NorCal Kayak Anglers

General => General Talk => Topic started by: Mahi on February 21, 2008, 07:40:17 PM

Title: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Mahi on February 21, 2008, 07:40:17 PM
Yesterday some idiot walked into the local fishing store (Diamond Sporting Goods) and told the clerk that he had landed a real big steelhead. He asked the clerk if they still had the steelhead tournament going on. The clerk informed the idiot that they have never had a steelhead tournament and asked if he could see the fish.

The clerk walked out to the idiot's truck and there lay a beautyful 30+" buck steelhead. The clerk asked, "is that a hatchery fish?" and the idiot answered, "nope, it's a wild one, I caught it by Squaw Rock on the Russian River."

The clerk told the idiot that if he were to take the fish to the Ukiah Daily Journal, they would likely take a photo of the fish and post it in the paper.

So Idiot went to the paper and sure enough, they took a photo and wrote a little story about the idiot and his fish.

The sad thing is that you can clearly see the unmolested adipose fin on the steelheads back.

I just hope a Fish Cop sees the photo and decides to pay the idiot a visit.

I attached a link to the print version of the paper below, but they haven't updated the Thursday paper yet. Maybe tomorrow you can see the photo.

LINK TO UDJ (http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/frontpage)

CHEERS!  :smt010

Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: piski on February 21, 2008, 08:36:46 PM
In the words of a famous wabbit, "What a maroon, what an ignoranimous...!" :tool:

and speaking of imbeciles, did everyone see this article?
Poached trout was on menu until cafe owner got caught http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/SPB9UOP3U.DTL (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/SPB9UOP3U.DTL)

Not only was the numbnuts poaching & selling illegal fish, he was caught '....throwing an empty salmon egg jar and a soda can "right into the river."' Ever heard the phrase don't $h*t where you eat...? :thumbdown
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: ex-kayaker on February 22, 2008, 09:50:19 AM

and speaking of imbeciles, did everyone see this article?
Poached trout was on menu until cafe owner got caught http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/SPB9UOP3U.DTL (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/SPB9UOP3U.DTL)


How was this guy allowed to move out of state while he's on probation?  I hope the sentence followed him and his lifetime fishing ban is enforced......but I doubt it will be  :smt011
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: fishshim on February 22, 2008, 10:45:56 AM
 Remember the guy who shot the protected  "Elk" and brought the huge "Deer" into town to show it off.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: KZ on February 22, 2008, 11:20:36 AM
Yep... it's in there... and the person that wrote the caption is almost as big of a dope.

"Michael Moore holds up his fresh catch of the day --
a Steelhead salmon straight out of the Russian River
near Hopland. Fishing season is underway in
Northern California and fishing regulations along the
Russian River allow two steelheads a day along the
size that Moore is displaying."
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: bsteves on February 22, 2008, 11:23:28 AM
Very sad indeed.

Quote
I just hope a Fish Cop sees the photo and decides to pay the idiot a visit.

What? Doesn't the Mendocino Sheriff's Department have any channel of communication with DFG Wardens?  Radio? Phone? E-mail? Some sort of common-ground donut shop you both frequent? :)

Don't make me call Cal-Tip all the way from Oregon.

Brian
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Eric B on February 22, 2008, 11:40:41 AM
Ok, we've heard how he's a dope, the writer is a dope, and noone has pointed out the obvious:  what did he do wrong?

And no, I don't fish for steelhead so don't worry.  Educate me please.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: bsteves on February 22, 2008, 12:00:14 PM
He kept a native steelhead from the Russian River.. which is a no-no.  They're dopes because they (the fisher and the writer) because they bragged about it in a news paper.

The following is from the DFG freshwater regulation handbook..
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: bsteves on February 22, 2008, 12:18:17 PM
Here's the photo and blurb from the paper..
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: sigelvictory on February 22, 2008, 12:38:44 PM
LOL... Im not sure which is worse... this or the ever present picture of someone proudly holding up some poor, half dead, black @ss, open sore covered salmon that just rolled over and floated in as soon as it was hooked... false pride is hilarious!  Did you all hear about the guy that got busted a few years back stealing steelhead right out of the hatchery @ Lake Sonoma...  The horrible thing about that story is the same dude is know in prison for murdering his girlfriend... real bad sicko. :smt011

http://www.justicewomen.com/teen_domestic_violence/reynold_record.html

Scroll down to the bottom of his record... look at all the poaching charges... either dismissed or misdemeanor... how many time do you have to screw up before they just throw the book at you, or you kill someone... :smt076
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Hojoman on February 22, 2008, 12:41:11 PM
I actually did pose the question to a warden and was told that it was illegal, but he said he couldn't tell (by the picture) if it was released after the picture was taken. Still, he was forwarding the info to local enforcement.

