Well I didn't get to Henery's until late Saturday evening. Like just before dark. Jacob got his first Cutt and I got mine. We didn't need more than that for breakfast so we didn't plan on keeping more than that.
When we were there we saw a BUNCH of guys fishing by the boat ramp. I thought the limit was only 2 fish. I saw one Mexican woman that was pregnant and smoking catch and keep 6 fish. Then one of the guys I am sure it was her boyfriend or husband heard her scream about getting a 7th and he ran down took the pole away from here and landed that fish. Every one in their group had two poles, but I wonder how many had a two pole permit?
Then three guys in a boat came in and they clubbed 10 fish. I heard them say if the women in camp didn't get all their fish they were ok for the total. One guy cut up a stringer full of fish and threw the carcasses into the lake where Jacob and I were fishing. We stayed and fished until every one else left.
Then the next day we got up and ate the fish we got the night before, and started fishing about 8:00 am. We hit the water in the float tubes and saw the slaughter continue for the second go round. We fished away from them but at noon I had enough and Jacob was more than ready to go. I would have called CAP if my phone would have worked there.
I don't think I will be going back for the opener at Henery's. If I did I would want to find a place where a fish and game CO was there watching, and ready to write tickets.
I was thinking that henery's was going to be a little more refined than that. It was more like a commercial fish cannery.
Gutts on the shore, kids on Motorcycles running all around. Guys shoulder to shoulder filling everyones bag. It was not a pretty sight. I am thinking that if they waited and opened it a month after the spawn then maybe it would not be a slaughter. Oh well the rest of the weekend went good and we got to catch our first Cutts so that was good. Ron
[signature]
That's too bad about the illegal fishing. What boat ramp were you at? I fished on Sunday from the county boat dock and didn't see any spectacle like the one you described. Very few fish were kept when I was fishing at the county dock. I also was checked by a CO on Saturday and Sunday, but of course there are usually not enough COs to catch everyone doing wrong.
[signature]
I fished at the State Park and didn't see anything like that going on either. I saw plenty of catch and release going on. Thats too bad that people have to be like that. I had service on my cell all day long. Well at least you guys got to do some good fishing.
[signature]
I was a newby there I am not real good with the names. The ramp was called the "south ramp" I think. My neighbor called it the cliffs if I got his directions right.
There is a camp ground by the main road and you head north to the water. You drive across a cattle gate, and there is a poll fence. There is a little bit of water to the right in a small "puddle" from the lake I think or it could have been from snow melting from above. Some fish came up into that to spawn. The Motorcycle kids were chasing these trapped fish with a net I don't know how many they got out of there. Maybe I just picked the wrong area at the wrong time. I hope for the sake of the fish that that was a fluke, and not the normal behavior. Poaching to that degree disgusting. I have a friend in the F&G I will call tomorrow.
It was just kind of a
thing to watch. Ron
[signature]
wow, that sounds like a real circus, I hope F&G jumps on that. I was at the hatchery, and didn't see anything illegal, and I was checked by a CO. All of us ended up snagging some fish, but it was just becuase of the high concentration of fish that we were fishing to, and all snagged fish that I saw weren't even taken out of the water before being released, but that was the closest thing I saw to even questionable behavior.
I'm glad you're bringing that to attention, and like I said I hope they jump on it and at least issue some tickets if not more.
[signature]
I've heard of this kind of behavior happening on the opener when the fish are stacked in there like that in the past. I've even talked to people that saw people take screw drivers into the bathrooms at the state park so they could undo the toilet paper holders and put the TP in their trailers. Fortunately when I've heard of these levels of misbehavior it seems to be only an opener thing then people either come to their senses or vacate for the most part.
[signature]
I was around the county boat ramp and I say around because there was never any room on the boat ramp for my kids to find a place to fish without being in danger of taking a fly to the face. It was truly crazy. I can't say that I saw anything illegal or I would have turned people in to the fish and game. I did see lots of unethical behavior. I saw people flyfishing who were ripping the leeches so that they would snag up everytime. The stupid thing is it wasn't even necessary. I caught plenty slow stripping and the fish took it in the mouth.
