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A Big-Fish Story Gone Bad!
Posted on: May 07, 2007
By Dan Adamson
An Idaho fisherman recently shared a dismaying story with me. Driving through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, my friend saw a car with Michigan plates stopped in a scenic vista pullout overlooking the famous Salmon River. A mom and dad were there with their 10-year-old daughter and a son about 12. The son was catching a fish and everyone was very excited. From the equipment and the dress, it was obvious that the family was not what one would call hard core fishermen. They were simply regular people on vacation. The U.S. holds about 270,000,000 such people and a couple of million who are truly expert fishermen. As governor of Idaho, I would attract more anglers of all levels to our state. We have some great scenery and fantastic opportunities for experts and regular families alike. Back to the Michigan family. The son was catching a rather large fish and the whole family was watching intently. Dad was offering advice; mom and the daughter were oohing and ahhing, with the daughter jumping up and down. After all, the family was in the shadow of the Sawtooth Mountains, the sun was shining, and they were about to catch a fish from the mighty Salmon River! What’s not to be excited about? It was the only fish they had caught during the first couple of days of their Idaho vacation and it was a Dolly Varden. Had our local resident not been present, they would not have known it is illegal to keep the fish. And, he believes the excited treatment the fish got from the soon-to-be-disappointed family probably resulted in the fish not surviving the incident. After they were informed, the family dutifully returned the endangered fish to the water, packed up their things, and left. They said they’d go someplace where it’s easier to catch real fish. The Dolly Varden, or bull trout, is on the Endangered Species List and it’s not legal to keep such a fish from any water in Idaho. I don’t want to talk about whether that’s a good rule or not, because it’s a federal regulation and the governor of Idaho doesn’t have as much influence there as he ought to have. I will say it would have been great if that fish had been a rainbow, which the family could have kept. The Stanley Basin and the Salmon River are some of Idaho’s most famous camping and fishing areas. Idaho’s economy would benefit greatly from Michigan tourists visiting the area and staying a while; or tourists from anywhere else. Catching fish and being able to show off the catch is part of the attraction; a major part! During the last several years, there has been a concerted movement to make fishing in our rivers, streams, and lakes “natural.” We are spending a great deal of money to promote wild reproduction and native fish. We are even spending money to try to enhance native species, sometimes by destroying the existing species, so they can be replaced with what someone perceives as a superior native species. Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not suggesting that cutthroat trout aren’t gorgeous and that we shouldn’t be proud of them. I’m not suggesting that we harvest all of the bull trout. I am suggesting that the governor of Idaho should promote the economic boom that would follow enhanced fishing opportunities for all Idahoans and tourists. Does anyone really think the young man in the story cared whether he caught a hatchery-bred rainbow or a native-born fish? Do you think he cared whether he was allowed to keep it? These are pretty good questions for steelhead fishermen, too. This is not a suggestion that we stop encouraging natural reproduction, but it is asking whether or not hatchery supplementation of fish numbers should be encouraged. When you hook a steelhead, do you care whether it’s “wild” or “hatchery” until the very moment it has to be released? If we had more fish from whatever source, we would have more fishermen spending money on gas, food, lodging, equipment, and spending money in the Idaho economy. A serious economic impact report prepared by Ben Johnson Associates about the potential for steelhead fishing in Idaho suggests direct and indirect spending of more than $540,000,000 per year. That’s a big boon to the Idaho economy. It’s a boon that brings no pollution, little population increase, and that is reliant completely on a renewable resource. It’s also a lot of fun for all of us. That study assumes a tremendous increase in the current levels of steelhead runs and urges the removal of some downstream dams; not those within Idaho’s boarders. The Henry’s Fork of the Snake River is world famous, and it should be. The expert fishermen that visit the area are welcome and add a great deal to the economy of that area of our state. We appreciate them, whether they are residents or from out of the area. However, we have a lot of water in Idaho, where more fish used to be caught. Some of those populations have been reduced because more fishermen have caught more fish. In my youth, the limit was 15; it’s now six. The reduced limit, with more people practicing non-mandated catch and release, may mean that fewer fish are actually being caught than was once true. I’ve not done a study of that, but we don’t need to. We need to deal with what we have. We have some spectacular waters that are managed for the relatively small percentage of the population that are expert fishermen. We need to manage the rest of our waters, particularly the famous ones and those easily visited by a family on vacation, so that there are fish to catch. Fish they can catch and keep, if they desire. If we need to raise and plant non-native fish for that purpose, it would be a great investment. We need to do whatever it takes to put more steelhead in Idaho’s rivers. We all know, “if you build it, they will come.” It’s equally true that if we stock the rivers, the anglers will come; and spend their money when they get here.Share This
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About Dave Langston
Outdoor writer Dave Langston resides in Chubbuck. He grew up in the Midwest and south fishing and hunting across the country.
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Great story Dan! I am in full agreement with you. I have been promoting this for a number of years and most anglers agree. But as always, Idaho Fish and Game has fallen on deaf ears when it comes to managing waters for non native species. The cutthroat seems to be the only species this agency is concerned about.
I for one practice catch and release in most instances, but if my grand kids want to harvest their limit they have the right to do so.
Deep creek reservoir at one time was a great bass fishery, don’t ley anyone fool you even giving up an eight pounder. But the reservoir was drawn down to a mud pool and all the bass, literally hundreds if not thousands died. I called Fish and Game and nothing was done about it since they were non native species and cutthroat and rainbows were the only species that were of any concern. What a waste. All it would have taken was a couple of phone calls to bass clubs to move them to another reservoir so they may be harvested in the future by anglers.
Anglers just want to catch fish bottom line. With lack of management our fishery has suffered. For instance, the small mouth bass in the Snake river have thrived not because of F&G but because of great forage and habitat period I don’t care what they say. I have been bugging F&G for years to put regulations on this fishery to help protect the large spawners so we can have a fishery in the future. They failed to do that. But now after extreme pressure they announce maybe too late they are thinking about changing the regulation at the meeting Tuesday night. I am dissapointed in the management of this resource and so are most anglers that fish this section of water.
— Dave Langston Outdoor Writer · May 7, 07:23 PM · #