I tried to get back into fishing when I lived in Washington state.
Their trick is that in addition to an expensive license, they put out a 100-page compendium every season. That compendium essentially details the regulations for about ever 100 yards of water.
The REAL trick as that those regulations change for just about every 100 yards of water. And if you violate the regs, the authorities can confiscate not only your fishing gear, but your automobile, your computer and anything else that you could have used in the execution of your “crime.”
On top of that, the authorities require you to check the regs every day, because they may change them for particular areas overnight.
An example: they closed down ALL fishing below a certain point because the count of the steelheads was low. What they didn’t tell you is that they were only counting the native steelheads in the rivers and intentionally left out those that were stocked. When you added those in, there were plenty. Now, why couldn’t they say, “You can fish, just don’t fish for steelheads and if you catch one, you have to put it back?” Part of their trick is dividing between “native” fishes and “stock.” Second generation is “native” but they don’t see it that way.
I was buying some gear at the Orvis in Bellevue. There was a tall, fatuous jackass working there. I mentioned how impossible it was to fish with these laws. He actually argued with me that it was good, because it kept the fish numbers high. I tried to explain to him that most of the fish numbers were fine, and that these laws were designed to keep funds flowing in through licenses but effectively keep the fishermen at home. He was quite emphatic that fishing should be left pretty much to the guides and the professionals, and not to people like me.
Last time I ever shopped in that store.
Kept the numbers high for who?
The bears?
I happen to be in WA now. I have a boat. I like fish. I thought I’d like to try my hand at fishing here...
.. until I learned about the regulations.
I buy my fish from the Injuns. They don’t have those problems. When we head back out to sea I can catch all I want with no hassles.