Here's the article from the local newspaper. The attitude of the fishermen interviewed is typical of the "I ain't the problem" denial prevelant today.

"Property owners threaten to close route to popular Samish fishing hole"



Skagit Valley Herald
09/21/02 - BEVERLY CRICHFIELD

"EDISON — First it was the garbage strewn around the sides of the river and the road. Then it was the cars pulling up in the driveway at 1 a.m. and the piles of fish guts rotting along the river.

Then last week, a beloved family dog disappeared from the house. The dog’s owners believe he was stolen by someone who wanted a good hunting dog.

That was the last straw for eight property owners near a favorite local fishing hole along the Samish River. They plan to close access to fishing along about two miles of the river between the Bay View-Edison Bridge to the Farm-to-Market bridge starting Sept. 25, to the dismay of local anglers.

Most of all, the property owners want the dog back. If the dog isn’t returned, they say anglers will have to get written permission to cross their property.

But property owners say they’ve also had enough of the continuous problems along the stretch of river that attracts hundreds of anglers each day during the fishing season.

“This year I’ve had to clean up big piles of fish guts down where they clean the fish, and by the time I got to them, they were nothing but a bunch of maggots,” said Tony Breckenridge, whose home sits about a quarter of a mile from Bay View-Edison Road.

In addition, Breckenridge said, people often rip up and muddy the ground around the property with all-terrain vehicles.

The Samish fishing area is a favorite for anglers who come from all over the West Coast to fish. The area was opened to the public seven years ago, after the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, a local fishing organization and property owners agreed to create access to the river across private property.

Since then, the property owners have increasingly put up with garbage, damaged property and even human waste left in their yards, Breckenridge said.

Then on Sunday, Sept. 15, Breckenridge noticed his 6-year-old black Labrador, Jake, was missing from the home where he had been chained in the yard.

Jake had apparently got loose after slipping his neck through his collar.

One fisherman reported seeing a young man in a truck driving away from the river with a dog fitting Jake’s description in the front of the truck. Breckenridge isn’t sure whether someone thought the dog was lost, or whether they just wanted a good hunting dog to take home.

Either way, he wants to make sure Jake makes it home. The black lab belongs to Breckenridge’s 14-year-old son, who takes the dog wherever he goes, Breckenridge said.

Jake is easy to identify, Breckenridge said. The dog is missing two teeth on the same side of the mouth, he said.

“He’s a very friendly dog,” said Breckenridge’s wife, Heidi. “Labs are very trusting dogs. We’ve never seen him run off like this.”

But local fishermen wading in the Samish River Friday afternoon aren’t so sure. They wonder if Jake was stolen — or if he just ran away and is happily following fishermen around the river.

Some anglers also wonder how the property owners will enforce their new “off-limits” policy.

“To ban everyone from going down there to fish because his dog is on the loose is ridiculous,” said Gary McCombs, who pulled a 35-pound king salmon into his truck Friday.

McCombs drove from Oak Harbor to enjoy the productive fishing and scenery of the Samish river fishing hole. “That’s a hunting dog, and if a hunting dog gets loose, he’ll take off on ya for days.”

Charles Danner of Oak Harbor snubbed his nose at the idea that Jake was stolen.

“That dog wasn’t stolen,” he said. “It’s unfair to keep us from fishing here.”

* Beverly Crichfield can be reached at 360-416-2132 or by e-mail at bcrichfield@skagitvalley herald.com"