Snagging

[YoungGrasshopper 0]

I see thet all to often here in the Great Lakes region I remember when is was legal and guys were getting knocked on there ass by a snagger chuckin a michigan cricket across the stream and hitting them in the head. It still happends today but they are way more discrete about it. Now I would say the proper term for these a**hats is lifting, there very crafty about it. They wait until there lure, bait, fly drifts twards the fishes mouth and pull it right into the side of there face. The biggest problem is that there is not enough DEC officers to patroll our rivers and streams to catch these guys in the act, and it's not worth trying to say anything to them cause more times than not it results in a verbal or physical argument.

[YoungGrasshopper 0]

Sorry I meant to post this under the snagging post that was out up, my appoliegize.

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Interesting point. I believe that most snagging is generational. Grandpa did it, dad dit, son does it, grandson is learning the ways... Curious though, ever seem to notice that the snag heads are virtually non-existent during steelhead season? Oh sure there are a few out there, but not nearly in the numbers seen during salmon season. Not only is snagging generational, but it also spans the web of society from pure hillbilly to upper crust. Not that I am advocating such a thing, but what if there was one single "snagging" river. I know that a few years ago the Manistee was the last to go. Ah, what am I thinking, won't change a thing... :crying: (Of course I am kidding.) But what I would like to see in Michigan is to have the River Watch program eventually go state wide. Volunteers wearing their special vests on their phones or walkies calling them in. Eventually, the sight of a volunteer might be enough to scare the snaggers off. Hmmmm....

 

Steelie

[oatka 0]

A few weeks ago I called a buddy to get his fishing report from a Great Lakes tributary fishing day. He told me about a few he landed and a few he lost. But, the catch he was most proud of was 2 snaggers. I was proud of him too. Someone else called the DEC on the guys first, but he offered testimony against them, on the stream. When the DEC was walking them out to the car they got away. See, this tributary is down a steep hill and it's not an easy hike. Well, the DEC officer gave my buddy his card to have him call a few hours later for a full testimony. Well, imagine my friends surprise when these punks came back laughing and pointing towards the trees as they apparently told their friends how they got away. My friend called the DEC officer to see how it went with them, and was told that they got away. He then told the officer that they were back....at which point the officer said "YOU GOTT BE F*$King KIDDING ME!" He walked out of the water a few hundred yards behind them and when he got to the top the 2 idiots where cuffed in the back of a cop car. The DEC officer couldn't be there right away so he called the city cops and said "That's them, don't ask them if it was them, they'll lie. Just cuff them and wait for me." They ended up finding a basketball sized bag full of eggs and some snagging hooks, which of course are illegal just to posses. He was told it would probably be about $1200 fine. Hopefully enough of a fine to end the vicious generational tradition. See, I snagged with my dad once when I was a kid, but that was it. It then became illegal and I stopped.

 

If you give them 1 river just for snagging, then they would kill them all and be left with nothing. Unfortunately they'd enjoy the snagging too much and be on to illegally do it in other water. Good idea, but unfortunately wouldn't fix it.

 

 

[Inconnu 0]

Steelie that is a good idea. I wonder myself now......I know in British Columbia you can or at least could, apply for a grant from B.C. Hydro to cruise a particular stream and do volunary creel counts. I always thought that just someone with a clipboard would be a pretty good deterrant.

[Will 0]

What really bothers me about Snaggers is there total disregard for other fish.. I have saw Steelhead with there sides tore open and then threw back into the water.. One of the biggest Brown Trout i ever saw had the same exact thing happen to it.. I have found that sometimes if you try and educate someone that Salmon can be caught most will listen.. weather they keep it up i don't know but...

[Steeldrifter 0]

Liveing here in Michigan and fishing rivers like the Au Sable as much as I do dealing with snaggers is something I have to do/see almost every trip during salmon season. trust me theres nothing more disshearting than to go to my favorite river (Au Sable) and stand there and witness 100-125 guys lined up in a row with ocean sized spin rods just ripping torpedos(2oz bullet of lead with 2 treble hooks) through spawing salmon. Sending citizens down with clip boards to do "creel surveys" though as much as we would like to think would help, would be a BAAAD idea though. The majority of snaggers are low life Jerry Springer watchin' drunken bottom feeders that wouldnt think twice about doing harm to someone. So sending "joe citizen" down to confront them in any manner would be like leading a lamb to slaughter. Joe citizen would be floating down the river if he confronted most of them. So thats not really a vialbe option IMO.

 

Creating a river for snagging would never work ethier. Not only would that most likely boost the idea that snagging is "okay" but it would decimate ALL fish populations in that river (remember -snagging hooks are not biased as to what species they sink into) as well as turn the local town near that river into a complete sleazy town.

