Poaching Jims

Poachers are a fact of life on our rivers. Last weekend a buddy and I ran into some hillbilly scum that had a bull trout and cutthroat on the beach on a river with C&R regs. Probably should have just cuffed them with zip ties and dragged them to the sheriffs office, but not being the vigilante types we decided to go a little more passive aggressive and ask them if they knew the regs. One, who was quite obviously not the brightest crayon in the box essentially admitted he was poaching when he told us the regs were harvest for 2 ad clipped steelhead only. His buddy, more aloof said he had no idea what the regs were.

Regardless, as stewards of the resource its crucial that we keep an eye out for the fish. If you see someone poaching call it in, and if it doesn't involve excessive risk calmly tell the perpetrator that they are keeping fish illegally. Being loud, violent or excessively in their face probably isn't a good idea...after all, Jims tend to be about 10 times more likely to pack heat than most of the spey fishing set.

Poaching Hotline #s for our region

Washington
1-877-933-9847

Oregon
1-800-452-7888

California
1-888-334-2258

Idaho
1-800-632-5999

BC
1-877-952-7277