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[Tomas]

Hi all,

I am not new to this blog. Did a lot of reading but not much writing so far. This post covers multiple topics.

Regulations etc.
I got my first fishing license in at the time Czechoslovakia as, I think, 12 year old. I had to go for a couple of weeks and take lessons. I had to pass knowledge test with questions about how to fish, different techniques, different fish species, habitat, how to handle fish after hooking to make sure it could be released. After passing the test I could fish only with older licensed fisher and there were still some other limitations. Maybe it was a little bit extreme, but I liked it. It was sort of like getting diver's license for 17 year old for me. It was big achievement for me and I was proud. Do I think there should be test similar to hunting license? YES.

Community, newbies
I work in IT and had once to decide between two different technologies. When I was going through discussion forums I noticed that one community was strongly RTFM oriented. For those not familiar RTFM is Read The F*** Manual. Second technology had very friendly community; very supportive towards new users. I picked second one and even though first technology was more mature at the time, it eventually disappeared. While second one strives.

Let's just show new anglers more support and guidance and I think the most of them will respond well. Sometimes you just didn't do search or were too confused with the rules. Maybe that person already read the regulations and needed confirmation of his/her understanding. Isn't that what forum is for as well?! If someone takes time to write read the regulations, the one could just provide the answer or just ignore the message; someone else, less bitter person will answer that question.

Snagging
I fished Vedder, Squamish and noticed a lot of foul hooks. I noticed that a lot of, what to me looked like seasoned anglers had a lot of foul hooks. My guess - 60-70%. Yes, heavy pink run. But ... is that snagging? Is foul hooking considered snagging? Those people were not doing it intentionally. Maybe smaller hook, maybe shorter leader, maybe different technique? In my case, I learned that my sinking tip was too heavy.

As I said, I am new poster but was reading forums for several years so go easy on me. No wrong intentions here. I like this forum mostly very useful and supportive.

Cheers,

T.

P.S.: As I said I grew up in Czechoslovakia ... and yes we kept carp in bath tub. Reason was very prosaic, everybody wanted carp. While there was tons of them where I lived, it was big disappointment for kids if parents didn't manage to get live carp for Christmas. That's why everybody bough carp as soon as possible ... hence the need to keep it alive for couple of days since kids loved it and it was like family pet. I remember a story where kids hauled big carp back to pond and released it.

[Sandman]

Glad to see you chose to post Thomas, you have strong opinions and should share them more often.  As to your snagging question, if the angler did not change her location or technique after repeatedly foul hooking fish, then it's snagging.

[MoeJKU]

I think snagging is more of a mindset or your intention. IF you go out trying to hook a fish then your snagging. If you go out and are trying to get the fish to bite your presentation it is not. Thats the simplest answer i can come up with.

And its easy to tell when you get a fish to bite, in stead of your lure bouncing of fishes backs, tails etc.

And yes i believe  there should be tested like the CORE program. And your licence is good for five years, and then you get re evaluated like you do with your PAL.

You will still get yahoos out there but it would limit it a lot. Also the people that are not aware they are actually snagging, will learn and the river can be more self regulated by us as anglers because of morals and ethics.

[Suther]

I think snagging is more of a mindset or your intention. IF you go out trying to hook a fish then your snagging. If you go out and are trying to get the fish to bite your presentation it is not. Thats the simplest answer i can come up with.

And its easy to tell when you get a fish to bite, in stead of your lure bouncing of fishes backs, tails etc.

And yes i believe  there should be tested like the CORE program. And your licence is good for five years, and then you get re evaluated like you do with your PAL.

You will still get yahoos out there but it would limit it a lot. Also the people that are not aware they are actually snagging, will learn and the river can be more self regulated by us as anglers because of morals and ethics.

I pretty much agree with this definition for snagging. Foul hooking a fish is unavoidable at times, but as long as you quickly release the fish it's fine. It's when you snag on purpose or keep the fish that's wrong.

As for the PAL comment you don't really get reevaluated. Yes it expires and you have to renew it but you don't get retested or anything.

[fishbandit66]

And yes i believe  there should be tested like the CORE program. And your licence is good for five years, and then you get re evaluated like you do with your PAL.

How do they reevaluate you for a PAL? I thought it was just a criminal / mental health background check in the interest of public safety. Not sure how this is relevant to a fishing license. They don't reevaluate you for a hunting license which is more similar to a fishing license.

[MoeJKU]

I was simply stating some options that could happen. And i know someone who lost their PAL after it expired. Simple due to criminal record. So they do re evaluate you a little to see if you can still have the privilege of owning firearms.

