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Puyallup River Report
Pierce County, WA

Details

08/21/2017
76° - 80°
Casting
Chinook Salmon
Orange
Sunny
Corky & Yarn
Evening
51° - 55°
08/22/2017
2
2953

Last night I went to the Puyallup river approximately 500 feet downstream from the 66th street bridge. As I was walking in I saw the 61 guys fishing illegally within the 400-foot closed waters of the Clarks creek mouth, and yes, I did count them. There were a couple guys fishing right in the mouth of the creek and I mentioned that this was illegal to which I was told how to pleasure myself very rudely. At that point, I made the decision if these guys want to get a fine, let them.
As I proceeded down to the area where I was going to fish there was a group of guys I noticed because of the music they were playing very loudly. I decided at that point I would go even further downstream. Once I got to my area, no one within 150 feet of me, I was able to cast about 4 times when I noticed a line about ten feet in front of me. Looking upstream I verified the guy who was reeling in this line was at least 150 feet upstream of me. As the weight and leader past me I noticed how long the leader was, and the barbed hook, and sure enough a few minutes later when he snagged his first salmon that I saw it was obvious he had no control of the fish once he ran out of main line.
Then the evening fishing took an even worse turn…. This group of guys kept getting closer and closer to me, literally within ten feet of me, tangling my line with theirs, blaring the rap music they enjoy, and snagging fish after fish. I left after being on the river less than 45 minutes.
My point in sharing this is that hopefully some of these guys will read this and realize that they are not only criminals, they are being very rude, unethical, and giving true fisherman a bad name. My second point in sharing this is that I hope WDFW will patrol this are much more heavily. I am fine with the wardens giving warnings if it is merited, but if guys are blatantly flipping off the law, write them up and show no mercy.
Will I go back to the Puyallup river, yes, but I will take my phone with me next time. This will allow me to take photos, share them with the wardens, and post them on-line in every place possible.
Smile for the camera!!
Hope every true fisherman has a great season and tight lines!


Comments

sunfighter
8/22/2017 4:17:59 PM
Next time post them here,I'm sure we'd all love to see them.
clancydog1
8/22/2017 7:28:46 PM
These guys that are jerks and fish not caring about the laws should not be allowed.
I call fish and game hotline when this happens and you were smart to back off and try to stay away from them.
Better luck another day!
Big Smooth
8/22/2017 7:47:32 PM
Welcome to pink season. Have patience and let the wdfw handle clarks creek. It wasn't too long ago it was a 100 ft radius "I think" . If you fish the puyallup, Nisqually or any other river that is flooded with these fish, you got to have patience, or there is no point in going out... until October when you get the chum and B runs :). Keep your head up and enjoy the time on the water!
kingthumper
8/22/2017 9:22:10 PM
I agree with most of what you said, but???? Im not sure about he barbed hooked sighting, unless he had a 4 inch hook. As it went by in the water, I am pretty sure you wouldn't be able to detect the barb unless you were superman. Just sayin.
69
8/22/2017 9:26:53 PM
Hey man, appreciate the report man but this sounded racist to me on so many levels... So stereotypical of you. Even if they were breaking the laws or not.. It's the United States man anyone is allowed to fish.. I don't like how you appointed those fisherman as "they" and how they like rap music... They're human just like you..
69
8/22/2017 9:42:08 PM
I just don't think it's alright to judge people off what music they listen to man. If they're breaking the rules then let them. They'll get caught up soon. There's no need to record or mess with them. You could honestly get hurt if they take things too seriously. It sounded as if you categorized "those" people as trash because they were playing rap music? Makes me sick man. If someone like you said that to my face it'd be a different story man... It's not your river so stop acting like you own it.. THEY'RE JUST PINKS MAN????
machewbacca
8/23/2017 6:38:29 PM
This is an interesting take... first of all, it's not a constitutional right to fish in the US, you pay a fee to get a license, and by purchasing a license, you are responsible to uphold the rules and regs. I deal with a similar situation at McDonalds, I don't own the playground there, but there are rules if you want to play on it. One is, no shoes. Now, if my daughter follows that rule, but someone else's kid doesn't, now I risk them, wearing shoes, stepping on my kid's feet. Should I just be quiet about it and let that happen? Point is, its perfectly ok, for someone to be upset because others blatantly disrespect the rules. If you don't get that, maybe it should be you that doesn't fish.

"They're Just Pinks"... we are expecting an 80% decline in the run, maybe instead of that flippant attitude, we can all abide by the rules to ensure strong future runs.

It may not be "my river" but I do view it as my responsibility to ensure that others fishing it, have a similar experience as mine.
Fishin'Daze
8/23/2017 9:38:06 AM
Yea it's Pink fishing alright - seems to bring out the "crap" fisherman. Jammer19 i know and have seen what your talking about.......it's a shame. As far as 69 's comments i agree not to confront them because of the possibility of these "trash" fisherman getting violent. But.....I don't agree with 69"s music comments. No it's not racist to be upset if someone decides to play whatever music loud - it's also my river as well and maybe I don't want to listen to your music. Yea listen to your music but not to the point it bothers other fisherman. 69 you sound like one of those cry babies when you go to the race card because of someone's opinion on music....shame on you.
Jammer19
8/23/2017 10:50:41 AM
Hey 69,
I was not playing a race card at all, in this group I was talking about it was three white guys and one Hispanic if you really want to know the truth. The music they were playing was extremely vulgar, foul language, calling women all sorts of things, and such. I too have music playing, on one headphone so I do not disturb everyone else. That is the problem with it, not that it was rap, i have some rap music also. As for the guys in the creek, all I said to them was that I saw two guys get nailed fishing right where they were, I was trying to do them a favor. And lastly, any guy on the river that comes out swinging at me because I casually say, "do you know that is illegal?" will get a very rude awakening. Just remember, you never know who you are dealing with when you start flipping out on someone for trying to help you. On my off time I don't want to have to write those kind of reports, it is a big hassle, but sometimes necessary.

Kingthumper,
I did not need to be superman as you said. I untangled his line from mine twice, it was very easy to see his treble hooks with barbs.

To all,
All I am trying to say here is, please think of everyone else on the river. Keep your music to a minimum, the guys next to you may be very agitated by it. Use legal gear. Fish with some ethics and morals.
Maybe I am old fashioned, but my dad taught me to treat everyone else on the lake or river as if they were my mother. By these guys actions, I would assume they hate their mothers.
fishingfoxs
8/24/2017 5:42:10 AM
Last week end saw a guy Snagging on the river just before the 11th street bridge.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709