This picture is of a soon to be dead cutthroat trout. See the bleeding from the gills?
The picture was on ifish.net, that bastion of the harvest mentality, and the guy that killed this fish says this.
"it was just hard not to keep that one!"
He was fishing a coastal river that I spend a lot of time on and I wish I would have been down there that day to tell him what a stupid asshole he is. I sincerely hope he or someone that knows him tells him about this post and wants to contact me.
I do not pull any punches when it comes to this kind of stuff. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife "cooked the books" when they pushed for the harvest of these wild trout and I will remain that agencies harshest critic as long as they have the people in place that they do making decisions about wild salmonids.
It really brings it home when you see a picture from your own home river of a dying trout that you care about...it breaks my heart and I do take it personally.
Maybe I shouldn't but I do!
That dying trout is irreplaceable and no doubt this person didn't think about that as he ripped his worm out of that trout mouth.
What this has accomplished is a renewal of my efforts to protect all wild and endangered salmonids and that is what I intend to do. I'm tired of being told that it can't be done. It can be done but we have to get off of our lazy over fed asses to do it!
Who is with me?
I agree completely in protecting all species. Can i ask you a favor since i don't know the story. Is it possible this fish was a victom of being gut hooked. Was the fish caught in a catch & release area. My only weakness for keeping any fish is this. Where i am catching fish is it legal to do so. Second if the fish is dying & not going to make it. If so i rather keep it if it is legally allowed. I would rathor celebrate the life of that fish with a feast then to allow it to spoil dead in the water. We have come a long way with C&R. But sometimes even with barbless it's not enough to keep a fish alive. The real reality of C&R is this. Fishing even the right way perposes a risk of death even if every thing is done right.
ReplyDeleteHe caught this fish on bait and hooked it in the mouth.
ReplyDeleteShane,
ReplyDeleteKeep up the crusade there are many of us who support your views regarding wild fish!
Hello Shane, I believe he said he was using a fly on a spin rod. I left the comment about how it sickens me that the ODFW has allowed the take of these fish. My comment was removed from the post. I plan on joining the Washington County Fly Fishers tomorrow and I hope to meet you.
ReplyDeleteLorne MacLean
I make it a point to look for you Lorne.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the strong push back and for your consistent commitment to protecting wild, native fish. We are all benefiting from your passion. ODFW's mission is to prevent the serious depletion of indigenous (native) fish, but they refuse to follow state law in their management of our fish populations. Keep up the pressure and a lot of us will do the same.
ReplyDelete