Putting the 'sport' back into 'sportfishing'

[rick james]

Hi everyone,
New to the forum.
I was out on one of my favourite east tribs but alas I was beaten to my favourite pool.
I walked up and down the river fished a few other pools before returning several hours later.
There they remained, two well clad gentleman in their trendy waders and vests with their 13 ft noodle rods and spinning reels.
Near the river bank I noticed 3 chrome fished attached to ropes and anchored by river rocks.
I politely fit myself in on the other side of the pool to try my luck.
I was rewarded by a few lucky strikes very quickly and then the odd one after trying many different presentations.
However, what amazed was the number of fish these well clad gentleman were getting into.
Similar to me they had a float set-up with splitshots and a single hook attached to a roe sack.
Curiously when they cast in the pool the float seemed to disappear under the weight of the shots right away and a few second later down the drift they would suddenly yank their rod back. Magically there was often a fish at the end of it.
Before long they had another chromer on their stringer and the one gentleman says to the other 'you see, hard work pays off'.
Of course most of these fish were hooked in the fins or tail or some other unlucky part of their bodies.
Unfortunately this sort of pretend to sportfish but really snag/floss is rampant particularly during this time of year. What's worse is these type of 'gentleman' often colonize the most productive pools.
I struggle with how to deal with this...say something and you risk a confrontation which can ruin your day or worse. Let it happen and the fish and fishery suffer.
What do you guys do?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Rick.

 

[cptpronin]

"I'm Rick James, beyotch!"

 

[instapump416]

 

[instapump416]

It's hard to say sometimes, I pick and choose when to say something.

If they're obviously snagging/lining fish then yea.

If it was hooked on the body and they keep it, yea.

If they're lining fish and it's hooked in the mouth then I can't say anything unless they're targeting them in very shallow water.

 

[Kit]

Went out for my first salmon fishing yesterday and honesty floating a fly though a pool that has 10-20 salmon circling around up and down is hard to prevent a fish from taking it anywhere but the mouth. And you let your line slack up so it can break off.

I probably won't go again. These fish are insane lost tons of tackle retying flies and leaders. If your under geared these fish with take you for a ride. Was cool but won't do it again till next year.

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

Unless you're me ^

 

[azppp]

How to report
To report illegal activity you can call:
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
1-877-TIPS-MNR
1-877-847-7667

https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/how-report-natural-resource-violation

 

[rich_ace_G]

Funny because I was at the East Trib last night but way north...A hiker came by and watch closely as I was reviving a brown and send it on its way. I didn't see him at first and as soon as I let the fish go and re-tie a roe he suddenly show up and thank me for letting the fish go. lol. I was kinda creeped out to be honest.

 

[rich_ace_G]

Rick, I can see it go down like this...
Hey gents...what did 5 fingers say to the face?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPr-xsQvhgw

 

[Shmogley]

for salmon the snaggers have always been there and to be honest it gets worse every year.
to say its hurting the fishery might be a long shot but its still bad practice.

now if i see someone snagging trout i will personally make sure they have a bad day

if i find a fish snagged on my line(it happens to everyone when the pool is thick with fish) ill tighten up my drag to break off the leader and try again. try, try again and again lol

best thing to do if you arent comfortable confronting people is just call the mnr or the police(they can enforce the laws too!)
if it really bothers you to the point where youre losing sleep over it bud, best to find a small creek or an area where youll be alone and enjoy the feeling of bliss, or ignorance. whatever you want to call it

 

[dreamboy2010]

for salmon the snaggers have always been there and to be honest it gets worse every year.
to say its hurting the fishery might be a long shot but its still bad practice.

now if i see someone snagging trout i will personally make sure they have a bad day

if i find a fish snagged on my line(it happens to everyone when the pool is thick with fish) ill tighten up my drag to break off the leader and try again. try, try again and again lol

best thing to do if you arent comfortable confronting people is just call the mnr or the police(they can enforce the laws too!)
if it really bothers you to the point where youre losing sleep over it bud, best to find a small creek or an area where youll be alone and enjoy the feeling of bliss, or ignorance. whatever you want to call it

Good advise. I woulda say the same.

 

[jkw]

HI Rick,

Thanks for your post, it addresses a number of good issues. I have run into all of this while walking the creek this year, and have similar feelings. I have opted to talk to whoever it is, in a friendly matter, and eventually ask - "so do you ever get any of this fish to actually bite"? which is a fair question I think. 1 - I am actually interested to see if they do bite (I personally have not seen any feeding salmon in creeks, besides chasing spinners out of instinct). But I am never around for salmon season anyhow, so what do I know. 2- It lets them know that I know they are snagging.

My only answer has been to find my own water.. I have had success wading out at sunrise and chucking spoons into the lake, where fish actually BITE and chase and still feed. few people out there and lots of space. AND, snaggers really can get no love in the big water.

 

[rick james]

thanks for your comments guys, I especially like the clips, excellent .
You know with respect to my original comment, I guess I would expect more of a presence from the MNR patrolling the rivers especially on popular tribs on busy days. I just frustrates me to see snaggers hog the best pools all day without respect for the fish or fishery.
Also, I don't really want to spend my hard earned precious fishing days focusing on reporting people to the MNR or getting into conflict, I don't see that as my job and I don't need the stress, this is the opposite of why I go fishing.
I try to avoid the crowds where I can but needless to say often the crowds are where the fish are and some of my 'secret spots' haven't been producing as well this year, hence the visit out east for salmon, usually I reserve these visits for steelies in the spring.
Perhaps the MNR could launch an educational campaign on proper fishing etiquette and ethical fishing practice, especially when it comes to fishing for salmon in ontario rivers.
Cheers,
Rick

 

[miles]

IMO there are a few different variables I would take into account when placing these guys on the loogan scale. What was drifted under the float, if they broke off or landed snagged fish and if they took snagged fish home.

 

[Kit]

I too agree with a class just like hunting. Spending a weekend in a classroom learning the regs and proper fish handling if your releasing the fish and the class is not free 120 is how much the hunting course is if I remember correctly. And raising license prices to get more funding for the MNR to hire more CO's

 

[jkw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIN0cloid2U

a link to a little salmon sport fishing for you Rick James. Last week out east

 

[salmotrutta]

Just for the record, salmon do bite lures in the creeks too. I haven't done any trib fishing for them this year, just piers, marinas and river mouths, but in past years I have successfully.

If you want to avoid accidental snagging, spinners are great permitted you aren't ripping it through the middle of a shallow pool with 20 salmon. Some days the bite will be non-stop on lures for salmon and trout, other days you'll have to work your ass off to get just one. Mood, time spent in the tribs, angle of the sun, water temperature, and who knows what other factors all come into effect.

 

[Paul1913]

You did get your rod wet in that easy Trib for a couple of casts

 

[salmotrutta]

Yeah true, forgot about that, but that's the first 10 yards from the lake, I'd still call it the mouth or frogwater / swampwater.

PS. Is it legal to have a small fire going on the side you guys were on? Or illegal but tolerated if done discretely? Seemed like a sweet set up you guys had. Can only imagine how much fun it would be there when the steelies are running thick.

 

[Paul1913]

Umm legal..I can't think of anything it's contravening unless city bylaw bht don't think there is any there.. Never looked into the bylaws but we always leave that place cleaner than we found it. Also we don't pillage the woods for wood.