I know I might take some abuse for this idea but I think they should make the county boat dock a protected zone like the hatchery. You could still catch plenty on the outside of the zone but it would spread the people out a little. Sometimes there were thirty people fishing off the docks and not even stopping when boats were coming in or out.
I was surprised that nobody got in a fight.
I also think the fish and game should try to do more to educate people on how to release and handle fish. I have no idea how many of those fish died from poor handling but I would image it is pretty great.
This is very unscientific but my wife and I were talking about it and we figure we saw somewhere between 300-450 fish kept over the weekend in that area.
I am sure that is just a drop in the bucket for the total numbers, but I wounder how many of those fish were eaten? I hope all of them.
Windriver
[signature]
the easy fix would be to keep it closed until mid june, when most of the fish have spawned. Its hard enough on those cutts to survive the spawn. I read a survey about the henry cutts and it said they have as much as a 50 percent die off from the spawn weather that includes the fisherman or not i dont know.
[signature]
I don't know about others but I would be supportive of the idea to close an area like 100yds around the county boat dock for the first week or so, if for no other reason than to streamline loading/unloading of boats. As for closing the lake until June I'm not so sure. Kind of the idea that the lake is still a very healthy, productive fishery. Even with the circuses like this weekend. Why fix something that isn't broken, like the chaos around the boat ramp?
[signature]
They should plant the cutthroats in varios areas so they dont return to the county boat launch.
[signature]
Wow, And I don't mean that in a good way.
There are many steps you could take at this point one being ya know tell your friend about it which might get something done. You could do nothing and hope it was a fluke. You could post it here or elsewhere and leave it up to someone else. Probably many things you could do. I think that unless you got pictures of what you experienced all that's going to be able to be done is closer scrutiny and unless "US" fisherman as a whole start really complaining about such atrocities it will continue to happen.
I would move that you file a formal complaint with a warden. And detail out what you and your son experienced and even how you will both probably take it with you for the rest of your lives. (Not sure if that's how it effected you but I think it would me.) But surely take into consideration a formal complaint because it has to be resolved, unlike hearsay or what not. If you file a complaint there will be an investigation and it will hopefully end up with resolution as to how to prevent it from happening again. The best thing you could have done was take license plate numbers and reported it strait away. When stuff like this happens it is completely unacceptable and shouldn't be taken lightly, For it will only worsen.
We are all the wildlife have for spokesmen and we are the stewards of their land. Please don't let this go, help to put an end to this kind of garbage and keep your son involved that way he can learn to appreciate doing the right things even when its might be easy to look away.
Thats just my 2 cents but please man give it concideration, if what you saw was the picture I am seeing it was a true attrocity.....
(please understand I am not trying to be a dick I am just not very well spoken...lol, Just trying to help
[signature]
Like I mentioned on an earlier thread, and I think was mentioned on the original post on this thread, the CAP (Citezens Against Poaching) hotline is a great resource. I've called them twice and had very quick response times both times. If you don't have cell service (not uncommon at Henry's) it's a little tougher, but finding one shouldn't be too hard. May lose the fishing hole for a bit, but not entirely. Besides, as I've found out it can be profitable as well. A report for fish is $100 reward. I don't believe it needs to result in a conviction, just a citation or something to that extent. Just imagine, if you see 5 different groups behaving that way on the opener and you called them for all of them you could easily pay for your trip! I've also got the CAP # programmed into my cell now so I'll post it and hope others will do the same. Either way, you either make money or you at least help the sustainability of the fishery.
CAP: 1-800-632-5999
[signature]
Thanks for posting the hotline number. Is that an Idaho based hotline or is that number good in any state?
