I Deliver the Olympian and I was PISSED when i saw this article, he did an article on me before and i could tell this guy is a moron, never like his articles, they are always about his fishing excursions. This article truly pissed me off and i sent an email to him also, what an Ahole, heck i think global warming is killing more salmon than our beloved smallies.

The wierd part is he is the outdoor writer for the Olympia paper.  Solid journalist who does his homework.  I sent him an email response today, challenging that exact same numbers.  Plus I added a certain twist regarding the growing popularity of bass fishing and the economic benefits.  Not sure if I changed his opinion, but I feel better.

i'll bet the northern pike minnow is more than 4% of a columbia smally's diet, and they probly eat more of those than the bounty kills.    ???

WOW!! A 4 whole percent of a smallmouths diet. This guy is a moron. He wonders why there is a bounty on squaw fish then states that baby salmon are 83% of their diet. But he complains about the bounty...I'm lost. Who goes out and targets squaw fish other than those looking for the bounty? That's why there is one, so somebody targets them and keeps the populations down.

And what about the other 86% of a smallmouth's diet which doesn't harm salmon? Like other small baitfish, bugs, crawdads, and Yamamoto baits?

I plan on sending him a few good words myself,
Russ

Who of our WBC members wants to take a whack at Chester Allens brutal open letter to the WDFW Commission?  This guy is so far off base.  "Packs of largemouth above The Dalles dam?!"  I would like to know where he saw that.  What a putz.  I am thinking I might spend some time on the keyboard this week-end.  I am hoping Chris does respond to this post.

Heres a question to ask people about copmmercial fishing. How does the old women who can't catch her own salmon get it. Through the store right. How does the store get this fish. I'm sorry but salmon sports anglers can be extremely gready at times. The truth is that gillnetters actually kill less salmon steelhead than sports anglers do. You should see how these people treat the fish they supposedly love. They kill them. Especially the wild salmon. I see tons end up belly up in the buoy 10 fishery. Charter boats kill thousands a year. A boat may catch it's quota for the day but how many wilds didi it catch and kill. Chris I'm wondering if theirs ever been any research done on the number of wild salmon killed by charter boats and sports anglers. Gill Netters have a livewell type system that revives the salmon that they must use on certain openers. This tank will bring a fish thought impossible back to life. maybe it dies later but also haven't seen any research done on it either.

Just my .02 cents
You can always point fingers but the finger usually comes back to you.

One word.....

WHINER!

http://theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060217/OUTDOORS0201/60217031...