Just off the top of my head I can think of four permitted steelhead tournaments, at least three of which allow the harvest of wild fish, and two of the tournaments are over four months long...last the entire season, with no limit to entrants or entries.

All this hullabaloo over a one day tournament, where the fish are all released.

Where the hell is all this righteous indignation over the other 250 or 300 days of steelhead tournament fishing WITH wild fish harvest?

Fish on...

Todd

This is rediculous.... Can anyone from WDFW provide some sanity to this?
What would the penalty be for accepting the permit and then measureing the fish anyway? How would they enforce something like that? I don't see anything in the regs that says you can't measure your fish....

I'm told the meetings required to get resolution on this decision went as high as the director himself. I was also told they had genuine concern thoughout these meetings about how their co-managers (the tribes) would interpert their decision to allow fish handling and measuring during the tournament. I.E. The tribes are running the show.

Holding this tournament appears to be an unintended public service to smoke out some of the nonsense involved in the poltics of fish management.

If WDFW regulations don't prohibit photographing or measuring fish that are released, imposing the "no measuring" condition on this has about as much stick as teflon. When anglers catch larger fish than average, it's pretty typical to either photograph them or measure them or both.

The entertainment value of this tournament continues to rise, without any deliberate intention. Maybe the unspoken words from WDFW is that they want you to change this to a standard kill tournament. Perversely hilarious.

Thanks, Sol.
Thanks, Fly.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

I bet if we just were a bunch of fish killin' dudes, and wanted to comply with WDFW regs straight up, including allowing every participant to kill one, the permit would have coasted right thru...

Yer right, Salmo, this whole process has ferreted out just how ridiculous and circuitous some of the thought processes and policies are at the top...maybe after the next steelhead management plan is drafted there will be some sort of cohesive and overarching policies for the Department to follow, rather than do it piecemeal through oftentimes contradictory and disjointed mini- and personal- policies.

Fish on...

Todd

I say tear the permit up and throw it in their faces, consider the $20 simply for the shirt, and make it a $15 donation to your selected charity, but by no means mandatory, and have a get together.. what a bunch of dumbasses.. really...

Either that or fight it tooth and nail, but I certainly wouldn't accept the response they've given you... What a bunch of fuc%s...

I may not enter, just so I can tape every friggin' fish I feel like taping. Then I'll hold one in the shallows until I feel like letting go of it........just so they can cry about what "immediately" means even though that language appears nowhere in their reg book. Bring your ticket book, assh0le, and we'll see you in court.

And I'm going to wear a shirt that says 'GFY WDFW'

I didn't think I could think any less of WDFW than I did last week. I was wrong.

At the very least, they need to say one fish measured for each person in the boat.. If you think you have a derby winner, you get a measurement and a picture.. there should be NO argument over that.. If you are caught personally measuring more than one fish (You're allowed to kill ONE afterall and continue catch and release fishing legally, so in a world where there is a 100% mortality rate on a C&R, measured and photographed fish, you are well within ANY legal bounds...) Then you are breaking the law... There are kinks in my thought here, I know, but c'mon.. We're only human.. They are the WDFW.. I'll take my chances with being human and take the possibility of having some common sense..

Looks like it's time to assemble Team FTWDFW.....

Oh, and the tribes are concerned about the treatment of the fish? fuc% me... That's absolutely hilarious...

I never knew wdfw had the tribes as a consulting firm. Great care and thought all the way up to the man on top. That is a confidence booster. The state sure knows how to run a hypocrite show. Here a Couple Guys organize an awesome event promoting the preservation of wild fish and put mad time, money, and effort into it and so called officials more like morons decide to take a dump all over the deal. wdfw should be hail hailing the Organizers for promoting positive fishing practices. Notice I refuse to capitalize entities who are unable to wipe their own arse and in turn force sport fishermen to walk in a mind field of **** to reach the means of having a fun competitive event.

Incredible isn't it. The good news is I get to fish and party with some real good fisherman and I can't wait and learn more. Also makes me feel good to be a part of something toward the preservation of our fishies. YESSSSSSSSSS

To all Of you Thanks for the great Support and accolades, we have worked hard to make this happen and I am sure that it will come with some kind of price attached to it. So be it, to us it is worth it for the Fish first , for the sport and for the friendships that will be made through this great event. I hope that all of you will continue with your support when everything shakes out after this tourney and we figure out how and why we were treated so diffrently. To salmo G, Dan S, and everyone else who is on the same page of common sense Thanks alot and we will continue to carry the torch as long as we have guys like all of you behind us.

Peace
Superfly

All I need is a clown suit and a cotton candy stand and this venue will be complete.

BTW: I'll be serving free gourmet hot dogs to any WDFW employees that wish to stop by.

Lookin good Sol!! or is it bid bad John?

Not from WDFW, so no hunting down my IP address and nuking my house!

The penalty for violating the terms of the permit is a Misd. which means potential trip to jail. They can put whatever ridiculous restrictions they want in the permit or they could just disallow it. They could say "no measuring the fish unless you're standing on one foot and holding your sack"

The moral of the story is...Don't measure any fish that day unless you withdraw from the tournament. It would be hard to prove/track but if someone is observed measuring a fish then entering it into the tournament, the person doing the catching/measuring and the person whose name is on the permit could be charged.

(f) It is unlawful for the fishing contest permittee or any of the contest participants to fail to comply with the conditions of the fishing contest permit, or of general fishing rules not specifically exempted by this permit.

Would it be ok to measure it after I bonked it?

HHMMMM...I would say No.

Bonking it, stuffing it in your pants and calling yourself the "magical, fairy princess of OP steelheading" OK. Measuring...definitely not!

Yep, I'm sure WDFW whould be cool with that...

C/22

The tribes worried about people measuring fish?? YGTBFKM.