While I was at the High Bridge launch on the Snoqualmie this afternoon, I watched a Game Warden having a very animated conversation with Eli Rico. From what I could gather by doing a little eves dropping, Eli failed to let his clients know that they needed a catch record card for salmon and had them recording their fish on the back of their fishing licenses???? I think the clients got tickets and Eli got a tongue thrashing by the warden. You'd think that a guide would have better sense than to let his clients, who are spending quite a bit of money to fish, fish illegally. I'm thiking it probably should have been Eli Rico who got the ticket but then I suppose legally, he didn't do anything he could have been cited for. Seems like something like that wouldn't be too good for business.....

i do not think you can buy a fresh water license without getting a catch record card. probably left at card at home

There were 3 gameys at the Highbridge launch yesterday checking everone, for everything including Rico. Today there was only one gamey checking. I cant say whether a guide should be responsible for their clients being legal or not, but Eli RIco knew the WDFW was being watchful at the launch and I doubt he would knowingly allow clients to fish without punch cards.

I am not a guide but I take a lot of different people fishing with me. I always make sure that all fish kept are punched and that everyone is licensed.

I dont think a first hand account of what happened is a rumor, I agree in some cases that spreading such info isnt advised but when your a guide you live and fish under a different set of standards then other fishermen, being that you are very visible, ie name plastered on the side of your boat you should be extra sure that what you are doing is both legal and ethical.

I agree

So Eli got his dudes some fish then...

I noticed the "I think" part but there was a lot of detail involved in his recollection ie, recording their catch on the back of their licenses.

Eli has been getting a lot of fish lately, I saw him cleaning at least 3 limits of silvers on a gravel bar on Saturday.

Well, excuse me for telling it like it is....I was there, I saw it, heard it and that's the way it is folks. The clients got the tickets and judging by their reactions, they were not happy about it. There are always two sides to the story and perhaps good old Eli knows the real story but bottom line is, if you're a professional guide you darn well know you aren't supposed to record your fish on the back of your fishing license.

I would think as long as Rico has been around he told his clients what they needed to bring before the trip (including licenses/catch record card) after that, its up to the client. If he let them fish knowing they didn't have the card(s) then he probably deserves a ticket as well. The client definitely deserves the ticket.
I don't know what the law is here but in Ak. if a guide knowingly lets a client violate a law, he can get a pretty big ticket and possible jail time. A guide I work with got nailed a few years ago for aiding a client in a game fishing violation, he got a $1000 fine and 1 year in jail, the judge suspended $500 and the year in jail, he was on probation for 2 years.

You should be gone dude

+1

Homer- you've been here longer than Abu-Loomis. Most of his 3314 posts are one liners, one word, or no words at all. I myself don't have room to speak about contributing either. But I know I'm not on here bantering back and forth about who knows more than the next guy. Either contribute to the site or STFU! And most of his post are SH!T! I've never seen a 19 or 20 somthing know so much? I guess I should start listening to him so I could learn something.

Abu- If you just worried about yourself like mommy and daddy used to teach kids(not you) this site would be much better off. If it's not that big of a deal to you that STFU and let Eli fend for himself! NUF SAID!

Later...

Go sit out on I-5 with your laptop and start listing all of the speeding tickets with license plate numbers and photos of the vehicles cited.

And I mean...sit ON I-5.

I think his post was completly relevant, being this is a fishing sight where people come for all kinds of fishing news and knowledge. Using the anology of reporting speeding tickets is completely irrelevant.

Yo abu loomis, dude was just saying what he saw. Most likely the clients forgot their punch card and the risks of not tagging a salmon but the guide proceeded to fish the clients anyhow. Rico is lucky he got to keep his rods considering they were used to catch the fish. Guides should know better abu loomis, my question for you is why go and toss some dude under the bus for what he saw with his own two eyes? Didn't you state on a previous post you had worked for kevin lund, a guide who had been convicted of salmon poaching and screwing around with catch records? Guides aint no hero just cause they catch a bunch of fish, they should be real careful, considering its their livelihood.

I guess I have learned somthing from you, how to make worthless posts!

Later...

Abu-Loomis is absolutely right. The client was wrong and deserved the ticket, may or may not have been Eli's fault. I don't know Eli Rico, never met the man. Some think he walks on water, some think he needs to be watched all the time. Doesn't really make a hill of beans of difference to me one way or the other but if he's a professional guide, he should be held to a little higher standard and pay attention to the rules. All it was was an observation and I posted about it.....plain and simple.

I took a neighbor fishing a few years back and while he was bonking his fish and untangling the net the gammies were upon us quick (within 5-minutes). We both received warnings for not immediately marking the fish on the card. When I questioned my written warning the gammie said, "It's your boat and your responsible for everyone onboard." "You should be enforcing all the rules and regulations."

I am wondering if this is the case in the above scenario?

Too bad the Gamey's sit at the launch...The REAL violations are happening on the banks and in the water...A guide tells a Newbe fisherman to record his fish, heres a pen, date,code,species,wild/hatch.
If they mistakenly recorded it on the back of a license instead of the catch card...OOPS...Warn them too, they don't sound like poachers, They sound like id-jits...Eli is a Pro.Guide (not real friendly on the water 75% of the time) but his concern is what going on in HIS boat, not who cruisin' by or who's tryin' to give him the "Whats Up" head nod...
As for the rest of this post...In one eye n out the other...

Rog,
In one eye n out the other is a first for me...god your such a trend setter. Congrats on tangling with those coho's today.