Cowlitz tomorrow.

[TheHunt]

I will be fishing the crack pipe.  LOL!!!   I am hoping to bring at least one home. 

[huntnphool]

please explain this "crack pipe" you guys are talking about, pics will go a long way too.

[Button Nubbs]

  good luck!

[JackOfAllTrades]

Wish I could come down and fish that with someone that knows the spot!

-Steve

[Wa hunter]

I will be there as well.  No crack pipe fishing from my boat.

[TheHunt]

If I had my drift boat I would be in that.  But I will be banking it until April or May time frame. 

[TheHunt]

The crack pipe is close to the blue creek boat launch. 

[BigGoonTuna]

it's the new trout hatchery outflow, that draws in people like crack 

i laugh my ass off every time i see people shelling out money to hire a guide, who goes back and forth fishing 100 yards from the boat launch the whole day.

[TheHunt]

I had my lips on the crack pipe today.  I went 1 for 3.  I should have been 2 for 3 but I needed a net.  Still had fun... 

[huntnphool]

So guys fish right in the little channel?

[TheHunt]

The little channel is for the handy cap people.  You get caught fishing that without the right credentials you get a nice ticket.  But just down river from there and up river is where people fish from the crack pipe.  Once you smoke from that pipe it is all over you cannot stay away.   It is like crack!!!   

[buckhorn2]

I have a buddy who heard that he can fish from a spot there he could get to he has his handicap hunting card and has mailed wdf several times to see what he has to do to get his handicap fishing permit but they have;nt answered he cansit but can;t walk very good or far. If anyone knows who he can ask let me know.

[TheHunt]

it's the new trout hatchery outflow, that draws in people like crack 

i laugh my ass off every time i see people shelling out money to hire a guide, who goes back and forth fishing 100 yards from the boat launch the whole day.

You are sooo right.  I dropped my bobber with eggs about 8 feet from a boat that was way too close to the bankies on the crack pipe.  He made some comment and I said your not close enough. 

[coyotewallace]

they opened that up now...it's not just wheelchair only anymore which kinda sucks for those of us who are 100% wheelchair bound(not pushing a wheelchair over and sitting down). Now you got a doctor in your pocket, have a blue card send in the paper work. Anyway ................................ Thx WDFW

Here is a letter I sent to WDFW back on 4-16-2011. As you will see it went on deaf ears

Dear Brenda Kane,
 
I am writing to you as a follow-up to recent events at the ADA fishing site at the Blue Creek Trout Hatchery in Lewis County and how disappointed I am with the decision that was made regarding the qualifying disabilities for those who are allowed to fish at that site. In my opinion, your decision will allow anyone that has a harvesters card and a blue placard to use this site, regardless of their mobility or state of disability. This decision is in conflict with your intended purpose of setting this site aside for those persons who are permanently confined to a wheelchair; as is written in the WDFW fishing regulations and as is posted at the site itself. It is an insult to those of us paraplegics and quadriplegics who use this site to allow a person who is "gaming" the system to fish at this site.
 
Just yesterday, while I was fishing at this site, I witnessed a person pushing their empty wheelchair from the parking lot to the fishing spot, then park the chair and sit in it to begin fishing. He was accompanied by his harvester who at first was doing all the fishing. When I informed the harvester that this site was for those who were permanently confine to a wheelchair, he immediately blasted back at me that his friend was 100% disabled in the military from Vietnam and the Game Warden said he could fish there. I responded that being considered 100% disabled was not part of what the regulation require to fish at this ADA site; that this particular site was for those who are permanently confined to a wheelchair. His attitude was very negative and his response was that he knew the rules and they were going to continue to fish there. Several calls to WDFW Officers Scott and James were made but they went to their voice-mails. There were four of us paraplegics and quadriplegics along with our harvesters who witnessed this event.
 
I have been fishing at the Blue creek site many times since early January of this year and enjoyed the access to the Cowlitz River for those of us that are faced with very limited mobility each and every day of our lives. I don't know of a single "para" or "quad" that wouldn't trade places with a person who could stand and walk. It is the only ADA site in the State that I know of that is restricted to persons that are confined to wheelchairs. I am concerned that the regulations are vague and the enforcement is spotty at best. I have seen fishing violations such as un-punched fish, snagged fish, fishing inside the "closed waters" zone by both bank fishers and boat fishers as well as unauthorized persons fishing at this site almost every trip. I have had conversation with WDFW Officers Scott about these violations; he gave me his phone number and told me to call him and report such violations; that I could be an extra set of eyes for him. I also contacted you, Brenda, when I saw an obvious violation of the "wheelchair rule". As you will remember, my question to you was just how you interpreted being "confined to a wheelchair". You said that if a person could stand or walk, he/she could not use this site. I agreed and passed that information on to others who use this site. Now you have reversed you stance to allow anyone who can convince a doctor to state that he limited as to his/her mobility and has a harvesters card to use the site. Can you see the tire tracks across my chest after being thrown under the bus? Now I am the "bad guy" to all the locals at Blue Creek for being the whistle-blower. I can tell you that those days are over for me. I have been through enough stress trying to deal with this whole situation.  I can see that it does me no good to try to educate people who are pushing the rules and breaking the law. Especially when WDFW will not stand with me and enforce the regulations that are printed in the book.
 
Thank you.......... you won't be hearing from me again regarding this matter.


Wanted to add....Not one response from anyone at WDFW after having sent this letter to many of the folks there

[Button Nubbs]

I inquired about the crackpipe handicap access for a friend of mine who has his disabled hunting card. I was told the just being disabled wouldn't cut it, you had to be in a wheel chair. This was a while ago now tho...