I Forecast that CCA will make some ground in the next few years but its going to be the demise of the salmon and steelhead as we knew it before things get better at the current level of active members of 5,000.In saying that, not if but when our beloved Wild fishery collapses in the next year to almost extinction due to one of the major problems over HARVESTING in the Ocean and then the rivers, the foundation will be laid by these awesome people donating there time today to bring together all groups and I guarantee you, everyone of us who still care and believe the 50,000 members will be achieved.

I keep reminding my self and many of you should as well that most salmon are on a four year cycle and Steelhead are a bit different but still they live in the OCEAN for several years. I see this as eight years of hard work and its going to take money. Anyone who thinks or needs to see results in fish return in the near future before they put there name on the wagon of CCA please think again and look at the long term goal and do it now! They are going to take a bite at a time and the more members the CCA achieve that bite gets a bit larger. Its all about Votes on the ballot when CCA brings them to congress and it takes dollars to get it that far.

That’s Politics and now with CCA the majority of us who do not participate can, by becoming a number hopefully 50,000 when things come to vote we will win a few of them. At this point we have not won anything and what we have gained is short term only. Its not that hard even if you do not want to participate and many of us don't so just throw what you can at CCA even if its only $25 you get 6 Tide Mag’s in the year as well as a $18.00 tax write off receipt you cant go wrong and become a member.We need some fish to return to the rivers before we can try and push for our share for the remaining fish that may return.


To continue to produce salmon and steelhead blanks for the Pacific North West we need the fish to return. We stock around a million dollars of inventory for that market and without the fish we as many rod companies will push our market more towards the Sea Trout, Redfish and Striper market that the CCA aka CCA Members had a major role in protecting. Our company supports around three hundred thousand rod builders and also Three hundred thousand Rod buyers world wide and our home waters are only a small fraction of our business but our company feels that it is the most important to protect because we need to recreate just like all of you and Salmon and Steelhead are an amazing creation of Nature and that why we live here like all of you.

The East Coast fishery is on its way back and the country will benefit from the revenues that we support it with via Jobs and tackle sales among one of many. I just cant live with doing nothing at all and watch our customers and family on the west coast close there doors and move away because lack of fish.

I personally want to thank all of the current organizations and I know who you are and we appreciate everything you are doing and have done and we look forward to your continued work on our home waters but I encourage you to help the CCA as well. Please JOIN before there are no fish left to protect and we are four years behind.

Batson Enterprises aka Rainshadow is signing up all thirteen of our employees in the next few days. Thank you http://www.joincca.com
Sincerely, Karry Batson

Thank you Batson Enterprises, glad to see you........

Chuck G

PS meet some of your new friends........

Ruh-Row....































Todd, maybe if you just ignore it, it will go away.

Can't really be ignored, and I doubt it will go away anytime soon...

Did Gary tell the fantasy story about Cedar Creek again? Did anyone ask him where those fantasy fish and fantasy numbers come from?

I'm guessing that the answer...again...is "yes" he told the story, and "no" no one, including those here on this very BB who have seen just how ridiculolus his story is, bothered asking one question beyond "Who do I make my check out to?"...

Fish on...

Todd

Todd, Part of me doesn't believe that DFW doens't care about our public resource.

Gary's story is not just one of numbers, it's one of betrayal by DFW Staff. I too, volunteered to re-establish a run of fishes here in the South Sound. We raised chum in a pond above Percival Cove chinook. Basicly the chum were a biological filter to capture the parasites before the water flowed into the chinook pond.

Hatchery staff undermined our efforts by allowing direct stream flows and contaminated the Percival Cove Chinook. Guess what? The chum re-established themselves . Johns Creek once again lives when it rains. I'm one of the few witnessing steelhead in the system. I believe the nutrients the chum return help feed juvenile steelhead.
Last year Harvest Management Staff testified in favor of increasing the harvest on the abundent Chum.

Staff favors the most harmful and least sustainable method of commercial harvest. I believe this is flat out, wrong! They view each species in issolation and then claim minimal bycatch.

Todd, the floor was opened to discussion during and after the presentation. Gary answered all questions, and I did not hear anyone call him wrong, he was questioned, and again answered all questions I believe to the satisfaction of all present. If Im wrong, I believe anyone who did not like the answers and was PRESSENT will pipe up here soon.........Oh yes while I am at it, I thought pnwflyguy made a very constructive comment. No wonder we get no where............

Maybe someday CCA will put an official post ( Yes I am CCA and I approved this message) on this site and others about what they really plan on doing with our Native, Wild and Hatchery Fish.

I am still on the CCA Team, but I am really getting tired of just hearing about Membership meetings and Banquets.

Nice.

You know, if you buy banquet tickets for the Sea-Tac banquet @ $55/each or $600 for a corporate table of 8, that each ticket includes a year's CCA membership plus dinner and the per ticket write off is $37.00 for a single and between you and your accountant for the corporate table. The banquet is May 9th

If you need tickets, pm or call me 253-797-4804 as of right this minute, we have less than 20 tickets left.

Todd, with all do respect. We've had organizations working for different fixes to the problems we're facing now and about all the sport fishermen can see are more closed seasons for fisheries we once had leading to less opportunity over all. You can hammer on youf point every time it comes up but it really doesn't do anything but divide us once again.

I tend to flyfish but won't consider myself a flyfisherman. Why? Because of the elitist attitude that my method is better than yours. Swing vs nymph. If you nymph fish for steelhead you're nothing more than a gear chucker and if you prefer to swing all you're doing is dredging bottom and flossing.

That's why I just consider myself a fisherman. My point? Not one group has achieved the goals that I would like to see as a sportsfisherman. Maybe different "fronts" can achieve better results. Yes, I'm an optimist.

