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A beautiful Fall day to be out fishing... got to the lake at about 7:00 AM, a very chilly 32 degrees upon arrival. Water temp at the shoreline was 51 degrees. Set up one rig with Power Eggs (fl. orange), one with nightcrawlers. Lake a flat calm, not a breeze in the early morning. Lines in the water by 7:15, first hit at 8:00, reeled in a beautiful 14 1/2" Rainbow, caught on the worm. Tried an assortment of colors and scents, as well as salmon eggs on the one rod, with no action at all. About 10:00, I caught my second 'Bow, nearly identical to the first. Had numerous hits on the worms, only to bring in an empty hook... sharpened the hook each re-bait, tried different configurations of baiting with the worms, just couldn't get more fish to stick on. Lost three at the shoreline, one in the 20" range as it neared the lip of my net, the hook just popped out of it's mouth, after a spirited fight.
As always, totally enjoyed the avian shows... the variety of ducks on the lake is amazing, as well as the eagles, even the hated Cormorants! Was intrigued most of the morning by a rather large school of 6" to 7" trout that were patrolling the shoreline... I presume that they are the Browns that were planted as fingerlings in December, 2011. They were constantly nipping at my line where it entered the water and were very active, leaping out of the water to grab a minute midge or two. They remained in the area most of the morning, until a Cormorant dared to approach the shoreline and grabbed one, then they disappeared for some time. Later in the afternoon they reappeared as the warm sun set off a hatch of minute midges and the trout went on a feeding frenzy. I could have scored big time if I had brought my fly-rod and a box of #42 midge dry flies.

In addition to the fishing, which I dearly love, the day held some unsolicited drama for me. When I arrived in the morning, another fisherman (I use the word loosely) was already at the shoreline. I had encountered him in the past, he is known as "Dave" to me. He walked over and asked me what I was using... said he caught a (expletive) lot of fish on shrimp the day before. As the morning progressed it was apparent from his whooping and hollering that he was catching fish, and he made sure that everyone in earshot knew just how many he was catching. By 8:30 he had a limit... just not "his" limit. He continued fishing and brought in a sixth fish, yelled over to me to ask if I wanted it, I said "no thanks", and watched him hurl the now dead fish back into the lake. He rebaited and cast his line back into the lake. I walked over and asked him just how many fish did he intend to catch today, he answered "five", I asked him how many he had already caught, he said "six"! I returned to my rods, but did some soul searching. In the past I have complained about poachers, and fellow WA Lakers have scolded me for not acting as I should to notify WDFW. I walked back over to "Dave" and told him he left me no choice but the call the authorities. He said, "go ahead". I called the poaching hotline, got a recording that stated if I was observing an ongoing poaching incident, I was to call 911, which I did. I gave all the pertinent information, including location to the dispatcher and she said she would notify law enforcement. For the next several hours "Dave" continued to reel in fish, yelling out so I would be certain to hear, just how many that made for him. In addition, he made sure that I could hear him telling anyone who came by, that I was the "a**hole" who called WDFW on him. In addition to his fishing, he was also engaged in firing a wristrocket type slingshot at the Cormorants on the lake... and I suppose out of frustration the he couldn't get a rise out of me, fired a shot into the lake at my feet.

My father always referred to law-breaking fishermen as "slobs"... personally, I think the word is a bit weak in describing a cretin like "Dave". One of my degrees carries a minor in psychology, so I am somewhat familiar with the need for some emasculated men to buttress their diminutive egos by appearing to have excelled at something. I am sure that "Dave" will get lots of warm, fuzzy feelings from telling anyone who will listen, that he "killed" the fish at Green Lake. All I know is, a "slob" is still a "slob"!

I suppose in the greater scheme of things, a poaching incident at Green Lake is low on the priority list for law enforcement, as they never did show up. I left the lake at a little after 4:00, having watched a beautiful sunset, being thankful for the two beautiful trout I was taking home with me, and feeling good that I tend to do things the right way! PTL!

Mike Carey

11/24/2013 6:29:00 AM

good to you for making the 911 call. I'm sure it was an uncomfortable feeling, especially with him shooting off a rocket device. Only thing different I would suggest is another discreet call to 911 to report him shooting off a weapon at the birds and people. That would have gotten the police there in a hurry.

ShipwreckedDude

11/24/2013 7:44:00 AM

Shooting the slingshot is assault with a deadly weapon and would have resulted in at the very least a call to 911 and probably an asswoopin.
Having gotten away with it once he will undoubtedly try to intimidate you again and maybe take it further next time. You should call law enforcement even though it is after the fact.

gonnahookit

11/24/2013 8:04:00 AM

I would also call the wdfw tomorrow (monday) and tell them what you saw, as well as what you experienced following their advice to call 911, and that it didn't do any good.

Use social media. wdfw has a facebook page. Post it up there. Post it on fishing and hunting pages. post it on the local news facebook pages.

Lots of power in social media, when used properly.