 

The main problem with snaggers is the fact that it was legal to do up till about 15/16 years ago. That was when John Skarbot who was a Au Sable/GL guide spearheaded the fight against snagging and got it made illegal. Since it has still been a relatively short amount of time that it was made illegal (only about 16 years) than thats why its still a problem. All the guys that use to snag when it was legal are still around and think they should be able to do it. And really the only way to stop it is to cut it off before it gets handed on down to the kids of these people that do it. Good luck doing that though because a son is always going to believe what his father tells him over what someone else trys to tell him.

 

So how do you stop it?- only way to stop it is for the DNR to aquire more officers to enfore it. As of now their are only 1/2 Conservation Officers per county in Michigan. So thats alot of ground for 1 guy to cover, and then add in the fact that there hunting and other outdoor recreations going on during salmon season and theres no way 1 guy can cover the whole county. And there in lies a real bone I have to pick with the MDNR. They say they cant afford to pay more CO's to help enforce the laws during salmon season....yet over the past 2 years they have cut the salmon stocking program on Lake Huron to help with the alwife crash(good call)...BUT- since there was a large stocking cut then shouldnt there be a little free'd up money from the fisherys program? and shouldnt that money be used to help get more officers to enfore the protection of slamon?.

 

Problem is that money does not get used for that purpose (which it SHOULD be) instead that money goes to support hunting laws, ORV trail managment, creating snowmobile trails and anything else they want to do with it. I say money from the fisheries should STAY in the fisheries....money from Hunting should stay in hunting...etc etc etc.... And not untill they start to realize that will we ever have enough CO's to actually enforce the laws. Then and only then will snagging finally fade away into the sunset.

 

my.02cents

 

Steve

[Blueman89 0]

Problem is that money does not get used for that purpose (which it SHOULD be) instead that money goes to support hunting laws, ORV trail managment, creating snowmobile trails and anything else they want to do with it. I say money from the fisheries should STAY in the fisheries....money from Hunting should stay in hunting...etc etc etc.... And not untill they start to realize that will we ever have enough CO's to actually enforce the laws. Then and only then will snagging finally fade away into the sunset.

 

That's exactly why I hope they never merge the 2 agencies here. It just doesn't work.

 

 

 

 

[nomad 0]

Hey Steve, I agree with you 100%. Great observation and well put.

[Hardyhead 0]

 

Wisconsin has a big issue with snaggers, I typically call the DNR any time I see anybody doing it, unless I am way in the middle of nowhere and I cannot get a cell signal. This year during the early part of the salmon season I had 3 hookups in a single spot in about 35 mins, 1 of the fish I had landed. About 3 mins after I released that fish, a group of guys came upriver. They were driving fish, 5 guys wide coming up the river, with two people out front casting the biggest treble hooks I have ever seen. They make no effort to hide it, and they typicall fill cooler after cooler and drop them off at home and come back.

 

I have to say, the snagging is annoying, the constant interruptions and pressuring of the fish really drives me up the wall. The rivers where I am fishing are stocked every year, and according to the DNR there is 0 natural reproduction. A lot of the snaggers argue that since the fish will not successfully reproduce and they are going to die, why not let them snag? Personally, I think it's a stupid argument, but without enough people to enforce the laws, we can only hope they get nailed and each do our individual part.

[Faster Fish 0]

I have fished for salmon for a number of years. I don't chuck and dunk like a lot of people do. Besides, it doensn't seem sporting to me to do it that way. Anyways, what are suppose to do when you "snag" a fish in the fin or tail or whatever? Do you bring it in and release it? Thus exhausting the fish to death. Do you pull hard and try to dislodge your fly? I am not trying to be a smarta**, I have always been curious and have never been able to get a straight answer.

 

Randy

[Steeldrifter 0]

Chuck&Duck is not even close to snagging . Usually when you chuck and duck your fishing a deep hole and drifting an egg or nymph. Most snagging takes place on gravel where a C&D rig cant even be used. I see more guys "twitching" a floating line on gravel than I see C&D lines in holes.

 

 

When I happen to foul hook a fish- It all depends. If I can get him landed quickly without a prolonged battle then I will do so just so I dont leave a fly stuck in his body. If it's gonna be a hard time getting him in to remove the fly, or it's gonna run way downstream and screw up someone else's fishing then I'll point my rod at the fish and break him off.

[Guest]

Salmon have always brought the "criminal element".

 

Be it on limits, method and trash.

[Alex C. 0]

Why in the bejesus do people snag and keep salmon anyway? Seriously, they're like zombies once they enter the river. Thats almost like eating roadkill :sick:

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Not that I am advocating such a thing, but what if there was one single "snagging" river. I know that a few years ago the Manistee was the last to go. Ah, what am I thinking, won't change a thing... (Of course I am kidding.)

 

I was only kidding! No way would this work. They will just creep over to rivers nearby or such... But as previously stated, I would like to see the River Watch Volunteer program expanded.

 

Steelie