I go back to one of your main arguements from this past fall and one you seem to have with CCA. You continue to say that nets aren't the problem. It has more to do with habitat. You hammered that point home time and again this past fall/winter when debating this whole CCA thing. In different threads we discussed the lack of chum making it back to the streams and the fact that they were being netted heavily on a depressed run out in Puget Sound. Those fish should have been allowed to hit the streams. Don't the steelhead and salmon depend on that nutrient "biomass" in the rivers to feed on? In that case I'd say netting had a huge impact and one that won't be seen for a couple years. But then we'll just blame it on ocean survival when maybe it had more to do with not enough nutrients in the rivers to supply the juveniles before heading to the salt.

Not as well informed as most of you on this board but some of it just makes sense. And the biggest rub is the whole STFU if you aren't FULLY informed because you're doing more harm than good. And that leaves us depending on a few people fighting our battles regarding fisheries. More participation is required but unless you know as much as me you're doing more harm than good?

There doesn't seem to be a good answer to these issues. So, I guess I'll just continue to do what I've done. Search out the chum line to peck at what's left.

Fully Informed? I can't wait for the Full Information from CCA about there plan statewide to "save our Native and Wild Fish"!

Maybe that will happen when the banquets are over.

Dave,

My biggest problem with the CCA is not that they focus on harvest ( I think mistakenly)...it's that the story Gary tells to sell $25 memberships and banquet tickets (which is all the CCA has done in a year's time...sell things) is completely made up out of thin air to take advantage of uninformed fishermen...for money.

The fact that these uninformed fishermen, rather than get riled up at being taken advantage of instead stick their heads in the sand and defend it...maybe they don't want to admit that they've been had, or maybe they don't care that their leadership is purposely spreading false stories to gain some sort of "political clout"...but whatever it is, it does more harm than good.

That's what my problem with the CCA is...advocates out there working for fish and fishing have enough obstacles to overcome...overcoming the made up stories by our self-proclaimed "leaders" shouldn't be one of 'em, but now it is...and yet, they continue to defend it.

Sooner or later the banquets and membership fees have to turn in to something other than just more banquets and membership fees...it's been a year...and when it does, they are going to be really surprised when no one takes them seriously.

You have to have some modicum of integrity to even get a seat at the table, and that is sorely lacking in the CCA, and has been from day one.

You have to have a true story, with pesky things like facts, and a good legal argument doesn't hurt, either, if you think a "war chest" will get you anywhere in court...and so far, they don't have that, either.

4000 memberships is, at a minimum, $100,000...what have they done with it so far except print out more tickets and fliers for more banquets?

Fish on...

Todd

Please Join CCA !!!

"in fact if you don't join now you have become part of the problem instead of the solution"

Horseshit...that's the attitude that the $25 experts always like to trot out...they're so uneducated about the world of fisheries politics that they think the CCA invented it.

Fish on...

Todd

Agree with Stam.

I joined because I was glad to see an organization focused on building a HUGE membership, and a well-funded political action committee. I don't pretend to understand all the complex issues involved in our fishery management, but meanwhile I think we should recognize that this is a *political* problem as much as anything.

All the talk about what the "right" or "smartest" thing to do is, but in truth I think until the sporties achieve critical mass, it doesn't matter how right or how smart we are.

Like it or not, most political solutions are based less on FACTS than we'd all like, my annual membership is an acknowledgment of that.

Todd in case you missed it, CCA presented a letter at the Mill Creek meeting, giving their twocents on the Lake Washington Chinook fishery as did the PSA I believe. And as usual the wdfg will probable ignore it and give the M I all they ask for. Like you said, they are not doing anything eh.


Stam you joined for basically the same reasons I did. Samo, Samo is just not cutting it any more...................

I hope a couple of the CCA leadership takes advantage of the opportunity to attend the Steelhead Summit Alliance on May 31 and get involved with the other organizations to have a unified voice for steelhead. It will be a real opportunity for them to get better educated on steelhead issues.

Hey Tod do you have a plan? Let us know so were better informed. Gary's presentation was right on the money. Who cares about a lousy $25 bucks a year if we join an organization that will help give the sportsman a voice. We've heard your opinion about 100 times, it's getting real old. Why don't you either join us and try to get something done or STFU, and let us at least try.........

I will be at the Steelhead Summit Alliance as a member of CCA, as will several other members that I know.

I am also one of the hold outs. I have had long discussions with some folks about joining CCA. They are trying to get a chapter going in the Tacoma area. I understand the membership drive, and the fundraising, but sooner or later they will have to come out with their positions, and start floating bills through the legislature. I have been involved with union politics, have lobbied legislators to support our bills. The decision makers, may or not be educated on the issues, and that was why we visited Olympia each year.

What is on the radar for action from the CCA? Are you building alliances in Olympia? We work our arses of each fall to get polititions elected that support our position. The more conservations candidates that are elected, the more action you will see.

I think going after the ocean nets solely, is looking at the problem through a set of blinders. I think the big problems are habitat, tribal netting seasons, ocean conditions and commercial fisherman, etc.

I will remain on the fence until I see some direction, and something oher than banquet and membership drives.

I argee with Stam and IrishRogue
My son and I both joined. Something has to be done now.
Saying that nets are not the problem; that loss of Habitat is the major item that needs correcting. todd is half wrong and half right. Nets out in the ocean result in bycatch as do the gill nets in the sound and the rivers. The loss of habitat is a death by a thousand cuts that the State, Counties and Cities allow everyday. Who is going to stand up to Developers, Commercials, and Indians. We have been screaming; each in our own voice. We need band together so that our voices are heard. Complaining on the forum will not win the battles that need to be fought.

BAN THE NETS and bring back the fish traps (allow selective harvest) and revisit the Bolt Case.
My views