People killing chinook thinking they're coho and vice versa

[kirkster]

I replied to a post about this but I wanted to start a thread and get every ones opinion. I'm always hearing about fisherman who killed a chinook because they thought it was a coho And vice versa.
They require that goose hunters to take a course on goose identification and pass a test before they can legally hunt geese in north west Oregon. Because of the Dusky canadian honker is protected There are seven different canadian honkers. and all seven look the relativly the same.
The difference is the dusky's breast feathers are a few shades darker than the others and there bill length is is few centimeters different than the others. Other than that there indentical. At any time during the season you make a mistake and kill a dusky no ticket is issued but you lose your Right to hunt geese for the remainder of the year and you can retake the identifacation test and hunt the next year. Now keep in mind with the minamal difference in these geese this has to be done as there flying.
As many cases of people killing fish that they were not allowed to kill in my opinion is bogus. As much information thats out there showing the difference between chinook and coho. I really think tf the law was if kill a fish thinking it was onr or the other not only you a ticket is issued and you lose the right to fish for salmon for the remainder of the year and you have to pass identifacation test to be able to fish the next year.
The only difference between the goose law and this law is the goose hunthunters have to identify the geese whileflying at a distance. On the other hand a fisherman has a close hands on to be able to identify before kill. In my opinion this " mistake" would drop at least 99% if they knew they could fish salmon until next year. I'm not trying to start a huge thing and hope I'm not offending anybody A person honestly doesn't know the difference then dont fish until you do.

 

[halibuthitman]

I can't understand either..... the old saying goes

"if you don't know... let it go"
its just a fish, you will catch more, and a good king is unmistakable.

 

[luv2fish]

thumbs up to halibutman.....:clap:

 

[Thuggin4Life]

I agree but at the same time i have caught many coho in a system where retantion is illegal and a few at first look i thought to be nooks. i even noticed that some coho have very dark mouts and the gum line is on the greyer side which could easily confuse a guy. but i can't believe how many people have taken the wrong fish. if theres two fish in the river and only one can be kept you should be extra observant you would think. then off course there are the idiots. Maybe a fish id isn't such a bad idea. instead of a ticket a no fish for the year would make people more cautious i would imagine.

 

[mgdguy]

Did he let it go?
"when in doubt.... throw it out"

Well on the Sandy it's easy - got a fin? Release! He was released unharmed

 

[halibuthitman]

aah, then no animals were harmed in the making of this story! that fin thing has probably saved a lot of guys a lot of money... gotta like it!

 

[mgdguy]

Still, it's nice to be able to tell the difference...

 

[kirkster]

I agree but at the same time i have caught many coho in a system where retantion is illegal and a few at first look i thought to be nooks. i even noticed that some coho have very dark mouts and the gum line is on the greyer side which could easily confuse a guy. but i can't believe how many people have taken the wrong fish. if theres two fish in the river and only one can be kept you should be extra observant you would think. then off course there are the idiots. Maybe a fish id isn't such a bad idea. instead of a ticket a no fish for the year would make people more cautious i would imagine.

I agree when you say that it can be confusing. In my opinion most of the cases isn't from confusion rather than people to eager to bonk it and go show it off to there friends and there not even aware there's different species to worry about.I was trolling springers in the willy this year and I watched a guy land a native springer. By his excitment I could tell he hadnt caught many salmon if any at all. My next troll by I went by to congradulate him and thats when he held it up to show me. Thats when I seen it was native. Adipose was big as a silver dollar. I said sir your not supposed to keep native fish. And this is no joke. He rudly hollerd at me and said "Its not a native its a salmon". Just to say I'm pretty sure there are several people uneducated on the fish and game laws.

 

[halibuthitman]

omg!!! im selling shirts...... "its not native.. its a salmon" my god thats so stupid and funny that the state of washington might steal it for its state marketing logo!!! what the hell did you respond to that neck down unit with?

