Good Spring Weekend on the River

[h20hunter]

Well, no doubt they are nice fish.

Regardling the legality it seems that those that know have made that clear. I would never post pictures of this online.

[wildmanoutdoors]

Any clown can be a guide. It only costs 160.

[snowpack]

I didn't see where they were released, or what river they came from.  Still seven coastal rivers open to retention for another month.

You are right, so lets clarify. I know where these fish were caught because I was there as well. All fish were caught between Hartzel's and the Clearwater bridge on the Queets River, which is not open for wild retention. Anyone who knows the river will recognize the runs in the pictures.

I hate to pull away from the great fish and sky high feeling of catching them, but there was blatant illegal activity and p*** poor judgment on the handling of those fish, especially the one in the boat. By all appearances, his forward hand is in the gills on the back side of that fish.

I love to look at fish pictures online as much as the next guy, I just wish people would use better judgement when posting them. Make sure their legal, to cover your own rear end if nothing else.

Okay, I was thinking it was Clearwater up by the cow pasture.  If on the Queets, though, retention isn't allowed; but I don't know that the fish have to be legally kept in the water if released.  I know it is a park recommendation, but is it law?  I know you don't even need a fishing license, just a catch card. 

[7mmfan]

Thats a valid point Snowpack, I'm going to have to look into that.

[7mmfan]

On the last page of the Park Regulations, it does state that wild fish must be handled and released following "these" guidelines. One of those guidelines is not removing the fish from the water. It does not state that this is law and that you could be cited for the offense, so it appears to be a gray area.

Despite that, it still doesn't make it ok to manhandle fish that are meant to be released. I don't see how anyone can argue that.

I started a seperate thread on fish handling, so lets divert to that for management and ethical issues and give Come Get Some a little breathing room. They caught some great fish and I don't want to take away from that any more than we already have.

[Come Get Some]

I was not going to respond but I cannot help myself. Havent you heard the saying that if you do not have anything good to say Then do not say anything. The fish my brother was holding while kneeling was not netted, It was slid on too shore slowly ,carefully picked up, hook removed and made sure it was doing very well when released. The fish in the boat had to be netted, it was caught on a plug. We tried to get the hooks out but we were having difficulty. The fish was played out ,gently netted and only lifted to remove the hook and carefully released to reduce the damage. I almost never net a fish we are releasing. I have not fished with any one who replied to the post, They do not know who I am or what I do . I have been fishing the rivers for over 40 years. We catch ALOT of fish. We keep very few. We eat the ocean fish we catch. we release more fish on the ocean in 1 season than most people catch in multiple seasons. There is always someone on the soap box. Better than others. It does not bother me that you have negative comments. It is better to know the facts before you open your pie hole. It makes you not me look foolish.

[steeleywhopper]

I won't say that I haven't had to bend the "fish out of the water rule" once or twice for the fishes benefit. I'm sure not gonna post pictures of me doing it on a public forum where WDFW keep an eye out. Make those guys work for it don't hand them the evidence. If a guy posts a picture of himself doing something that is against the law expect to be called on it by fellow sportsmen. I'm not hatin just statin....
 On a side note, Nice fish and it looks like it was one of those trips a guy will never forget.

[Bullkllr]

Nice fish.

We need a head-shaking smiley for this thread.

[beave]

   nice fish looks like you had a great day--------

[tmike]

I saw you guys on the river. A 22 is big, but a 26 is the holey grail of steelhead. That's why I go there. PM me a pic of that one if you don't want to post it if you don't mind. Many don't agree with Sparkey's Law but it is what it is. I think the fish in the boat was the real question. Glad you had a good day.

[bankwalker]

I can excuse the boat pic. If the fish was netted, and hooked on a plug...it's a pain in the butt to get the hooks out of the net and the fish without a lot of unnecessary handling.

It's obvious extra time was not taken for the pic. Looks to me more like a quick snap as the fish was in the beginning of being Released.

I still am completely disgusted though with the comments of those who feel it's ok to handle wild steelhead out of water and so poorly on such a regular basis.
It's illegal to remove them from the water, even if legal to keep....IF you do NOT intend to keep them.
It's in the regs.

There are very few exceptions and the second pic/situation is one where the fish would and could have been injured far worse if it was to sit in a net thrashing around while trying desperately to remove hooks.

[Bullkllr]

I can excuse the boat pic. If the fish was netted, and hooked on a plug...it's a pain in the butt to get the hooks out of the net and the fish without a lot of unnecessary handling.

It's obvious extra time was not taken for the pic. Looks to me more like a quick snap as the fish was in the beginning of being Released.

I still am completely disgusted though with the comments of those who feel it's ok to handle wild steelhead out of water and so poorly on such a regular basis.
It's illegal to remove them from the water, even if legal to keep....IF you do NOT intend to keep them.
It's in the regs.

There are very few exceptions and the second pic/situation is one where the fish would and could have been injured far worse if it was to sit in a net thrashing around while trying desperately to remove hooks.

I agree with most of your points Bankwalker  . The plug issue is why the hooks on plugs should be replaced with singles- even if it's not required- which it clearly is on that stretch of river. Releasing a fish with a single-hooked plug is no different than any other lure. Taking the fish to the bank, as suggested in the thread this one spawned, generally makes for a more efficient release, whether a net is involved or not. And based on the background in the pic, that would not have been too difficult.

[Come Get Some]

I can excuse the boat pic. If the fish was netted, and hooked on a plug...it's a pain in the butt to get the hooks out of the net and the fish without a lot of unnecessary handling.

