Thursday, July 05, 2007
Update on poaching encounter
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL:
Thanks for the column about my encounter with the poacher on Smith River (last week’s Cochran column). Since then a few things have occurred that I want to pass on to you.
As you know, I have been working with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist Scott Smith on the sampling of the Smith River and I am on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 216 study group which is co-chaired by Bud LaRoche, DGIF biologist.
At one of the recent Trout in the Classroom releases, I met Conservation Police Officer James Slaughter and invited him to the Smith River Trout Unlimited picnic. As it turned out, he could not attend because of commitments on Smith Mountain Lake.
All of this networking resulted in a very productive email relationship with Conservation Police Officer, Capt. Ron Henry. He has been very sympathetic to the poaching problem. He is currently juggling manpower requirements and while there is no immediate light at the end of the tunnel, I fully expect to see more enforcement presence in the very near future.
In the meantime, I have volunteered manpower from the Smith River Trout Unlimited Chapter to post DGIF provided paper Special Regulations signs at both ends of the Smith River Special Regulations Section and at all the paths frequented by fishermen. These additional signs will help counter the “I didn’t know” excuse that most violators use.
I placed a half dozen signs at the lower end of the Special Regulations Section on Friday. This is the area where flagrant poaching takes place. Twenty more signs are in the mail and Smith River TU members will have them up within the next 10 to 15 days.
I am encouraged by this spirit of cooperation by the DGIF. We are moving in the right direction, one step at a time.
BILL:
The Smith River is just a casualty of being in the Game Warden district that includes Smith Mountain Lake. This district covers Patrick, Henry, Franklin, and Pittsylvania counties. With all of the importance put on ticket numbers and political pressure from politicians to be seen on Smith Mountain Lake, it is no wonder you will not see a Game Warden on the Smith River.
As a rule, most fly fishermen that are going to use the Special Regulations Section are of the type of fisherman that will never intentionally break a fishing law. That is the problem: game wardens are going to where they can write the most tickets, not where they can do the most good.
