Whats A Guy To Do?

[Dxh]

Acquaintance of mine on FB posted these pics as well as others a few days ago from the Coal Camp road west of Sundre AB. Fishing out of the Red Deer, these look to me to be bull trout that are being improperly handled. I left a comment on her account informing her of the 0 limit of bull trout and to be sure to check the regs before fishing and the pictures have since been removed. Debating contacting Alberta Fish & Wildlife to further investigate. After years of practicing catch and release, following regs, purchasing licenses etc, seeing these made me quite angry. Maybe i am over reacting? Thoughts?

[ÜberFly]

Do it!

[fishinglibin]

You really have to report it. They deserve what they get. Please call it in.

[BurningChrome]

If you report her it's pretty much guaranteed she'll know it was you if you already made a comment about it. Since you say she's an acquaintance that might not matter as much but think about any mutual friends you have who may no longer be your friends after.

[muha]

Tough call for you dhx, but I would report it. Heck I reported my neighbor when he brought a mule deer with a white tail tag on it.

 

He said he never noticed, I replied BS.

[BigFoamy]

Acquaintance of mine on FB posted these pics as well as others a few days ago from the Coal Camp road west of Sundre AB. Fishing out of the Red Deer, these look to me to be bull trout that are being improperly handled. I left a comment on her account informing her of the 0 limit of bull trout and to be sure to check the regs before fishing and the pictures have since been removed. Debating contacting Alberta Fish & Wildlife to further investigate. After years of practicing catch and release, following regs, purchasing licenses etc, seeing these made me quite angry. Maybe i am over reacting? Thoughts?

I wouldn't call them in of they are friends. Tell them whats up and if they willingly do it again, callem in. Tough spot. Ive been there with my best friends, sisters, boyfriend lol!! They dont talk to me about fishing and or show me their pics anymore.

[SilverDoctor]

If you don't report it does make you an accomplace. Just saying.

[danhunt]

If you think it was an honest mistake and that she'll try and do better next time based on your comments I'd let it go. If you think she could do with a little extra "encouragement" to do better next time call it in. Just my $0.02

[Jayhad]

There is no excuse, all license purchasers are given access to or a hard copy of the regulations.

[Weedy1]

You should let her know Lowes has 15% off barbecues and smokers this week.

[BurningChrome]

There is no excuse, all license purchasers are given access to or a hard copy of the regulations.

Gonna go out on a limb here and guess that they didn't have licenses either.

[mdfcontracting]

People who honestly dont know should be cut a break. Were probably drunk camping and had a rod along. If you have the luxury of knowing them, a quick education of why bull trout are zero limit would be of greater effect than simply reporting them. Sorry you are faced with a crappy decision but you could help this person understand why what theyre doing is wrong instead of making them think that youre just an ahole. My $0.02. Nothing more....

[Batman]

I had a friend facing a similar dilemma. His Facebook friend posted multiple pictures of his catch at home with at least 20 walleye with many undersized (you can reference size from cooler where fish was being posed). My friend finally forwarded pics and information to F&W. About a year later, nothing done about it. Doesn't seem that they were interested in pursuing, maybe because it was on FB/social media??

[northfork]

You've gotta do something here. I don't understand why that stretch isn't closed until June anyway. It's heartbreaking to see things like this, we all work so hard to care for bull trout in this part of the province up to and including restricting road access into many stretches of rivers, and the few ruin it for the greater. That fish is good as dead. Sure maybe they didn't know, I would definitely reach out to them on the importance of caring for fish and proper handling, if they disregard your advice and coaching then let them know the consequences.