 guy had one banked. going to go this weekend and try.
i know the game wardens are hooking us all up(no pun). dont want another run-in with one for being uninformed.

Amen, it's about time. I hav'nt fished the Skok for many years for this very reason, just something I don't want to expose my son to.
I say kudos to enforcement. They deserve all the respect we can give them. Maybe if we all band together and rid rivers of snaggers we will actually look forward to fishin;lknganv ajkkabfkJBF;kehbs......wake up, I must be dreaming, snaggers at the Skok?

I think peak winter run steelheading at blue creek from the bank is more fun than what you boys describe the Skok.

Sounds like a big can of bear pepper spray from an upwind position will shut the morons up.... now that would be funny to see.

unfortunately this is how just about every river with a good run of salmon in it is now. however what pisses me off more than the snaggers are the flossers that think they're hot stuff because they can(illegally) hook one fish after the other. and EVERY river i've fished for salmon this year has a ton of them, there is no escape.

i think there needs to be some education going on, i do what i can on the river but one guy can only do so much to help create honest fishermen.

...things may be different on the skoke next year(or maybe not)...the laissez-faire attitude toward the snagfest didn't quite work out as planned...some rethinking of what to do about that hell-hole is gonna be done soon i think...

I fished the Skok one day this year. Fished way up-river from the large crowds. I caught my one fish on eggs. This was my first time river fishing for salmon so I was pretty happy with my catch. As I am new to river fishing I don't understand what flossing is. Could somebody please explain? Thanks.

Imagine a crowd of people shoulder to shoulder. They are all staring up at an eclipse, jaws gaped open going "ahhhhhhh". Because its on the Olympic Peninsula a spider riding an 8 foot silk thread drifts by. I grab the free end. Part of the thread runs into someones open mouth, like a wild piece of dental floss. I yank on my end. The spider lodges in the outside corner of some stupid womans mouth. She screams. The spider digs in. The crowd gets agitated and begins to run in every direction. I hold on to my end of the silk because the girl on the other end ain't bad looking and I intend on keeping her. Some law enforcement do-gooder see's what's happening and says "Mister you can't be snagging girls with spider wire".

And I reply "But officer look where she's hooked. She wanted it."

Run a long ass leader through thick schools of fish, and set the hook wildly at the end of each drift. Presto the hook occasionally lodges in a fishes jaw. There is a little more to the technique than that, but why bother.

Vince....simply call it flossing.

So it's just snagging. Thanks for the explanation. I fished the Skok after reading yours and others posts and wanted to fish eggs. The fish I caught ate the eggs for sure. It was hooked pretty deep in the mouth. Thanks for your prior posts and showing me the right way to catch these fish. To catch a fish the first time river fishing was a real thrill.

sounds like you've got the right seed planted in you there. seems most people that fish the rivers lately aren't interested in fishing the right way, so they tie on the 8 foot leaders and start ripping. it spreads to a lot of new fishermen like some kind of disease and as soon as you know it, there's huge lines of guys doing it.

they sure love the eggs though, and they will hit the standard corky and yarn away from the crowds where they aren't spooked.

I was on the Samish last weekend. There was a guy on the bank watching us before legal fishing time (no one was fishing). Legal time arrives and a guy hooks and lands a fish. The guy on the bank imediately goes over and checks out what the guy is doing. Another fish is hooked and the guy walks right over to that guy and looks on from above. This happened a few times and then I lost track of him. Not sure if it was a Warden but if he was, I was glad to see him. It keeps everyone honest.

Also, a couple of years ago I fished a hole (very popular)on the Snohomish during the week. I didn't go for a couple of days. When I showed up a couple of the regulars told me the Game Warden had been there the day before. From what they could figure, a Warden accross the river was watching with a scope or.... and radioing the Warden on our side of the river. I guess they nailed a few people that day.

It is rediculous that on any "inland" good hatchery salmon stream, there are more snaggers than fisherman. It at times can get totally disheartening. I look forward to this years fall salmon runs on the coast where most of the places I fish this is not an issue. But, enforcement does work. Last week, game warden simply drove over the bridge on the Farm to Market Rd on the Samish real slowly and he cleared the hole right above the bridge. Tells ya what the crowd was on that hole. No tickets written, he just drove over. If they showed up more in the obvious spots the snagging problems, along with a lot of others would diminish greatly.

JL,

He wanted to know what flossing was. So I gave him a visual. Alde,


Congrats on your success. I like the lower river, but there are fisherman far far better than me that like the lonely upriver sections even better.

Your decision to break away from the crowds was smart. Keep an eye out for me. I haunt all the river that is open.


Vince

It does anger me to see snagged fish kept, catch record cards not marked, and I really hate when I get tangled up with a moron with a barbed hook in a barbless river. Other than that..... bring your flask of Scotch, a nice cigar, and enjoy the day.

FISH ON BABY!!!!

Vince,

I think it was just dumb luck that I caught my fish. Funny thing was it was a jack of about 5 pounds so I reseased it in hopes of a bigger fish. Of course that was my only fish of the day. It sure made me want to keep fishing the rivers though. Now I need my first steelhead.

Al