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Strawberry Today 7-1-2020
#1
Kokanee fishing was fairly good today. Pink and orange were the best colors today with one caught on green as well. Best speed was 1.5 to 1.6 with a few caught at slower speeds.  The wind kicked up around noon and we called it a day.

Quick question. Why is filleting Kokanee prohibited at the reservoir? Wouldn't keeping the skin on be enough for Koks?
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#2
Old question, and I am not sure that there is an easy answer.  The claim once was that it differentiated between Bows that sometimes look very silvery, but the scales are a dead give-a-way.  I have heard that it is a management thing, the size of the fish can be measured with the whole fish, but not a fillet.

Sometimes laws like this are a vestige of the past, and have just not been changed.

Perhaps someone else has some more info on this.
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#3
Like a lot of rules and regulations...DWR, IRS, USA...no good reason for them.  Just policy.
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#4
(07-02-2020, 12:31 AM)Jbworkin Wrote: Kokanee fishing was fairly good today. Pink and orange were the best colors today with one caught on green as well. Best speed was 1.5 to 1.6 with a few caught at slower speeds.  The wind kicked up around noon and we called it a day.

Quick question. Why is filleting Kokanee prohibited at the reservoir? Wouldn't keeping the skin on be enough for Koks?
All y'all would be very surprised at the number of fishers that CANNOT identify correctly a cutthroat, rainbow, or kokanee taken out of Strawberry.  And cutthroat in Strawberry are subject to a slot limit whereas rainbows & kokanee are not.  So, to protect the uneducated from themselves, the easiest approach for LE folks is to make it illegal to fillet ANY fish from Strawberry while in the field.  

I know; I know; it's stupid.  But there isn't a day goes by that some uneducated fisher will show up at the cleaning station at Strawberry/Soldier Creek BRAGGING about his 4 kokanee salmon laid out on the board when he in fact has kept cutthroats.  I've seen it more than once and it has been reported on these boards a few times.

If you don't believe me, do this.  Next time you're at Strawberry and see a CO, ask him or her how many times they have checked someone up there who had cutthroat in possession when the fisher was 100% certain that the fish they had in possession were kokanee.  So when the uneducated fisher keeps a cutthroat thinking its a kokanee and can't filet it in the field, he may still not get a ticket if the so called kokanee is a legal cutthroat (not in the slot).
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#5
All the DWR needs to do is change the signage to "No filleting of Cutthroat trout".
It is up to the angler to know what species they are catching and keeping as well as any slot regulations pertaining to that species. If someone is too lazy to look at a proclamation and learn the differences between a Kokanee and a Cutt they should receive a ticket. There really is no way to mistake a kokanee for a cutt or vice versa.

Not being able to fillet kokanee at strawberry is a real bummer. Especially when you are camped up there for a couple days.
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#6
I was there yesterday and saw a guy filet his Kokanee at the cleaning station but more often it is like Dubob said, a trout fisherman will come in with a limit of cutthroat that they believe are rainbows. Many times I have had to educate people about the fish they are cleaning and inform them that they don't have a limit of rainbows but cutthroat! I have personally never seen a conservation officer check the cleaning station at strawberry but if they did, they would write several tickets every busy day. I usually don't even look any more because I just get frustrated at the ignorance of some fishermen, especially when they begin to argue and insist that their limit of cutthroats are rainbow trout and legal. As for camping there and fileting fish, you can filet your kokanee at camp if you are going to eat them and then run the mess back to the cleaning station for disposal but that is a hassle.
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#7
You're correct in that you can fillet a Kokanee if you are going to immediately consume it. It is illegal to fillet at 10am if you are going to cook it for dinner at 7pm.
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#8
How difficult would it be to put up some pictures of the three fish to help identify them. Put them at the cleaning station or right at the dock.. Or put one of there hired kids at the station to teach the adults what kind of fish they have.. Write a few tickets and have Adam Eagle broad cast it on the TV. There are lots of things the DNR could do.
I want to filet the Kokanees and put them on ice for good eating.;
Why can't they do something!!
Lets put the DNR aware of this..
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#9
(07-02-2020, 04:20 PM)doitall5000 Wrote: How difficult would it be to put up some pictures of the three fish to help identify them.  Put them at the cleaning station or right at the dock..  Or put one of there hired kids at the station to teach the adults what kind of fish they have..  Write a few tickets and have Adam Eagle broad cast it on the TV.  There are lots of things the DNR could do.
I want to filet the Kokanees and put them on ice for good eating.;
Why can't they do something!!
Lets put the DNR aware of this..
There are pictures at the marina right by the bathrooms, plus there are pictures in the fishing proclamation. That's all the DWR can do, people just need read the regs and make sure they can identify the catch or get out of the sport.
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#10
For that matter, there is something called the internet too if someone wants to know what their fish species are...which is an especially good idea when fishing for them.
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#11
What's left, write tickets and enforce the laws.
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#12
dubob is correct about identification. I concur about personal responsibility, but sometimes reading and seeing just don't sink in the first several times.
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#13
You all realize that education of stupid fishermen that can't differentiate is not really the problem. All you really need to educate are the Conservation Officers(CO) when they write up the ticket. When the fisherman comes in with cutthroats that he thinks are rainbows, those fish are already dead. As long as the CO can tell with the skin on, he can write the ticket if they are cutts and not if they are rainbows or kokes. Stupid fishermen are still going to bring in dead cutts in the slot whether they can be filleted or not.
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#14
(07-02-2020, 12:31 PM)dubob Wrote:
(07-02-2020, 12:31 AM)Jbworkin Wrote: Kokanee fishing was fairly good today. Pink and orange were the best colors today with one caught on green as well. Best speed was 1.5 to 1.6 with a few caught at slower speeds.  The wind kicked up around noon and we called it a day.

