Seagull versus Mink

 Low water and bright sunshine made the fishing slow to non-existent on the third to last day of the coastal trout season.We fished all those "sure thing" holes but to no avail.  We decided to try one last place on the Trask river near Tillamook to see if we fared any better. When we parked and... got down to the river we immediately saw a seagull all tangled up in fishing line with a spinner in it's beak/mouth left by some uncaring fishing slob. The poor bird was in obvious distress and would not have survived much longer. I waded out to almost the top of my waders in hopes of some how freeing the gull. I could not get close enough to reach the bird so my fishing buddy Tom gave it a try. He managed to cast his fly line and snag the monofiliment the the bird was trapped with. Long story short he was successful in freeing the gull who went up on shore to gather it's strength I assume.
We were watching the gull in the brush when I noticed a mink was slinking along the shore making it's way towards the seagull. I figured that the large gull was too big for the mink to try to make a meal out of but I was wrong. The mink attacked the weakened gull and had it in a death grip! They thrashed around in the shallows until the gull escaped the teeth of the little predator and floated down river apparently unable to fly. The gull may have ended up as a meal for other coastal predators but through the adroit and skilled casting of Tom it at least didn't become the mink's dinner that night.
It is great seeing nature in action even if that action was brought about because of slobs who think nothing about leaving line all over the river bank. There certainly is no shortage of seagulls near the coast but to see one suffering like that is not pleasant. Just another reason to be good stewards and leave the river as we find it.
Great save by my pal Tom who now stands supreme in seagull lore.

 

Sports Fishermen Are Spoiled

Do I mean what I am saying in the title of this entry? Hell yes I do and here is why.
Sports anglers are the most greedy, ignorant,lazy ,spoiled and self serving group of people that there is in the outdoor pursuits ! Every day on internet these greedy assholes whine about the fish they are not getting. It's always something or someone else's fault. It's the gill nets,it's the tribes, it's the sea lions/cormorants, it's the Canadians/Alaskans/Japanese. It's just endless finger pointing and cop outs.
Remember how the CCA was going to ride in and save the day? Didn't happen did it? Sports fisherman thought that the CCA was going to get them a more fish and shut down the gill nets and now these selfish slobs are disenchanted. Same thing happened with Northwest Steelheaders when they didn't come through. So who is going to be the next group that rides to the rescue so you(we) can get a larger slice of the allocation pie. Like the spoiled children that they (we) are they didn't get their way and now are going to hold their breath until they turn blue. They piss and moan because they have to use barbless hooks or non-sulfite bait cures because it maybe just might help wild fish.
The new culprit is Native Fish Society or any conservation group who actually looks at the big picture. These conservation groups are now the target of these spoiled pricks and no matter how much the facts are presented they refuse to believe them. Sounds like a bunch of republicans doesn't it? Well it just so happens many of them are.
When the last wild salmon or steelhead is gone for good who is going to be blamed? The myriad of scape goats I listed earlier or the real culprit and just who is that real culprit? The assholes who bitch and cry on the internet that's who. The guys that don't do shit that's who.  Doesn't matter if they (we) fish with conventional or fly gear either because every so called sports fisherman who sits on the sidelines is to blame.
So I hope this blog entry makes the rounds of Facebook and it pisses you off to the point that you continue to try to spam this blog like someone has been doing for over 6 months now and generally ridicule my message because the truth hurts. 

Bet you thought I was done ranting and raving on this blog...not even! I'm not in this to win friends and if you are a spoiled rotten little whiner who isn't getting a metric fuck ton of fish every year then I don't even want to know you and I do know many of you....unfortunately
The last few weeks has shown me just how much this blog and my opinions pisses people off and I don't really understand why except that maybe just maybe there is a bit of truth in what I'm saying?
Take a look in the mirror fellas because YOU are the problem! You have no one to blame but yourself and you will not educate yourself as to what is fact and what is not. Native Fish Society is not the enemy....YOU ARE!