I spent a few hours today on Rattlesnake Lake
today, only a few as I had to get back home and get some yard work completed
(one of the many joys of home ownership). Amazingly, this was my first
time to Rattlesnake Lake. What a pretty little lake!
Something that ruined my fishing day, though,
was the quantity of bait fishermen on the shore. When I started
fishing at about 8:30, there was a group of 3 men and 2 boys that were using
bait, and absolutely yarding in the fish. When I left at 1 pm, they
were still bait fishing, still catching the occasional trout or two. I
don't know how many they caught, but I counted 8 (caught and kept) caught in
about 20 minutes first thing in the morning, before I headed to other end of
the lake.
When I left at 1 pm, there were a couple of
other smaller groups of bait fishin' folks, too. As I was walking out,
I deterred two groups of ariiving bait fisherman by letting them know what
the regs were (well, one group left, the other may have
stayed).
I was absolutely stunned at how many folks were
bait fishing from shore ; it was the rule, not the exception. The boat
fishermen seemed to be trolling, and not using bait.
What can be done about this blatant disregard
for the rules? Is better and more signage needed at key access points,
maybe signage like what Idaho uses, the word "Bait" with the red circle and
diagonal line through it? There was a little wee sign at the launch,
indicating the lake is a Selective Fishery, but a person had to go out
of their way to read it, and the rules were in small print (albeit bolded),
lost in the middle of some other material. Or maybe have the
enforcement folks hit it hard for two or three sequential weekends (I bet
the word would get out!)?
I know this type of conduct will always be
around, but there has to be some reasonable way to curb or abate it
(somewhat).
Richard