I'll be on Henry's Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I'm not at all shy about calling out the thugs that break all the rules...... [mad] and my cell phone works up there...[:p]
[signature]
I ran into some of the same things at Oxbow last week. Not the crowds but keeping bass when it is catch and release until July 1st. We were walking thru Copperfield campground and was talking to some people there that were bragging about the big smallies and fish fry they had. I asked them where they caught them thinking it was at Hells Cyn and they said Oxbow. I told them Oxbow was catch and release only and they said no big deal, no one ever checks down there. Not much I could do as I never saw the fish plus no cell service. Just shook my head and walked off. Don't need an altercation with them, especially with all the beer they were drinking and they didn't even offer me one. [mad]
[signature]
you guys are a bit nicer then me. I see it and i get mad and the more i think about it the madder i get. I end up usualy saying something i shouldnt or worse.
[signature]
I was playing phone tag with the man in charge at henery's He said to give out his contact info to everyone.
Damon Keen
Regional Fisheries Biologist
Henrys Lake
Idaho Fish and Game
3850 Hwy. 87
Island Park, Idaho 83429
Office and Home Phone (208) 558-7202
Cell Phone (208) 709-7200
I am gave him the info but it will be too late to do much. I think at this point all a guy can do is bring it up and let them do their part. He said they will use the info to keep an eye out for the upcomming weekend.
Bassnbob, I am with you. There was no way I was going to confront a bunch of people with the facts. Last thing I was going to do was get me or my son beat up.
Damon said that calling him will be the fastest way to get a CO to the area. Ron
[signature]
Thanks for the info...I'll be contacting him with a few suggestions. I'm with Windriver and some others....they should close the county doc area similar to staley and the hatchery....they should also delay the opener to the 15th of June (like Yellowstone Lake).
[signature]
To my knowledge the CAP # is for Idaho only. I'm sure that if other states have a similar program they would have it listed in their regs though.
[signature]
I don't know if we need to close it until June 15th. I just think we need to #1 spread the people out. That could be done in several ways first of which is close the dock areas. They could also keep the resource available but make it more civil by making the the docks for kids under 12 years old only until June 15th. I would also add no flyfishing from the docks simply because it is dangerous for the boaters trying to come in and out. That would give the kids the opportunity to catch a big fish yet eliminate some of the ugly parts of the problem mainly the adults.
The other thing they could do that has already been voiced is spread the fish out when they release them. That way they would not all return to a couple of spots. I heard they already tried that and it failed for some reason.
I am not for holding off until June 15th because it would hurt the businesses in the Island Park/Henrys area. It would also cause more pressure in the July/August months when the fish are even more vulnerable due to water temperature. I am sure more fish die from stress during the hot months than were even killed during the weekend at the docks from mishandling.
Just my two cents
Windriver
[signature]
I was at the county Dock campground from THursday evening untill Sunday rainstorm 6:00 PM. The dock was full of people Saturday and sunday. Standing room only. When we launced the boat we were looked at by the
mob like we were not supposed to be there interupting their fishing slaughter. I thought fishing off the dock onto the ramp area is illegal. Anyways we had a great time My youngest caught the first fish and my Oldest caught the biggest 5lb 2oz. My oldest also caugt a fish when he was with the net helping me get mine in and his pole went in the lake. My father said don't worry about it get your fish in then we will get tthe pole. Sure enough he got the anchor I manovered the boat around why'll he dragged the anchor and on the third try up came the line on the fish end with the 4lb 12oz fish which I lifted into the boat. Then we followed the line back with the boat and up came the pole with a bunch of Kelp on the real. Pretty darn neat. My father is a very smart guy. My Boys and my wife were very impressed. Good time was had except for the Sunday early morning barking cheasapeak terrior and the rude comment about Utah liscence plate those Utah'ns have nice lakes down there why don't they stay down there. Heck. I was raised in IF and all that area is my stomping grounds and My parents and Brother still live in IF so the comments were irritating to me. Not my fault I had to get a job is SLC. We kept 9 fish between the 6 of us. Here is the photo of our keepers.
[inline "Our two day keepers.JPG"]
[signature]