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  1. #1
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    Washington State Bass Fishing

    I know that many on this site still think we are fighting wild Indians up here in our part of the country. Truth is, we have some pretty good bass fisheries in Washington. Unfortunately, we have been over taken by brainless liberals, many whom have moved here from California. Our warm water fisheries have been under attack and the latest proposed legislation could have serious consequences. Please open and read the link below, then ask yourself if something like this could happen where you live?

    http://nwsportsmanmag.com/limits-at-...bed-for-orcas/
    Last edited by stein3411; 09-23-2019 at 01:14 PM.

  2. Member Quillback's Avatar
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    #2
    Lived in that area for about 20 years, and sure do miss the fishing for steelhead and salmon.

    Isn't this legislation calling for the removal of bag limits on warm water fish? If it's implemented are bass fishermen going to start keeping bass? My guess is they will just continue their catch and release fishing. I doubt it will have much if any impact.

    However I agree that it is brainless legislation, especially on lakes that don't have steelhead or salmon runs.

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    #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Quillback View Post
    Lived in that area for about 20 years, and sure do miss the fishing for steelhead and salmon.

    Isn't this legislation calling for the removal of bag limits on warm water fish? If it's implemented are bass fishermen going to start keeping bass? My guess is they will just continue their catch and release fishing. I doubt it will have much if any impact.

    However I agree that it is brainless legislation, especially on lakes that don't have steelhead or salmon runs.
    Unfortunately this has already happened. The WDFW (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife) implemented this on the Columbia river a couple of years ago. There is a large number of giant smallmouth that migrate up the Yakima river to spawn every spring, we are talking about 4-6 LB smallmouth. For the past two springs, both banks of the Yakima are lined with meat fishermen packing those egg carrying big smallmouth out in gunny sacks. Our tournament weights have shown the impacts by declining weights. I agree that it's not the passionate bass fishermen that will cause the harm. However, there are a lot of meat fishermen that are licking their chops at these opportunities to rape the resource.

    For the record, I also fish for salmon and steelhead. It sounds like you may have witnessed the fishery years ago ---- today it's a joke with next to no sport fishery season.
    Last edited by stein3411; 09-23-2019 at 02:28 PM.

  4. Dink Flipper alpine4x4's Avatar
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    Yeah I posted about this last week. The science done even shows the bass have no measurable impact on the outmigrating smolts. This is a bill being pushed by Inslee and the environmentalists with him in their pocket to supposedly protect endangered orcas.
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by alpine4x4 View Post
    Yeah I posted about this last week. The science done even shows the bass have no measurable impact on the outmigrating smolts. This is a bill being pushed by Inslee and the environmentalists with him in their pocket to supposedly protect endangered orcas.
    Ryan, couldn't agree more.

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    #6
    Are all of these lakes tied to the river system? If I'm reading this law right they want to try to wipe out 3 or 4 kinds of other fish thinking it will save one?

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    #7
    Quote Originally Posted by retiredmechanic View Post
    Are all of these lakes tied to the river system? If I'm reading this law right they want to try to wipe out 3 or 4 kinds of other fish thinking it will save one?
    All of the listed waters are tied to a ditch, creek, stream or river system (not just the Columbia river) that eventually feed into the sound or ocean. All of these have been documented to "previously" had salmon or steelhead migration but may have not seen any viable evidence of migration in years. We have witnessed severe habitat loss, sea lion and seal predation, warming water and over harvest through commercial fishing (mainly tribal netting in the tributaries). Yet we want to place the blame on the species that have been documented to have the least impact. You are completely correct in your assessment that Washington state wants to totally eradicate largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and channel catfish. Oregon state is also pursuing legislation in the same direction. Sad that our elected and appointed officials are making blind decisions with their head inserted in their A$$. See you all after the ban

  8. Member Quillback's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by stein3411 View Post
    Unfortunately this has already happened. The WDFW (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife) implemented this on the Columbia river a couple of years ago. There is a large number of giant smallmouth that migrate up the Yakima river to spawn every spring, we are talking about 4-6 LB smallmouth. For the past two springs, both banks of the Yakima are lined with meat fishermen packing those egg carrying big smallmouth out in gunny sacks. Our tournament weights have shown the impacts by declining weights. I agree that it's not the passionate bass fishermen that will cause the harm. However, there are a lot of meat fishermen that are licking their chops at these opportunities to rape the resource.

