The Wish to Fish Alliance, a loosely knit group of fishermen, has banded together in an attempt to restore bait fishing on the Truckee River. We are proposing that the California Fish & Game Commission restore bait fishing from Boca Bridge to the Nevada state line. Prior to this year, the stretch of river from Boca Bridge to Gray Creek was managed as a "catch and release" wild trout fishery with no gear restrictions (bait allowed), a 2 fish limit with no size restriction. The area from Gray Creek to the Nevada state line was governed by the general regulations - a 5 fish limit with no size restriction. Spokepersons for the California Dept. of Fish & Game have stated that this sections has been managed as "de facto" wild trout water for many years. We propose a 2 fish limit, a 14" minimum size and the use of barbless hooks to minimize damage to released fish. This conforms to barbless hooks regulations upstream of Boca Bridge. We believe our proposal also complies with The California Wild Trout Program criteria and guidelines.
There is a California Fish & Game Commission meeting in Truckee, CA on June 7th and 8th and another meeting in Bridgeport on July 12th and 13th 2007. We invite concerned fishermen to attend these meetings to let the Commission members know your feelings.
10 comments:
I have been fishing with bait on the Truckee River for over 50 years. I am very disappointed that the Fish & Game Commission changed the fishing regulations banning bait. Hopefully the Wish to Fish Alliance can persuade the Commission to restore bait fishing on at least a part of the Truckee River from Boca Bridge to the Nevada state line.
My family has been fishing the Truckee River for many years. We love to pack a picnic lunch and spend the day on the river. The kids swim and look for crawdads, my wife reads a book and I fish. I generally use worms.
I can't believe that I will no longer be able to fish unless I change my tackle.
I hope the Wish to Fish Alliance can restore bait fishing.
Most of this area has been managed as wild trout water by CDFG for years with bait fishing allowed. Representatives of CDFG have stated that the river is healthy. If the river is healthy, why change the regs ?? How can this be right ?? I hope you are successful in getting the regs changed to allow bait
A devoted Truckee River bait fishermen as no time for sitting to long it is a hard river to fish. I praise these fishermen who are trying to get back bait fishing. It is going to hard, so I hope more fishermen come to there aid. Good Luck
Even though I now fly fish, I learned to fish with bait on this exact stretch of river, from my father over 40 years ago. I find it appalling that the Fish & Game Commission would elect to change the regs on this healthy river while ignoring the advise of their own biologists. And to do so in a meeting in Southern California, without local input, was down right wrong. I am deeply saddened that my father and others can no longer fish this excellent water, and that they won't be allowed to teach the beautiful art of fishing to future generations.
I am a 2nd generation bait fisher and my 2 boys are 3rd. We all enjoy bait fishing the Truckee. I am heart broken along with our whole family that we can no longer enjoy the Truckee anymore unless we fly fish, this would endanger my 69 year old father who lives to bait fish the river.I see no reason why both bait and fly fishermen cannot share the river and maybe try to get rid of the rafters.We all shared before without any problems.
Please help to get the word out about this travesty. It is completely unfair that the Fish & Game Commission made a change that dramatically affects the majority of the people who fish this stretch of river, just to appease the wishes of a select group of fly fishers.
We have a residence along the river and I was looking forward to teaching my daughter how to fish this stretch of river. She is much too young to be able to manage artificial lures. I learned to fish with worms and that was my plan for her too. It is very sad that the future generations won't be able to enjoy the river the way we were able to as we we grew up.
Please let everyone know that these new regulations need to be changed so that everyone has a chance to fish! PLEASE!
I fished many rivers throughout the United States both as a baitfisher and now as a flyfisher and though I have heard comments from each group regarding the other I have never heard anyone say we should outlaw that group on this stretch of river until now! I am ashamed!! Of who you ask? My fellow flyfishermen and women who initiated this perverse action. I am a member of 2 wonderful flyfishing clubs both in Northern California and when I brought this up to them they were equally shocked. So I wonder who is really the recipient of Glad Tidings made by these new regs? A very small community of fishermen who contribute an equally very small amount of license fees (relatively speaking)to the sport. You have to wonder why the State of California would act in this dramatic way based on such a minority voice of sportsmen.Maybe we should be changing the board members of the CDFG instead of changing the regs! Food for thought!
I have never had the opportunity to fish when I was growing up. My father was not an outdoors man. I started bait fishing in 1978 when I moved to California. I was able to fish the entire Truckee River. Over the years the error has gotten smaller and smaller. Now I can only fish from he Upper Truckee from Tahoe City to Truckee. This is ok the first few weeks of the season, after Memorial Day that this portion of the river is full of RAFTERS which makes it impossible to fish and the water level drops.
I was able to teach my son and my grandchildren to bait fish allowing them to enjoy a sport I was never able to do. I know that when we are fishing together we are injoying the time I never spent with my Father. We have always practiced catch and release and only keep the fish we will eat.
Please reistate bait fishing on the Truckee from Boca to Stateline. We can live with barless hooks and a 2 fish limit, just give us a place to fish.
The Fly Fishermen special interest group claims that the new rules will simplify the regulations, but in fact, the rules exclude certain members of the population from being able to fish a large portion of the Truckee River. This new regulation seeks to exclude bait fishermen from fishing the Truckee River. Laws that seek to exclude are discriminatory.
Under the previous regulations, it was possible for someone in a wheelchair to fish the Truckee River from the Boca Bridge to the Nevada State line by casting out a worm on a hook, but the new regulations essentially ban this person from being able to fish this area. This is discrimination.
I personally have a friend who lives in Hirschdale who suffered a permanent shoulder injury in a fall. Due to his limited shoulder mobility, he would never have the range of motion required to fly fish. Fishing the Truckee River using bait is one of his passions – a passion he cannot fulfill with the new regulation banning bait fishing. He would not be able to walk from his home to the river and enjoy the community he lives in. Again, this regulation seeks to discriminate.
Additionally, children typically learn how to fish using worms or salmon eggs. Children don’t have the motor skills necessary to fly fish, nor do their families typically have the expensive specialized equipment required to fly fish. It is necessary to keep outdoor activities open to the public so that they may enjoy the beauty of our state and experience all that it has to offer. Special Interest Fly Fishermen groups will always fight to exclude others from enjoying their sport and from enjoying their “preferred areas,” but it is our responsibility to fight them and not allow them or any other groups to prevent the public from enjoying nature and experiencing the simple joy of fishing.
Please do not allow this restriction of public access to continue take place.
The new regulation change disallows handicapped people and children to actively enjoy fishing on the Truckee River. Please do not allow discrimination to encroach into the enjoyment of California’s natural resources.
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