 

[kirkster]

To be honest I was speachless. I looked at my buddy and said did he just say what I think he said. And my buddy coudnt breath he was laughing so hard. And then I replied to the guy. Oh ok me bad.

 

[halibuthitman]

reminds me of the time in Idaho elk huntin I guy had a 135lb coyote in his truck and was showin it off, I said thats a timber wolf and he looked me right in the face and said..... no it isn't.. you can't shoot wolves... dumb arse!!

 

[kirkster]

Still, it's nice to be able to tell the difference...

Right now I've heard its happening on several coastal rivers. What made me bring this up was a post I was reading and there was a pic of an illegal fish. Some of the other members posted about it telling the guy it was illeagal and the pic was removed by the person who posted it. I understand what your saying about the sandy. Its not only

nice to be able to tell the difference

but when fishin rivers that have retainable fish and non retainable fish its a must to be able to tell the difference.

 

[kirkster]

reminds me of the time in Idaho elk huntin I guy had a 135lb coyote in his truck and was showin it off, I said thats a timber wolf and he looked me right in the face and said..... no it isn't.. you can't shoot wolves... dumb arse!!

Lmfao:lol::lol::lol: Only in America:dance::dance:

 

[halibuthitman]

I guess at least in america you still have the option to illegally dust wolves... although I just got back from idaho and montana a few days ago and was there for the first legal wolf hunt in 70 years... fish and games attempt at fixing a major f-up!

 

[masmith]

I won't be posting pictures on here anymore.

 

[kirkster]

I won't be posting pictures on here anymore.

I wasn't trying to offend you or point you out directly. From what I gather Your peticular situation was an honest mistake. Please believe me when I say this post was not pointed towards you whatsoever.

 

[solution7]

My thoughts

My thoughts

I agree that there needs to be some better education for those that are newer to the support. I don't think lambasting someone for making an honest mistake is going to get anyone anywhere. There was a time when each and everyone of us were rookies and could Not identify fish the way we can today. Patient honest education is the best option for noob's.

Those that are knowingly taking fish they shouldn't are total jerks. To know what your doing and illegaly take a fish is just outright unhonorable.

 

[halibuthitman]

good samaritan

good samaritan

I won't be posting pictures on here anymore.

I would definitely tell someone they were posting an illegal fish... game officers frequent these sites and use them as tools for where to patrol, I know, cause I fish with one, one who has made several comments about things he has seen on similar forums.... that being said I think someone commenting that you should remove an incriminating photo is doing you a good turn... it should be appreciated.

 

[kirkster]

I agree that there needs to be some better education for those that are newer to the support. I don't think lambasting someone for making an honest mistake is going to get anyone anywhere. There was a time when each and everyone of us were rookies and could Not identify fish the way we can today. Patient honest education is the best option for noob's.

Those that are knowingly taking fish they shouldn't are total jerks. To know what your doing and illegaly take a fish is just outright unhonorable.

I respect your thoughts and opinion. But lambasting?? Not sure what you mean I simply stated the reason I started this thread. No fingers were pointed or names mentioned. My main point was based towards the people that do this. No damn good and well what there doing and if caught. Using the I couldn't tell the difference for an excuse. when every fishing forum in this area has info clearly showing the difference. The odfw website, showing the difference. And every public access point to rivers where this is an issue has those yellow sign's posted showing the difference.

 

[JeannaJigs]

They have life size replicas of a coho and a chinook posted at the Port of Siuslaw, and still...people are gettin' tickets. There are a lot of people that need to get edumacated. If you're fishing a body of water with strict regulations, you better know damn sure before you bust out the wood shampoo! I think probably 60% of the illegally retained fish, are retained by people who DO know the difference, but are banking on not being caught with it, because the Chinook returns have been so poor, and they just want something to put on ice. Then there are the people, that just do not know, and there is no excuse really...do some research, there's pictures in every reg book, and at every major boat ramp, AND forums like this that have multiple posts about identification WITH pictures!!