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+--- Thread: South Fork Steelhead Anglers Encounter The Law (/showthread.php?tid=117984)
South Fork Steelhead Anglers Encounter The Law - tubeN2 - 03-26-2004
KOOSKIA - With steelhead fishing success bringing hundreds of anglers to the South Fork Clearwater in recent weeks, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) conducted three enforcement checkstations on Sunday, March 21 to check for law compliance and angling success.
The three stations were located along the South Fork near Stites, Hungry Ridge Road and the Mount Idaho Grade. Over 185 anglers were contacted and 10 violations were detected. All violations were infractions or misdemeanors that included fail to validate steelhead permit, fail to provide transport statement, posses of steelhead with head or tail removed and open containers of alcohol.
According to Regional Conservation Officer, Dave Cadwallader, the enforcement checkstations provide an opportunity not only to enforce Idaho laws, but also to help educate the public on current fishing regulations.
"People come from all over to fish the South Fork and we get a lot of questions about rules and regulations, particularly over identification of wild and hatchery fish," he said.
Anglers are reminded that that steelhead must have a missing adipose fin in order to be legal to harvest. IDFG is concerned that some anglers may be
because many of the steelhead being caught are unclipped fish that have eroded dorsal and pectoral fins. Many anglers will recognize these fish as a hatchery fish, but with an intact adipose fin, they must be released unharmed. An agreement signed by several western states, the federal government, and the Columbia Treaty Tribes provides that the treaty tribes gillnetting in the lower Columbia River reduce their fall harvest rate of steelhead. In exchange for this reduced fall harvest by the tribes, a few years ago steelhead hatcheries in Idaho began releasing a small percentage of their smolts without an adipose fin clip. These unmarked fish are starting to show up, especially in the South Fork Clearwater and Little Salmon, where most of the fish were released as smolts.
In addition to law compliance, angler ethics and public safety are other important reasons to have an increase in officer presence in the area.
"Snagging is a big problem, as well as people driving really slow along the state highway trying to spot fish," he said. "It's not sporting, ethical or safe."
Anglers from as far away as Franklin County in the extreme southeast corner of Idaho were contacted, as well as 51 nonresident anglers. Angling success of the 185 anglers checked averaged 9 hours per steelhead caught and 27 hours per fish kept. Steelhead angling is considered good whenever the average is approximately 20 hours per fish caught.
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