Quick question. Why is filleting Kokanee prohibited at the reservoir? Wouldn't keeping the skin on be enough for Koks?
All y'all would be very surprised at the number of fishers that CANNOT identify correctly a cutthroat, rainbow, or kokanee taken out of Strawberry.  And cutthroat in Strawberry are subject to a slot limit whereas rainbows & kokanee are not.  So, to protect the uneducated from themselves, the easiest approach for LE folks is to make it illegal to fillet ANY fish from Strawberry while in the field.  

I know; I know; it's stupid.  But there isn't a day goes by that some uneducated fisher will show up at the cleaning station at Strawberry/Soldier Creek BRAGGING about his 4 kokanee salmon laid out on the board when he in fact has kept cutthroats.  I've seen it more than once and it has been reported on these boards a few times.

If you don't believe me, do this.  Next time you're at Strawberry and see a CO, ask him or her how many times they have checked someone up there who had cutthroat in possession when the fisher was 100% certain that the fish they had in possession were kokanee.  So when the uneducated fisher keeps a cutthroat thinking its a kokanee and can't filet it in the field, he may still not get a ticket if the so called kokanee is a legal cutthroat (not in the slot).

If it's not a kokanee they all go back.
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#15
I agree with DUBOB on this on it is to protect the dummies and make it easier for Law enforcement due to the slot length limit on Cutts.
I have never seen anyone claim a Cutt is a KOKE, but would not surprise me either ! I have seen a BUNCH of times guy cleaning Limits of illegal CUTTS that said they were Rainbows. To anyone with any basic knowledge there was no question they were cutts. I have gotten into arguments more than once with them and showed them pictures in proclamation etc. I don't bother anymore and since you can't fillet them at the Lake I don't go near the cleaning station to avoid the flare ups. I fish the Berry less for Kokes now, just because of the no fillet rule. I can catch plenty at lakes I can fillet them.
All interested parties should complain about that Rule. I PUT THOSE COMMENTS IN STRAWBERRY SURVEY THE DIVISION CONDUCTED. Maybe if they hear it enough they will change the rules. Allow filleting of Kokanee with Skin left on only, that would solve the problem and they would still have the ability to check length on trout for enforcement. (which by the way you hardly ever see. They could pay a salary on tickets if they had someone checking. I don't think on most days you could go an hour without finding someone with "illegal Cutts" It should be: No filleting of trout. Anyone with half a brain can tell a Koke fillet from a trout. One other thing is IMHO they should just let people keep 2 cutts of any size, I think in the long run less Cutts would be killed. Watching how some people handle them they kill more than that each trip, maybe if they got their two for the 4 people in the boat and went home with 8 it would be better than killing 20 from bad handling. I am not sure the slot is working as intended anyway...
Sorry just my rant.
Good luck Tight lines and have fun.
Mildog
time spent fishing isn't deducted from ones life
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#16
Hey guys, I understand the state’s reasoning behind the no fillet rule. I appreciate their trying to protect the cutts in conjunction with the overall plan of the fishery. I am just saying that their reasoning is flawed. I have seen all the cutts at the cleaning station too. Fact is they are already dead. They can’t just go release them.
If they provided a competent CO to monitor closely and write tickets to stop the illegal harvest of cutts, all the fish that do not have a slot could be filled, the point would be moot. Yes I realize that probably not possible but would be a better protection of the resource than a no fillet rule on the other species.
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