And good on you for not giving in and giving him the reaction he was obviously craving (an altercation to prove to himself just how 'manly' he thinks he his).

xd2005

11/24/2013 4:36:00 PM

He probably would have gotten in more trouble for shooting the cormorants :)

drsafl17

11/24/2013 5:05:00 PM

Nice fishing adventure there Stansjoy. Is this numbnuts a regular at Green Lake? I almost headed out to GL as well--that would've made for an interesting day! It's pieces of work like them that make it tougher on the rest of us who just want to go out and have a good time.

Stansjoy

11/24/2013 11:32:00 PM

drsaf17... I've encountered him a number of times at GL. Last year he cursed my friend Pete and me on two occasions, and threw a temper tantrum when he arrived and found us fishing at "his spot". Was advised by others that he has a volatile temper.

drsafl17

11/25/2013 12:27:00 AM

Thanks for sharing your story. I don't want to be caught off-guard in case I encounter this d-bag when I head out there next. By the way, have you noticed anyone catching the browns in there?

MotoBoat

11/25/2013 8:40:00 AM

Stan, have you considered contacting WDFW, and the local police dept? If, for no other reason than to find out your options, and the severity of the crimes "Dangerous Dave" committed that day? Also if there would be a follow up from your WDFW call. Many times a Incident report can be filed within days of the incident.
Throwing a cup of coffee at another motor vehicle is considered 'Road Rage!" and caries an assault charge. Fairly certain "Dangerous Dave" has racked up more serous charges than that!
There used to be a Seattle city cop that would drive a patrol car around the "Mean Green" on the walking path, at least once a day. Ever see that anymore?

NewToSeattle

11/25/2013 11:31:00 AM

What were you using to float your worms?

N E 1 FISSION

11/25/2013 4:28:00 PM

I don't reccommend doing this, but I remember him and his wrist rocket, what a joke. He got mad that I was fishing in "his" corner on the 65th St dock, south side. He was making fun of everyone that lost a fish while shooting his wrist rocket at birds. I finally got tired of it and confronted him, telling him to quit acting like a baby & grow up because he did not get his way, amongst other things. He just looked at me and walked away, did not say anything else. I apologized to the others fishing, we all just got tired of hearing him rant. They also felt the same, but when you start acting like that around kids, you need to be held accountable. I seen him later and do not acknoledge him, he's just a braggart that needs attention,...

MotoBoat

11/25/2013 6:44:00 PM

Stan, ever check you "in box" for a private message?

Stansjoy

11/26/2013 9:50:00 PM

NewtoSeattle... welcome! Please don't get the idea that there are lots of "Daves" out there! To get the worms off the bottom, I like to use a product called "EZ Eggs"... they are rubbery "eggs" that are very buoyant... just thread them above the hook... two or three will lift the worm off the bottom; also, marshmallows will work (Fred Meyer brand seem to dissolve slower... can also purchase an "air injector" to blow the worms up (or an old hypodermic needle)... NE1... That's him! Thanks for standing up to him! We're all different, and I can tolerate a lot of stuff, but when the line is crossed, we've got to stand up to the bully!...MotoBoat... Good to hear from you again! I did file a report with WDFW on Monday, haven't heard back yet... haven't seen the patrol officer for a long time! Sorry, I don't know about the "in box"... I'm pretty ignorant about this computer stuff... how do I access that???... drsafl17... Haven't heard of any big Browns yet, they should be getting more active. Saw lots of 6" to 7" Browns on Saturday... see the post by raduban on Green Lake... Thank you all for the great support you have given me in this incident! PTL!

MotoBoat

11/27/2013 10:59:00 PM

Stan, from the WaLakes home page select (left click on the mouse) "Forum". That would be the "big orange tile", fifth option from the left. Once selected, there are a long list of topics. Well, the space between the "tiles and the "topics", there are a set of parenthesis that reads how many incoming "personal messages" are in your WaLakes inbox. Much like email, these are one on one conversations between yourself and the author. Place the "cursor" inside the parenthesis, and "left click" of the mouse will reveal those "PM's". Select the message to read it. Select 'Send Reply" to type a comment, and select "send" to mail it back to the author.

MotoBoat

11/27/2013 11:07:00 PM

Sorry, the last step states to select "send" to mail your typed message. Actually, "submit" is selected. That is found below the "box" where typing a return message is done, very near the bottom of the page. You can do it!

NewToSeattle

12/2/2013 11:54:00 AM

Stansjoy- Thanks for the welcome! I floated some power eggs and marshmallows near the 65th dock a few weeks ago with no luck. I went to the coffee shop to get worms but the weren't open til 11, so I never ended up using live bait. Maybe that's why I didn't even get a bite! Where I grew up, all of the gas stations sold worms and I'm having a hard time finding any near the U-district. I'll have to get them ahead of time next time I go out. Maybe we'll run into each other sometime soon!

Tight lines
Justin

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