Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Rethink Silver Creek regs


I have lived in the Sun Valley area for more than 25 years, and one of the main reasons I moved here was for the great fishing we have. I grew up as a young boy fishing the creeks and lakes in the Eastern Sierra Mountains. What a mess wildlife managers in California has made of that fishery.

I am stunned by Idaho Department of Fish and Game's proposal to allow boats (even without motors) and a six-kill brown trout limit anywhere on The Nature Conservancy at Silver Creek. The Silver Creek fishery has always been a place where a person could go and have a little bit of peace and tranquility.

As I understand it your proposal would allow non-motorized boats on Silver Creek in the Nature Conservancy area above Kilpatrick bridge. This would be limited to the area now used by float tubers. There would be a daily limit that would allow six brown trout to be killed. The reason for this part of the proposal is because there is an over population of brown trout and that they are crowding out the rainbow trout population.

I can picture it now. I am fishing on Silver Creek trying to catch a working fish. If you spend any time fishing there you would know it can be hard to do. Now comes a boat trying to navigate around me and also a few others. The fish gets put down and other rising fish as well. That's the end of it for the time being, or maybe for the day.

For what purpose are you proposing this, to kill the brown and make a small area of Silver Creek accessible to more people with boats? Are you people out of your minds? You must be if you are serious about allowing boats and a six fish kill limit on Silver Creek.

I have guided on Silver Creek and I can guarantee you that most people do not know the difference between a brown and a rainbow, and even if they do, who is going to police who kills what?

There is no way Fish and Game can let this proposal happen. If it does, the agency will completely ruin what people, including Ernest Hemingway, Bill Janss, Guy Bonnivier and many others had in mind many years ago when the main concepts for The Nature Conservancy on Silver Creek were established. I can't imagine that any one of you would want your names tagged to this proposal.

Don Hodge

Ketchum




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.