You know, FishNg1 mentoned something about space for a boat.

Maybe it might be appropriate for everyone who owns a bay-capable boat to drag it on down there tomorrow to create a BIGGER presence.

Afterall the bay fishery was stolen from us, too. Two weeks of wasted harvest opportunity there as well!

When the gillnets blanket Willapa Bay (MA 2-1) on September 16, you can kiss that fishery good-bye (as if it ever got off the ground this year at all!). Any other year, that sport effort could make the convenient transition into Grays Harbor (MA 2-2).

NOT THIS YEAR!

Never ever ever before have Harborites had to endure a full two week gap in our local salmon fisheries! NEVER!

If you are content to sit on your a$$ for the next two weeks, stay home. If not, make your dissatisfaction about this issue known by joining us at this fish-in. It's not like you're gonna have anything else meaningful to fish for in local waters.

Speak now or forever hold your peace!

W.H.O.A.!!!!!!!!!

Wasted

Harvest

Opportunity

AGAIN!!!!!

Put the KeenEye Kids to work today:













And here's L'il Miss Wood Shampoo applying the finishing touches:



See y'all at high water tomorrow!

Really hope we can make it! Sounds like its been kinda slow out there lately.

Steve

Doc,

Looks like I will indeed be coming down today...I might be a little late, but I'll have my camera and a knotless net...not to mention a couple rods and a bunch of spinners!

See you all there!

Fish on...

Todd

Thank you ....

Thank you....

Thank you....

for the wonderful show of support. It was good to see so many familiar faces new and old! I didn't do an official body count, but it was probably 50-plus.

I think we should get a nice write up by the reporter who showed up. He even took a few casts with my rod!

There's "rumor'" a local representative has already taken interest in the cause... keep your fingers crossed!

I'm asking that once the story runs in the Daily World that you folks either mail a clipping to your respective state representatives or do a MASS e-mail with a link to the web-version of the article. Let's flood their inboxes with our outrage!

Francis,

Sorry I missed the event. It's hard to have a valid excuse missing something like this in my backyard but I was committed out of town with no way to escape......been planned for over a month. That's why I didn't chime in earlier.

I will certainly spread the word via e-mail. I'd like to see the article in the Daily World where I can then link it to out-of-town friends who fish the harbor. Between myself and them we can get quite a network going spreading the word.

I'm glad to hear a local representative took interest.....almost have to go that route anymore since WDFW turns a deaf ear to us.

Good job pulling this off on relatively short notice I won't miss the next one.

Doc,
Thanks for bringing the community together.

It was cool to see the harbor come to life again with the rain, V-wakes and a lone fish or two passing right in front of us.

Lost opportunity can never be replaced. We, the most selective fishers get shafted by DFW.
Oh, you didn't harvest your quota by a certain date. We'll shift your allocation elsewhere and shut you down anyways.- is the message I get.

Now it is raining again, the early, mainly hatchery silvers are starting to show. We're delgated to the sidelines as they move through. I'm sure some of them will go to good things like local foodbanks, in river nutrient carcasses, etc...
IMHO if the impact on chinook is the driver for this closure, well perhaps that means there should be no retention of chinook in this drainage since the returns are in such a sad shape.

Hans

Thanks, Doc, for getting this together...and nice meeting many of you who I haven't met before, and nice seeing those of you who I have...

Keep up the good fight!

Fish on...

Todd

I was impressed with the team eyeFish effort to spearhead this event and also with all the friends that cared enough to show up. I saw a lot of regulars as well as some I haven't seen before who gave up the Seahawks game and their afternoon to fish and visit in the rainy weather. This is something I care about. Thank you from me also.



I am not an expert but I think the hatchery coho that are moving through now will spawn and make a percentage of 2010 and 11's "wild" unclipped coho return. I buy a fishing license every year and would like to be fishing for these now, but I'll have to settle for Oct 1st and a relentless gillnet schedule. Maybe there will be a chance at fishing for them early next year. Why such a hassle over this seemingly harmless and simple request?

Occasional chinook are caught with spinners from the bank while fishing for coho there, not many and with spinners and barbless hooks, they are not hooked deep. The majority swim off with attitude. If chinook impact was the reason given, it is unreasonable. The 2 weeks in question absolutely do nothing to justify the chinook season that has been set for the river. It will be another slaughter. Like my sign said "WDFW, we've lost our voice. Can you help us find it?"

Sorry Francis, We did not get off the water in time for the event, we did show at a little after 5:30 and everyone was gone. Glad you got the place bustling with people today.

Steve

BTW - We caught lots of Coho and many clipped, but by the looks of the roe in them, they have at least a month before coming in.

There were quite a few of us there, and even though I drove two hours, fished for an hour and a half, and drove two hours to get back home, it was worth it...I hope some awareness was raised.

The reporter who was there seemed into it quite a bit!

Fish on...

Todd

Definateley a cool deal, Just wish more people could have made it. Thanks doc for organizing it, great job and a good turnout with the press there. Just make sure we flood the in boxes of all the people that matter later today with the daily world peice.

Peace
Fly

By the way, where are the pics? I saw a number of people taking pics down there, post em !!!

Peace
Fly

Here's a couple... sorry, had to compete with my kids for the computer last night.

Hot off the press today!

Here's the link to pass around, folks.

http://thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/09/17/local_news/02news.txt

or just click here

Here's the pic they ran in the paper:

hey my fat a$$ made the pic in the daily world and i didnt do anything wrong.. guess theres a first time for everything..HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

From the article:

Did I miss something at a couple of these meetings?
Was this written testimony? Perhaps DFW just hears they want. Ron, Phill, or whoever doesn't represent the working class or retired residents I've met in the area.

My experience has been that sportfisher folks have been in favor of the chinook jacks- early fish opportunity while a minority of charters and Willipa crowd wants the chinook adults.

I joined CCA just to give my say in at the Federal level. I've heard time and time again how DFW Staff doesn't want to be micro managed in this fishery. Well, it's about time the fishery was actually managed. I don't know everthing about how many fish got traded to the Canadian fisheries in repayment for the Alaskan take; or how much of our impacts were shifted down to MA1.

LET THE FLOOD GATES OPEN, FOLKS.

E-mail your reps/senators ASAP.