If anything is done, however, I would be surprised. The only other time I ever reported anything was a HMB partyboat skipper and deckand both catching enough rockfish limits for TEN people. They were standing knee-deep in rockfish. DFG did nothing.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: sigelvictory on February 22, 2008, 01:17:26 PM
I actually did pose the question to a warden and was told that it was illegal, but he said he couldn't tell (by the picture) if it was released after the picture was taken. Still, he was forwarding the info to local enforcement.

released after the picture was taken?!  LOL.. that rock wall in the background is the outside of rite aid.. which is across the street from the Ukiah newspaper, and a mile from the river, and like 15 miles from where he caught the fish if he actually caught it at squaw rock! :smt013 :smt011 :smt012 :smt009 :smt010
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: dilbeck on February 22, 2008, 01:32:13 PM
I actually did pose the question to a warden and was told that it was illegal, but he said he couldn't tell (by the picture) if it was released after the picture was taken. Still, he was forwarding the info to local enforcement.

released after the picture was taken?!  LOL.. that rock wall in the background is the outside of rite aid.. which is across the street from the Ukiah newspaper, and a mile from the river, and like 15 miles from where he caught the fish if he actually caught it at squaw rock! :smt013 :smt011 :smt012 :smt009 :smt010

Not to mention the photographer and the sporting good store employee who both saw that the fish was dead.  I'm sure they would make great witnesses.

Michael



Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: CGN-38 on February 22, 2008, 03:10:18 PM
  I don't fish steelies (for a long time now) but I do know that natives are to be released!  This weekend warrior apparently has no clue of the F&G regs.  He probably just geard up and went out, got lucky in his mind! Hope he at least had a fishing license!
 
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: bsteves on February 22, 2008, 03:50:34 PM
Quote
Hope he at least had a fishing license!
Having a steelhead card too would be nice.  I doubt he did, because if I remember correctly the card does a pretty good job about describing the regs and the difference between natives and hatchery fish.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Eric B on February 22, 2008, 05:30:26 PM
I'm not gonna defend the guy, but I gotta say the employee at the sporting goods store should have known better.

The DFG regs are a tedius read even for a diehard.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Mahi on February 22, 2008, 05:46:36 PM
I'm not gonna defend the guy, but I gotta say the employee at the sporting goods store should have known better.

The DFG regs are a tedius read even for a diehard.

Known better than what? Are you serious? The sporting goods guy is the one who set the idiot up to go have his picture taken. Maybe you should think before you type.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: bluefin17 on February 22, 2008, 05:47:50 PM
The CDFG regulations aren't that hard to read, especially for river fishing.  A little confusing maybe, but that idiot should have known the difference, anybody who's ever steelhead fished for a few years or fished with anyone else should know the difference between wild and hatchery steelhead, period.  Nobody's fault but the fishermans'.  Its just sad that so many do it.

Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: KICKIN BASS on February 22, 2008, 06:08:57 PM
I DO want to defend the sporting goods guy, because the last time I checked, the person responsible is the person who bought the license.  I won't argue that the DFG regs are confusing at times, but the adipose fin is a no brainer.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Tote on February 23, 2008, 04:48:15 AM
It seems that there are two criteria for getting popped by DFG.
Either they need months/years to investigate an alleged poacher resulting in countless fish deaths for a meager at best conviction or they have to have someone physically right in front of them to issue a citation.
Since they aren't going to spend a lot of time nor money investigating this guy and since it isn't as easy as having him right in front of them then nothing will be done.
How many times have you been hassled for a non-violation?? Cotton balls and barbless hooks ring a bell with anyone? This only happened because you were right in front of them and it was easy to do. If it isn't easy then nothing will be done.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: LoletaEric on February 23, 2008, 09:26:53 AM
Tote's right.  Enforcement is often toothless for the real law-breakers while being a pain in the ass for the rest of us. 

The truth about this guy though is that he's an idiot - not a poacher.  A $500 fine would teach him to get smart.  The real poachers, like the group that was dumping abs back in the ocean as the rescue team was trying to save their diving buddy (who died) in the huge swells a few months ago, should have the book thrown at them really hard, but for some reason FingG doesn't see a case in having witnesses to such a blatant violation...  I hope I'm wrong and that something did come of that case.   :smt009
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: ZeeHokkaido on February 23, 2008, 09:35:08 AM
The DFG regs are a tedius read even for a diehard.

Those regs in Cali are simple enough. The regs up here in Wa are a real challenge. They sometimes change week to week and have to always check on "Emergency Closures" that pop up sporadically.

Check this out for a good read: http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/2007/2007sportregs.pdf

Z
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Hojoman on February 25, 2008, 04:50:41 AM
Here is a response from the newspaper to me:

Our publisher forwarded your email to me and I thank you for your kind words about our newspaper. I wanted you to know that we also heard from numerous biologists and law enforcement about that photo and we ran a correction in Saturday's edition. We are also planning a Page 1 feature on steelhead and what's legal and illegal so that folks out there can be educated.
Thanks again,
KC Meadows
Editor
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: KICKIN BASS on February 25, 2008, 06:40:03 AM
I'm glad the Ukiah Daily Urinal ( I mean Journal) responded.  If I see the article I will post it up.  Good idea Hojoman.
Title: Re: Steelhead poacher in Ukiah
Post by: Eric B on February 25, 2008, 11:55:12 AM
Quote
The sporting goods guy is the one who set the idiot up to go have his picture taken. Maybe you should think before you type

And that worked out so well, didn't it?

Maybe I'm not as smart as some of you, but I find the direct approach usually does the trick.