So say if you are written up for fishing with barbed hooks a couple times, or had warnings about snagging, or the same mi identified fish in retention. If it trends, then they shouldn't be aloud to have a fishing licence. Its not a persons right to have it, it is a privilege.

[Knnn]

Hi all,

I am not new to this blog. Did a lot of reading but not much writing so far. This post covers multiple topics.

Regulations etc.
I got my first fishing license in at the time Czechoslovakia as, I think, 12 year old. I had to go for a couple of weeks and take lessons. I had to pass knowledge test with questions about how to fish, different techniques, different fish species, habitat, how to handle fish after hooking to make sure it could be released. After passing the test I could fish only with older licensed fisher and there were still some other limitations. Maybe it was a little bit extreme, but I liked it. It was sort of like getting diver's license for 17 year old for me. It was big achievement for me and I was proud. Do I think there should be test similar to hunting license? YES.

Community, newbies
I work in IT and had once to decide between two different technologies. When I was going through discussion forums I noticed that one community was strongly RTFM oriented. For those not familiar RTFM is Read The F*** Manual. Second technology had very friendly community; very supportive towards new users. I picked second one and even though first technology was more mature at the time, it eventually disappeared. While second one strives.

Let's just show new anglers more support and guidance and I think the most of them will respond well. Sometimes you just didn't do search or were too confused with the rules. Maybe that person already read the regulations and needed confirmation of his/her understanding. Isn't that what forum is for as well?! If someone takes time to write read the regulations, the one could just provide the answer or just ignore the message; someone else, less bitter person will answer that question.

Snagging
I fished Vedder, Squamish and noticed a lot of foul hooks. I noticed that a lot of, what to me looked like seasoned anglers had a lot of foul hooks. My guess - 60-70%. Yes, heavy pink run. But ... is that snagging? Is foul hooking considered snagging? Those people were not doing it intentionally. Maybe smaller hook, maybe shorter leader, maybe different technique? In my case, I learned that my sinking tip was too heavy.

As I said, I am new poster but was reading forums for several years so go easy on me. No wrong intentions here. I like this forum mostly very useful and supportive.

Cheers,

T.

P.S.: As I said I grew up in Czechoslovakia ... and yes we kept carp in bath tub. Reason was very prosaic, everybody wanted carp. While there was tons of them where I lived, it was big disappointment for kids if parents didn't manage to get live carp for Christmas. That's why everybody bough carp as soon as possible ... hence the need to keep it alive for couple of days since kids loved it and it was like family pet. I remember a story where kids hauled big carp back to pond and released it.

That's a great bloody post.  Thank you.

As someone who has also recently started to lurk on applicable forums, I have also seen the RTFM mentality, which is not very constructive and is more likely to do more harm than good, resulting in novice anglers not asking questions due to embarrassment and/or feelings of intimidation. 

I also really like the idea of a test before you get your license.  With the online application process, I imagine it would not be too difficult to include a multiple choice type of test with the license only being issued after you achieved a certain percentage of correct answers.  The test could also include a whole bunch of good fishing etiquette questions, which may or may not need to count toward your final score, but new anglers would at the very least be exposed to these concepts.

Next time I catch a hatchery coho, I think I'll try to keep it in a cooler of water and put it in the bath.  The look on my wife's face would be priceless.











Come on guys, relax, I'm joking, ok?

[Ian Forbes]

It depends on the INTENTION of the angler. If they INTEND to foul hook fish then it is snagging. One of the problems is many anglers do not know how to NOT snag fish.

Fish that are too bunched up are almost impossible to NOT foul hook. And, because the fish are so bunched up they won't bite anyway. They can't even see what is in front of them other than another fish. Smart anglers try to bring their lure or fly IN FRONT of the school in hope that one of the leaders in the school will actually bite. Sometimes that is not possible and responsible anglers move to another spot or another position. Beginner anglers do not even realize this and only see others hooking fish.

There are legal methods to get salmon in a river to strike, but it seldom happens in big holding pools full of salmon that are nose to tail.

[fishbandit66]

I was simply stating some options that could happen. And i know someone who lost their PAL after it expired. Simple due to criminal record. So they do re evaluate you a little to see if you can still have the privilege of owning firearms.

So say if you are written up for fishing with barbed hooks a couple times, or had warnings about snagging, or the same mi identified fish in retention. If it trends, then they shouldn't be aloud to have a fishing licence. Its not a persons right to have it, it is a privilege.

The Law already has provisions for withholding poachers from renewing hunting or fishing licenses. Many of the larger poaching cases that go to court end up with fines as well as prohibition of holding a license for a certain period of time.

