Native out of the water

[rasbo]

I found another picture of a Native out of water.... it's becoming an epidemic...

    My other name is, Dances with Salmon!

[grundy53]

I found another picture of a Native out of water.... it's becoming an epidemic...

    My other name is, Dances with Salmon!

 

[sirmissalot]

Nice fish, I would have done the same thing. Thats a great picture and probably taken on a river where it is legal... being that he is a "professional" such as the Quinalt.

[dreamingbig]

What am I missing?  Is it illegal to take a picture of a native before releasing it back into the water?  Are you supposed to cut your line as soon as you realize it is not a hatchery fish?

Yes....as long as it's on a river with mandatory wild fish release.
No you don't have to cut your line, just leave the fish in the water and unhook it. Should be easy to do...barbless hook and all.
 
Don't know what would be difficult about it. People got to have those glory shots though...

Thanks, I didn't know.  I haven't spent much time fishing the past 10 years.  Makes sense I guess.

[WSU]

I personally like the law, and I have been known to say something if people don't handle fish correctly.  The law is a pain sometimes and makes getting a good photo a little more difficult, but I can't stand watching people drag a fish up on the beach and taking their sweet time to unhook it only to give it the boot back into the river because it is wild.  Makes me want to give those same people the boot back into the river.  The law was put in place because fishmen are unable to police themselves and take care of a struggling resource. 

[whitey]

He could have knocked the eyeballs out of it.
Then You would have something to whine about.. just saying..
 

[Special T]

Just another reason i don't bother fishing anymore.

[WSU]

And whine I would! 

I realize that it is legal to kill natives in 8 rivers, but that doesn't make it right (in my opinion).  WDFW is mismanaging those rivers to the point that they are going to end up closed like a lot of the state's rivers. 

[h2ofowlr]

Whats native about them anymore. It's part of the 80%+ that get released from a hatchery unclipped.  I could be fishing next to a Native and he would thump it on the head.  I would have to baby it, keep it in the water and release it.  Just saying!  When the next law is passed due to some elbow rubbing, envelope with cash or donations sent to your charitable organization.  Some science, more political.  Local anglers wont stand up to the commercial guys or indians, so it won't get better.  Just saying.

[WSU]

Whats native about them anymore. It's part of the 80%+ that get released from a hatchery unclipped.  I could be fishing next to a Native and he would thump it on the head.  I would have to baby it, keep it in the water and release it.  Just saying!  When the next law is passed due to some elbow rubbing, envelope with cash or donations sent to your charitable organization.  Some science, more political.  Local anglers wont stand up to the commercial guys or indians, so it won't get better.  Just saying.

Not sure where you got your info, but most of it is dead wrong.  Genetic studies have shown that many runs, including on the OP, have genetically different native fish.  They are genetically proven to be different. 

I also have no idea where you got the statistic that 80% of the fish released from the hatcheries are unclipped.  Fairly sure there is no support for either of your factual assertions.  Just sayin'!

Also, it isn't that local anglers won't stand up to commercials and Indians.  Much the same as hunting, sportsmen don't have much say against the treaty tribes.  Commercials are a fairly well protected special interest group, and don't fish for these fish anyway.  Not sure how commercials are even relevant to this discussion?

[BigGoonTuna]

the vast majority of all hatchery steelhead are clipped in this state, unless you're fishing the quinault(you need a guide there anyway), or the queets(you can keep unclipped hatchery fish as long as the dorsal height is less than 2 1/2").  there is no non-tribal commercial fishing in this state for steelhead, and you'll never get the tribes off the water.  they have treaty rights, it would be like trying to get hunters to give up their guns:  it ain't gonna happen.

sport kill hasn't helped steelhead any in this state, but it's not the only issue at hand.  the only upside to it is that it gives us an allocation of the fish - if we don't kill them all they get to hit the gravel to spawn.  if we made it CNR only on the peninsula, the tribes would get even more netting time because they get to use "forgone opportunity" to take the share that we try to designate to spawn.  the problem is there's too many guys that don't care, or believe idiotic sentiments like "if i don't kill it the indians will"(which is flat out *censored*, because the majority of sport fishermen catch fish after they've gotten past the nets).

[Button Nubbs]

[WSU]

the vast majority of all hatchery steelhead are clipped in this state, unless you're fishing the quinault(you need a guide there anyway), or the queets(you can keep unclipped hatchery fish as long as the dorsal height is less than 2 1/2").  there is no non-tribal commercial fishing in this state for steelhead, and you'll never get the tribes off the water.  they have treaty rights, it would be like trying to get hunters to give up their guns:  it ain't gonna happen.

sport kill hasn't helped steelhead any in this state, but it's not the only issue at hand.  the only upside to it is that it gives us an allocation of the fish - if we don't kill them all they get to hit the gravel to spawn.  if we made it CNR only on the peninsula, the tribes would get even more netting time because they get to use "forgone opportunity" to take the share that we try to designate to spawn.  the problem is there's too many guys that don't care, or believe idiotic sentiments like "if i don't kill it the indians will"(which is flat out *censored*, because the majority of sport fishermen catch fish after they've gotten past the nets).

Do you know how much more "foregone opportunity" the tribes would get if we went to all CnR?  I know we use a portion of our share with assumed mortality...

[huntnphool]

 Looks like there are two natives out of the water on that front page.

[Bone_Collector]

I have a problem with this rule they are imposing! I can understand that hey dragging a fish up on shore and than kicking it back into the water is not good at all but I have been in some situations where I have to bring the fish on board for the safety of my crew on the boat! I fish on the Columbia and the Snake and Clearwater rivers some times when I am fishing the Snake it is in the Washington boundaries but most of the time it is not. Anyways back to my point in rough water out in a boat it makes more sense to me to net the fish and bring it into the vessel and than release back into the water. Why because I don't want to risk having a customer or a crew member fall into the river because the boat was tossed by a rouge wave to me the life of another human being is more important that some fine.

B_C