It's obvious extra time was not taken for the pic. Looks to me more like a quick snap as the fish was in the beginning of being Released.

I still am completely disgusted though with the comments of those who feel it's ok to handle wild steelhead out of water and so poorly on such a regular basis.
It's illegal to remove them from the water, even if legal to keep....IF you do NOT intend to keep them.
It's in the regs.

There are very few exceptions and the second pic/situation is one where the fish would and could have been injured far worse if it was to sit in a net thrashing around while trying desperately to remove hooks.

I agree with most of your points Bankwalker  . The plug issue is why the hooks on plugs should be replaced with singles- even if it's not required- which it clearly is on that stretch of river. Releasing a fish with a single-hooked plug is no different than any other lure. Taking the fish to the bank, as suggested in the thread this one spawned, generally makes for a more efficient release, whether a net is involved or not. And based on the background in the pic, that would not have been too difficult.

  These fish were caught in February. Another case where someone who doesnt have a clue running their mouth again. I have been catching steelhead since before most of you were born. Responses like this is why some of the other forumns have a bad reputation. If you have a comment that you need to share and is just your opinion not backed up by FACT try a PM. And yes I am tired of idots running their mouths. I am sure that will get a favorable response.

[Bullkllr]

I can excuse the boat pic. If the fish was netted, and hooked on a plug...it's a pain in the butt to get the hooks out of the net and the fish without a lot of unnecessary handling.

It's obvious extra time was not taken for the pic. Looks to me more like a quick snap as the fish was in the beginning of being Released.

I still am completely disgusted though with the comments of those who feel it's ok to handle wild steelhead out of water and so poorly on such a regular basis.
It's illegal to remove them from the water, even if legal to keep....IF you do NOT intend to keep them.
It's in the regs.

There are very few exceptions and the second pic/situation is one where the fish would and could have been injured far worse if it was to sit in a net thrashing around while trying desperately to remove hooks.

I agree with most of your points Bankwalker  . The plug issue is why the hooks on plugs should be replaced with singles- even if it's not required- which it clearly is on that stretch of river. Releasing a fish with a single-hooked plug is no different than any other lure. Taking the fish to the bank, as suggested in the thread this one spawned, generally makes for a more efficient release, whether a net is involved or not. And based on the background in the pic, that would not have been too difficult.

  These fish were caught in February. Another case where someone who doesnt have a clue running their mouth again. I have been catching steelhead since before most of you were born. Responses like this is why some of the other forumns have a bad reputation. If you have a comment that you need to share and is just your opinion not backed up by FACT try a PM. And yes I am tired of idots running their mouths. I am sure that will get a favorable response.

With all due respect to your fishing skills and history, don't you think you opened yourself up for some negative reactions to your post just a bit. And it's the "facts" relating to the situation that have brought on speculation and on-going discussion. And I would add that veteran and accomplished fishermen such as yourself need to maintain a higher standard to help educate those that are new and/or simply don't know any better.

Cases in point (hopefully some is fact-relevant):

1. Pics of fish that don't appear follow WA state regulations. Sure there could have been a logical explanation for what appear to be wild fish out of the water- like you were in Oregon- but you posted you went to "the coast" and this is HuntWASHINGTON. Or you could have been on a river where wild steelhead retention is allowed and just chose to keep those fish. But from the posing of the pictures it looks like they were being released. And from what was posted later, no retention is allowed where you were at. True- the ONP regs may not be as specific as the state regs on fish out of the water, but aren't we splitting hairs there...

2. See above as it relates to what is commonly known as best fish-handling practice regardless of legality.

3. The area where it appears you caught the fish has been open since March 1st with single-hook artificial lure only regulations. You claim to have brought the largish buck into the boat because it took a plug and there was a struggle to get the "hooks" out (your wording). I'm picturing a mag-wart or kwikfish with double trebles. The title of your thread was "Good Spring Weekend..." and was posted on March 26. Spring began the  weekend previous to the posting, not in February. For those who know the regs on that river, that wasn't much of a leap...

And yes, if you posted this on Ifish or PiscPursuits, etc. the overall reaction would likely have been much more negative from the get go. Initially I posted simply "nice fish" until further (and let's be honest- questionable) details and defense started to emerge. I really don't want to question your knowledge or credibility here. But I think we all have some standards to uphold.

[Come Get Some]

Just beacuse the pics were posted in March does not mean the fish were not caught earlier. I would be foolish to fish that river in March with Treble hooks or bait. The Rangers there are not very understanding.My brother retired in January and we fished the first weekend in February. I was reluctant to post any pics because of the negative comments that come from the experts on this site. The BARBED hook was caught in the notless net and we were having difficulty removing it. This fish was not spawned out like previously mentioned and the guy that pcked it up was not wearing a fleece jacket. All asumptions. His first large steeelhead and excited. The fish although lifted out of the water was taken very good care of and released with no harm. The other thread mentioned the proper way to release fish. He also mentioned there is no hurry to release a fish floating in the net. Go ahead and let him rest. Come on. No one talked about that little tidbit. If you are going to hurry to land a fish that has to be released and not fully play it out as mentioned why would you not release it in the same speedy time frame. You could pick it apart as well with assumptions. A still picture as you know does not tell the whole story. Anybody can walk a fish 100 yds set it in the water and release it making it look the way they want. Like I said if someone has negative comments do not say anything or send a pm. Atleast be respectful or happy for someone else.There is always going to be a self proclaimed expert out there.