I'm clearly the weekend warrior, although I may get out 3-4 times on weekday evenings... I use barbless singles, but don't have to. No matter what, there are no salmon jumping on my lines (1x5years). I catch hundreds of fish before I can get one keeper, so barbless makes a lot of sense for me. I never net, don't carry one. When I need the help, a lip-grip works just fine. I've only needed to clip my hook off once in 5 years, but I've caught a few fish with hooks dangling out their butt, mono out their mouth.
See a problem?.. Cellphone, video, details, call TV or the newspaper. Humiliation is nuclear fallout for gov departments. (But, you also risk those puffy blonde zipperheads like PETA coming down around your ears, and those perennial media-hog, photo-op pretty people Greenpeace spiking your boats.. you know those guys, gotta raise donations for their 6-figure salaries.)
When I go guided on boats, my guides (except 2) have always been good except with the rockfish & doggies. I know, those are hard to deal with. But one allowed a wild coho with a different group the week before because it was 22#.. lodge record..???. Not much of a record if it's not legal, in my opinion.
You guys are way over my calibre of fishing. Being shorebound, I've only once caught a salmon, chinook, took a run for it at my feet and smack into the downriggers of the guy who was watching me 30' off shore. He saw the fish, pointed at his cables, heard me yelling stop... waved.. b'bye & laughed. Nice smaller Trophy boat though. Fatherless Oediupus. I've only got 200'X50' ahead of me to fish in the only accessible spot with depth, & he laughs at cutting off my first shore-caught salmon in the salt in 5 years...
I catch a few in the Stamp/Somass & watched the rock-tossing, paddle-smacking & flossing... experienced anglers all. The socks end up in a vest pocket, hard to see, chinooks in the bag... Report...four hours later "The guy in the vest with a brown rod on some gravel beach!!" Tough to monitor.
I see a lot of poaching on the breakwater. I don't care less about race, creed, colour, gender or size, but the folks who speak english & the natives play by the rules, from what I see. Poaching's pretty much non-stop and mostly by those whose first language is not english. The pride on some 60 year old face at catching a 3" rockfish going into the bucket is priceless. A lot of it is at night & DFO, government employees after all, have this Ottawa answering machine you spend $10 in quarters to finally get to the spot you can leave a message... Calling on the next 'business' day...They ask did you get their license plate ###???
OK, they don't have a clue what a breakwater is, assuming they could find Victoria on the map.
In any other spot it's a very rare thing for me to see another angler, but they leave behind fair amounts of evidence, most not from anglers, but enough of it obviously is. I'm pretty sure their parents never taught them respect for their environs. And, honestly, that's why on the boats some are so determined to be ignorant floppy-rectums about their right to kill a fish... Nobody'll miss just these couple, right? Their parents led by example, spoiled the little dog-plops, or gave them time-outs, never consequences. Too many lawyers can get them off for a couple c-notes... No big deal.
DFO, being government and government being what they are, is funded from the euphemistic General Revenues. Essentially all fees & taxes go into three pots, four in our area: Fed pot, Prov pot, City pot and CRD pot. Regardless the political hissing, spitting and puffery, imagine where the priorities are for all that money, regardless its' source & theoretical allocation... First those lovely indexed pensions, expense accounts and pretty handsome salaries & benefits. What's left goes to media spinners, consultants & save the banks campaigns and the far too many splinter-interest mini-empires government is so adept at creating, so they can justify further tax-increases and new fees, and continue their bloating methane-filled balloon of self-importance and high regard for themselves.
No matter
This leaves poaching and its' management way, way down the list...
Unless you want to risk getting the media on board. Truly, humiliation is the only motivator, but at what price to your sport? Whether large corporations or any size of government. The only true concern is the bible of CYA... Which is why there's no money to pull DFO away from their emails & computers, out doing what they ought to be doing anyway.
(imagine that this is a joke: Island Outfitters Elk Lake fishing derby... DFO is out there for their 1 & only day on Elk, along with the RCMP, checking for licenses... Dyathink?, anyone in a derby would be WITHOUT a license???... Think, Homer, can you say Photo-op?, performance review Tick-A-Box?)
Video cellphone, I liked the suggestion you get on your radio & maybe even a bullhorn to do your own humilating of the offensive anglers. At the least, at the launch area cutting tables, there could be handout pamphlets with good quality pictures for those who cannot understand the words 'black gums' or 'spots' or 'under'. Why not have a PA system so you can just say... "Hey Look at this guy with the MissSwiss boat & the Yukon" He's a poacher, brains of a slug!" Humiliation works pretty much for individuals too.
You folks are all correct. You're right, they are abusers of the system put in place for the fish, and the enjoyment for all.
.. But that's just one example of how they lead their lives. Imagine hiring them to fix your house? They are the ones who will cheat you by using substandard effort or poor quality parts. If they'll cheat at fishing, they'll cheat on everything. Imagine if they are your investment advisor, or banker, plumber or electrician. Ask them for their business card, take a picture of the logo on their truck, because for sure, it's a company truck, being written-off while in use for pleasure.
Post the pictures in a rogue's gallery of people you cannot trust. Send copies to the Better Business Bureau. These are dishonest cheats. Humiliation was most effective a few hundred years ago when people were put in stocks down at the town square... Until now, with the internet and story-hungry media.
Your pictures, captioned: Dishonest Cheating Poachers! You cannot trust his company and his work! If he cheats here, what will he do to you?, are the 2009 equivalent of the stocks.
The idea's enough to make me want to buy a boat & join you out there.
Government allegedly works for society. When society overwhelms big government's ability to serve society, it falls to you, together, to represent yourselves, and create solutions.
Cheers!
]The job with the pension thing gets it the way sometimes