    For the record, I also fish for salmon and steelhead. It sounds like you may have witnessed the fishery years ago ---- today it's a joke with next to no sport fishery season.
    Yeah I used to fish the Sound just about year round and would fish the Sky and Snoqualmie when the fish were in. When I moved away in 2007 it seemed like everything was shut down, it was tough to find a place to fish in the rivers or in the Sound that was open. I hope things have improved, I don't follow what's going on up there anymore, but it sure was sad to see things go so far downhill.

    What I don't understand is that, if I remember correctly, you could keep bass from the Yak or Columbia prior to this rule, so I don't see why with the rule change it would lead to a bunch of bucket fishermen showing up all of a sudden, if, for instance, they lowered it to 5 fish a day, those guys are still going to show up and keep them.

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    #9
    The tribes overfished as they over due crabbing etc etc

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    Quote Originally Posted by Quillback View Post
    Yeah I used to fish the Sound just about year round and would fish the Sky and Snoqualmie when the fish were in. When I moved away in 2007 it seemed like everything was shut down, it was tough to find a place to fish in the rivers or in the Sound that was open. I hope things have improved, I don't follow what's going on up there anymore, but it sure was sad to see things go so far downhill.

    What I don't understand is that, if I remember correctly, you could keep bass from the Yak or Columbia prior to this rule, so I don't see why with the rule change it would lead to a bunch of bucket fishermen showing up all of a sudden, if, for instance, they lowered it to 5 fish a day, those guys are still going to show up and keep them.
    I'm not trying to argue with you sir but do you think the same philosophy would hold true if this was implemented on deer or elk? No tag requirements, kill at will ----- the herds would be decimated within a few years. No things have not got better on the Skagit, Snoqualmie, Sky, etc., things are worse.

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    Quote Originally Posted by stein3411 View Post
    I'm not trying to argue with you sir but do you think the same philosophy would hold true if this was implemented on deer or elk? No tag requirements, kill at will ----- the herds would be decimated within a few years. No things have not got better on the Skagit, Snoqualmie, Sky, etc., things are worse.
    The other thing that has occurred with the diminishing opportunities for salmon in the sound and salmon/ steelhead in the tributaries, is that these fishermen are converting over to bass and walleye. I can't blame them, anybody who loves to fish would do the same. The problem is that this is putting increased pressure on these other fisheries. And yes many of these fishermen are catch & fillet. Some of my best friends are die hard avid salmon and steelhead fishermen. They are now branching out into the other fishery options. These same friends used to joke with me and say I chased fresh water rock cod out of a sparkle barge, now they are asking if I will take them out and show them how to fish for bass.

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    #12
    Quote Originally Posted by PNWLipRipper View Post
    The tribes overfished as they over due crabbing etc etc
    Yep.

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    #13
    WDF&G is too invested in the hatchery business. It's mostly about keeping their jobs, IMO. Running trout and salmon hatcheries is their #1 occupation and they don't want to fight for us. If the WDF&G opposes the legislation, they might be afraid of losing funding, since all the licensing revenue goes into the General Fund. That's crap and we need to change that ASAP!
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    #14
    Oregon is the same dumpster fire of mismanagement as Washington. They removed size and bag limits on a bunch of rivers here a few years ago (John Day, Umpqua, Columbia) and also removed limits on Brown and Brook trout too. It won't make a hill of beans difference to Salmon and Steelhead populations. It is however, already having a noticeable effect on Bass and Brown trout populations, and it's happening fairly quickly. Like someone stated, Salmon and Steelhead fisherman are pursuing Bass in much larger numbers, as they can no longer pursue there intended quarry as much due to declining returns and increased closures and regulations. And they really like to fillet what they catch. It's terrible....
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    #15
    Quote Originally Posted by stein3411 View Post
    I know that many on this site still think we are fighting wild Indians up here in our part of the country. Truth is, we have some pretty good bass fisheries in Washington. Unfortunately, we have been over taken by brainless liberals, many whom have moved here from California. Our warm water fisheries have been under attack and the latest proposed legislation could have serious consequences. Please open and read the link below, then ask yourself if something like this could happen where you live?

