Samish River Chinook, 100 Bucks! Not Me...

[CRW]

Well then, since the farmers are closing off the river expect to the elite, maybe we should sue the wdfw to close the hatchery on the samish since it is a waste of tax payer money.

But now what about the part of the state constitution that lay claims to the beds and shores of all navigable waters??

Matt is correct significant portions of the tidelands (including the mud banks along the lower river) are owned by the farmers. Yes the tidelands were owned by the state but over the years much of those tidelands have been sold. The result is that the tidelands are a real patch work of ownership. The only way to know the situation on each parcel of land is to check the ownership of the tidelands and stream bottoms. That can done through the County assessor's office - Skagit counties info is available on line.

CRW -
If you read the information you provided closely I think you will find is that the State owns the water and that we all can use that water if we can get on it. That means we can boat/float/swim on that water but it does not all you to tresspass on private land (including private owned tidelands/stream bottoms) to access that water for boating. Walking on private tidelands is tresspassing!

I strongly suggest that those who plan on "testing" the access on the Samish either do their homework or program thier lawyer's number in your cell phone or set aside some coin for the expected fines.

Tight lines
Curt

[Smalma]

CRW -
I think if you check you'll find that State began selling its tidelands immediately after statehood. I suspect originally those sales were for such things as oyster farms and log booming. However private individuals also bought tidelands (generally those lands immediately next to thier upland ownership.

If my memory is correct (always a potential issue) the sale of the State's tidelands continued until the passage of the State's shoreline management act in 1971. That move was one generally greeted with approval by most of the public (though probably not those living on the waterfront that had not yet bought "thier" tidelands. Nothing in the 1971 shoreline management act void previous sales.

In discussing the Samish hatchery we probably should remember that the hatchery production was mostly to support commercial fishing in Samish and bellingham bays and the recreational fishery in the river is just an after thought or a secondary benefit if you will. With the Boldt decision in the 1970s the commercial fishing is done by both tribal and non-treaty fishers. Again if I recall correctly that Bellingham/Samish bay commercial fishery is the last non-treaty commercial fishery that targets Chinook.

Tight lines
Curt

[Dustin07]

Your not paying 100 bucks to fish the river. The river is not owned by the land owners. If you can find a place and wade down to those areas you can still do so. You can not access the river through the private land without paying to do so. The owner of the land should not have to pick up after anyone else. If they didnt make the mess then they shouldnt need to. But people will always leave crap. I carry a backpack with me. My cans bottles etc... all make it back out with me. If everyone did that it would have made a difference. But they didnt and if only a few people do it dont make much difference unfortunately. I really wish that enforcement would be even thicker then they are now. Double or triple the showing they got now. Get some of the people of the rivers that have no place being there. But back to it. If you want to fish that spot wade to it or pay the money. If ya dont feel like it try to do it without paying. Hopefully youll get caught and fined and learn a lesson.

I'm a little off topic, but yesterday i was cleaning my garage and organizing my duck hunting gear and I found a bag of a COUPLE HUNDRED shot gun shells and trash my brother and I had collected on our last day to a particular public spot. we thought the spot was so nice and the WDFW did such a good job setting up the least we could do was backpack some of the crap out.