I think you need to be a bit clearer in your distinction of minor offences vs criminal offences. The law has different punishments and provisions for offences of different severity. I believe the distinction in law is that you can't own a gun if you have been in prison for a period of two years or more. Your example of someone being denied a gun license due to criminal activities is hardly in the same league as using a barbed hook (although many of the holier than thou crowd on this forum may disagree).

[Suther]

I was simply stating some options that could happen. And i know someone who lost their PAL after it expired. Simple due to criminal record. So they do re evaluate you a little to see if you can still have the privilege of owning firearms.

So say if you are written up for fishing with barbed hooks a couple times, or had warnings about snagging, or the same mi identified fish in retention. If it trends, then they shouldn't be aloud to have a fishing licence. Its not a persons right to have it, it is a privilege.

You could also be denied a pal if you are getting divorced... my point was there is no retest our anything just an aproval process by the rcmp.

[MoeJKU]

The Law already has provisions for withholding poachers from renewing hunting or fishing licenses. Many of the larger poaching cases that go to court end up with fines as well as prohibition of holding a license for a certain period of time.

I think you need to be a bit clearer in your distinction of minor offences vs criminal offences. The law has different punishments and provisions for offences of different severity. I believe the distinction in law is that you can't own a gun if you have been in prison for a period of two years or more. Your example of someone being denied a gun license due to criminal activities is hardly in the same league as using a barbed hook (although many of the holier than thou crowd on this forum may disagree).

Yes i could come back and say a law is a law and should be enforced. I understand the minor enfractions. But if someone is trending activities, thats just complete disregard for the law.
And its to hard to say what is minor and what isn't everyone has  a different opinion. 
Oh and it wasn't for going to jail or anything major as you describe it, it was trending activity that is minor, but they figured since he kept doing it he didn't care for the laws they set out. "A trending activity that resulted and proves to us you have not regard for the law." That was what he told him. So if someone retains, a coho when its closed, and keeps doing so. I would say no fishing licence for 5 years. and poaching is a criminal activity is it not. I wont say what he lost it for because its not the right place or my place to disclose that information. I just don't think that it should be a major thing that results in losing your licence, if its smaller and you keep doing it, then you obviously need more harsh penalties to deter that person from doing so.

[fishbandit66]

Yes i could come back and say a law is a law and should be enforced. I understand the minor enfractions. But if someone is trending activities, thats just complete disregard for the law.
And its to hard to say what is minor and what isn't everyone has  a different opinion. 
Oh and it wasn't for going to jail or anything major as you describe it, it was trending activity that is minor, but they figured since he kept doing it he didn't care for the laws they set out.

The gun license screening is purely about protecting public safety not about respect for the law. Unless your friend was committing minor but frequent violent offences (eg fighting in bars) then jail is the only other reason for criminal inadmissibility. So in this case your friend should of appealed and or got a good lawyer. He would have it overturned in 2 minutes.

[Knnn]

Shame this post got a little off track. 

I thought the OP's experience of having to pass a test to get a fishing license was very interesting and is something that should be considered here in Canada and particularly BC, where fishing is such and important part of our economy and should be protected.

I have thought that a multiple choice type question and answer test should be mandatory before you can apply for an pay for a license.  The questions could cover species ID, simple regulations information, use of barbless hooks, C&R, etiquette, etc.  You would have to get more than 80% correct before you can proceed to apply and pay for your first license and would go a long way to educate folks who may not frequent an angling store or may be to embarrassed or intimidated to ask all the right questions on forums like this.

Maybe something like the online boaters exam.  I can't image it would be too costly to implement or administer if it's all online.

Thoughts?

[Kever]

Shame this post got a little off track. 

I thought the OP's experience of having to pass a test to get a fishing license was very interesting and is something that should be considered here in Canada and particularly BC, where fishing is such and important part of our economy and should be protected.

I have thought that a multiple choice type question and answer test should be mandatory before you can apply for an pay for a license.  The questions could cover species ID, simple regulations information, use of barbless hooks, C&R, etiquette, etc.  You would have to get more than 80% correct before you can proceed to apply and pay for your first license and would go a long way to educate folks who may not frequent an angling store or may be to embarrassed or intimidated to ask all the right questions on forums like this.

Maybe something like the online boaters exam.  I can't image it would be too costly to implement or administer if it's all online.

Thoughts?

That is a fantastic idea and I hope the provincial government implements a license process like this sooner than later. It would have helped me out earlier in my fishing career to know some of these things instead of learning by getting flack from other anglers and fishing store employees.