    http://nwsportsmanmag.com/limits-at-...bed-for-orcas/
    living in a neighboring state and having fished Washington lakes and rivers a ton over the years, not so much the last 5, the policy i see put in place is appalling. I watched them decimate one of the best pike fisheries I have ever seen by gill netting it. The PO river out of
    Usk. They also removed large and smallmouth bass which is ironic since the local tribe had a LMB hatchery program. I saw that netting fiasco as nothing more than a money grab by the tribe. They couldn’t give two chits about the fish and game populations. It really infuriates me that our local tribe is now gill netting parts of lake CDA to “study” pikes impact on resident cutthroat populations, never mind the stocked salmon predation on the trout. Now the IFnG are netting Lake PO for walleye. Hands down the best, or could be, Walleye lakes I have fished. It was awesome fishing just 3 short years ago but now it’s pretty tough to get into them. Guess that’s what removing 1-2k fish a week for 3 months in the spring from a system will do. I was really hoping the lunacy I have witnessed in WA as well as Ca and Ore would stay there, unfortunately it has infected our FnG department as well. It still wreaks of a money grab by the netters.
    Good luck over there, we have a fight over here as well.
    Last edited by Idaho Sandman; 09-23-2019 at 10:35 PM.
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    #16
    Let my European American ass place a gill net in a body of water and you will a person getting a fine like no tomorrow and 25 to life trib no problem native salmon undersize it a ancestry right blah blah blah

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    #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Idaho Sandman View Post
    living in a neighboring state and having fished Washington lakes and rivers a ton over the years, not so much the last 5, the policy i see put in place is appalling. I watched them decimate one of the best pike fisheries I have ever seen by gill netting it. The PO river out of
    Usk. They also removed large and smallmouth bass which is ironic since the local tribe had a LMB hatchery program. I saw that netting fiasco as nothing more than a money grab by the tribe. They couldn’t give two chits about the fish and game populations. It really infuriates me that our local tribe is now gill netting parts of lake CDA to “study” pikes impact on resident cutthroat populations, never mind the stocked salmon predation on the trout. Now the IFnG are netting Lake PO for walleye. Hands down the best, or could be, Walleye lakes I have fished. It was awesome fishing just 3 short years ago but now it’s pretty tough to get into them. Guess that’s what removing 1-2k fish a week for 3 months in the spring from a system will do. I was really hoping the lunacy I have witnessed in WA as well as Ca and Ore would stay there, unfortunately it has infected our FnG department as well. It still wreaks of a money grab by the netters.
    Good luck over there, we have a fight over here as well.
    Sandman, that's exactly why I posted this. Washington, Oregon and Idaho have a battle on our hands. It's only a matter of time before the "ripple effect" reaches other states. I have fished the Pend Orielle river, Pend Orielle lake and CDA. I always enjoyed the fisheries and beauty of Idaho, sad that the morons that govern our fisheries in Washington have impacted Idaho. My concern about our future ability to sports fish doesn't stop at the Washington border. I am surprised at how many sportsmen have buried their head in the sand and believe this is an isolated situation.

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    #18
    Although it is a dumb regulation, the one thing everybody seems to be missing is that Bass, Walleyes, and Channel Cats are non-native species. If they really wanted to help the Salmon, the Steelhead and the Orcas they would address habitat loss and climate change which would put them directly opposed to current Federal EPA regulations.

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    Quote Originally Posted by njpaulc View Post
    Although it is a dumb regulation, the one thing everybody seems to be missing is that Bass, Walleyes, and Channel Cats are non-native species. If they really wanted to help the Salmon, the Steelhead and the Orcas they would address habitat loss and climate change which would put them directly opposed to current Federal EPA regulations.
    We can hash this non native species debate all day. If we want to get down to brass tacks a lot of the Salmonids are truly non native as every natal stream has its own distinct genetic population that has been extirpated by the introduction of genetically different hatchery fish derived from other watersheds. If we go back far enough, WE are a non-native species and the data supports WE are the #1 problem Salmonids face. It's a farce. How can you expect a population of Salmon like that in the Columbia river to sustain high run numbers when you block off over HALF of the river with impassible dams and then string nets across every downriver estuary?

    Fun fact, this is to save Orcas by allowing more Chinook salmon for them to eat. They started studying the South Puget Sound Orca pods in the 1970's when the population was around 70 animals. The current population is currently over 80 animals...so in the past 40 years the population has grown, yet here we are blaming bass for a decline? Everything to do with this reeks of corrupt environmentalist ideals.
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    Nice fact find Alpine