Northwest Fishing Reports

I type this after a coworker showed me a picture on his phone about a buddy of his who caught a large wild steelhead in the Nisqually a few days ago. Of course he had the fish several feet from the river to pose for the pics and the big adipose fin was like a neon sign. The fish had to be in the low teens atleast and was really dark already. Perhaps it was a summer run. I wish a game warden was present but wasn't. Unsure if the fish was kept or released.

Does anybody here remember fishing steelies on that river? My grandpa did a few decades past and from what I hear it was a good river. I don't know if they do hatchery steelhead there but could be wrong.

why do you wish for the game warden?

Probably because it was a wild steelie out of the water. Which is illegal and harmful. I know a few fly fishermen purists that fish it for steel. They are pretty tight lipped about it.

i know but sheesh, to actually call a game warden on somebody, i feel like some people need to chill out, yeah theres a reason to call them, but ive seen some people call/snitch over the dumbest stuff like snapping a 5 second photo, or when i caught two rockfish in a row on a pier, threw them back, yet some guy felt as if i was targeting them... with pink buzz bombs....

goonatic wrote:i know but sheesh, to actually call a game warden on somebody, i feel like some people need to chill out, yeah theres a reason to call them, but ive seen some people call/snitch over the dumbest stuff like snapping a 5 second photo, or when i caught two rockfish in a row on a pier, threw them back, yet some guy felt as if i was targeting them... with pink buzz bombs....

Yeah guys chill out there only an ESA listed fish that are on a sharp decline.

one coworker tells me the fish was kept, the other saying it was released. I'll probably never know for sure.

yeah geez goonatic, its just a little poaching, cool out.

goonatic wrote:i know but sheesh, to actually call a game warden on somebody, i feel like some people need to chill out, yeah theres a reason to call them, but ive seen some people call/snitch over the dumbest stuff like snapping a 5 second photo, or when i caught two rockfish in a row on a pier, threw them back, yet some guy felt as if i was targeting them... with pink buzz bombs....

skagit510 wrote:yeah geez goonatic, its just a little poaching, cool out.

maybe I should've started a thread on the 2 acquaintances(not friends) that have poached on a commercial scale for years instead. both been ticketed multiple times and did jail time but it apparently can be worth it. one guy is just to old to continue, the other may still be at it.

send the photo to wdfw with a date and names. poachers are scum. i mean way to damage a struggling population by keeping a spawner no less. I'm sure that ate like cat crap. turn them in.

Kinda off subject (thread is about the Nisqually)...but a couple weekends ago I'd finally had enough of guys fishing into the mouth of the White by Mama Stortinis in Puyallup. Every time I go out there, they stand on the point of that "bluff" and even wade out in a line facing into the mouth of the White and they pull in tons of Silvers that are heading into the White. Well that's where the water slows considerably, so it's like casting into a fish bowl. We always call them out and tell them they are fishing closed waters, but I think only one guy has ever listened and actually stopped. The rest just didn't care. I've also seen the warden clear everyone out of that area (didn't write tickets that time though). So I had finally had enough the last time I was there and called the 800 # report hotline. I know a warden probably didn't go down there that same day, but in my message I made sure to let them know if they monitor that area, they will have no problem finding guys fishing illegally into the White.

Don't be afraid to call.

mizm05 wrote:Kinda off subject (thread is about the Nisqually)...but a couple weekends ago I'd finally had enough of guys fishing into the mouth of the White by Mama Stortinis in Puyallup. Every time I go out there, they stand on the point of that "bluff" and even wade out in a line facing into the mouth of the White and they pull in tons of Silvers that are heading into the White. Well that's where the water slows considerably, so it's like casting into a fish bowl. We always call them out and tell them they are fishing closed waters, but I think only one guy has ever listened and actually stopped. The rest just didn't care. I've also seen the warden clear everyone out of that area (didn't write tickets that time though). So I had finally had enough the last time I was there and called the 800 # report hotline. I know a warden probably didn't go down there that same day, but in my message I made sure to let them know if they monitor that area, they will have no problem finding guys fishing illegally into the White.

Don't be afraid to call.

they did seem to be very tolerant on the puyallup this year, perhaps because of all the newbies or jst being overwhelmed by the crowds. somebody on washingtonlakes posted that on a day the river was closed they just told the crowds to leave.

obryan214 wrote:

mizm05 wrote:Kinda off subject (thread is about the Nisqually)...but a couple weekends ago I'd finally had enough of guys fishing into the mouth of the White by Mama Stortinis in Puyallup. Every time I go out there, they stand on the point of that "bluff" and even wade out in a line facing into the mouth of the White and they pull in tons of Silvers that are heading into the White. Well that's where the water slows considerably, so it's like casting into a fish bowl. We always call them out and tell them they are fishing closed waters, but I think only one guy has ever listened and actually stopped. The rest just didn't care. I've also seen the warden clear everyone out of that area (didn't write tickets that time though). So I had finally had enough the last time I was there and called the 800 # report hotline. I know a warden probably didn't go down there that same day, but in my message I made sure to let them know if they monitor that area, they will have no problem finding guys fishing illegally into the White.

Don't be afraid to call.

they did seem to be very tolerant on the puyallup this year, perhaps because of all the newbies or jst being overwhelmed by the crowds. somebody on washingtonlakes posted that on a day the river was closed they just told the crowds to leave.

I had that same problem. There were a couple guys that waded out and actually stood in that seam that I was casting to and turned away from the white. I was only a few inches in the water and he kept casting nearly on my head, sometimes hitting my feet. I yelled at him and informed him there were more fish at his feet than mine. I think they were somewhat drunk.

Good for you to call.