2009 Angler of the Year Feedback

Let's see, I spent eight days on the water this year for salmon and all I have to show for it is a wife giving me crap about not catching one.  That to me is a chore.

Brian

Hmm.. that sounds familiar.

Where can Greenling be added to the list? I'd like to see it added. Any reason it shouldn't be?

Maybe make #10 a catch all for other lesser fish (maybe with an approved list of species).  Not sure what the point allocation would be, but it would be the same for everything in the category.
Panfish, carp, flounder, catfish, surfperch, shad, pikeminnow, greenling, chubs, smelt, etc..

Keep in mind that carp can grow to an enormous size compared with the other fish on the list. 

I'd like to see Walleye stay on the list too!   

I tend to agree with the less is more thing now that I think about it.  How bout
1. salmon/steelhead (anadramous species) (at least in Ore we only get a shot at nooks, silvers and steelhead)
2. sturgeon
3. Rockfish (including cabs) (maybe some kind of bonus pts exotics?)
4. Lingcod
5. Trout (non anadromous)
6. Bass (large and small) I could see splitting them but??
7. Halibut (personal bias as I plan on catching them this summer, need something exciting to catch!)

8. wild card fish (x amount of points per inch) applied to whatever one fish you want. ie you could have a 8inch pile perch then next trip you catch a flounder 14in, it replaces the perch, next time you get a 20 inch carp etc etc. maybe not a lot of points per inch but if you catch can catch it you can count it excluding the above species.

The reason I left walleye off the list is I feel they are a portland centric species (Columbia river).  Folks on the coast (coos bay, brookings, even south valley eugene. etc.) etc have no easy access to these fish.  Granted us flatlanders do need to drive an hour or so to reach the beach for the salty species it is not quite the same as a drive from Brookings to fish for walleye, which puts someone with a limited budget that has the desire to be competitive on a equal level in an (my opinion) unfair predicament.

Any reason it shouldn't be?

Good question PNW.

IMO the AOTY is all about going after local NW gamefish and trying to best the rest with the largest of each species. Catching many different types of fish is fun but if there was no AOTY is that what we'd do? Personally, I have favorites and fish hard to catch the largest of each. I think the AOTY should embrace that general sentiment but on a larger scale. So instead of maybe only fishing for a few species throughout the year and getting good results, we can broaden our skills and hopefully catch good sized fish of more species. And in the end we'd become better kayak anglers.

Everyone's going to have their "devilfish" that doesn't come so easy. Keeping the species count low will give us more time to catch them in the end. Plus we'll be done filling our cards earlier and can concentrate on upgrading and really have a final card to brag about in the end.

Z

Very interesting list and ideas PP. About the Walleye, I think the same problem works for all of us. The Walleye is hard to get but a few hours of driving will cure that. The same can be said for someone that's far inland and needs a rockfish or ling. This is the madness... er, I mean the cure!

Good question PNW.
IMO the AOTY is all about going after local NW gamefish and trying to best the rest with the largest of each species. Catching many different types of fish is fun but if there was no AOTY is that what we'd do? Personally, I have favorites and fish hard to catch the largest of each. I think the AOTY should embrace that general sentiment but on a larger scale. So instead of maybe only fishing for a few species throughout the year and getting good results, we can broaden our skills and hopefully catch good sized fish of more species. And in the end we'd become better kayak anglers.

Everyone's going to have their "devilfish" that doesn't come so easy. Keeping the species count low will give us more time to catch them in the end. Plus we'll be done filling our cards and can concentrate on upgrading and really have a final card to brag about in the end.

Z[/quote]

I tend to agree with the less is more thing now that I think about it.  How bout
1. salmon/steelhead (anadramous species) (at least in Ore we only get a shot at nooks, silvers and steelhead)
2. sturgeon
3. Rockfish (including cabs) (maybe some kind of bonus pts exotics?)
4. Lingcod
5. Trout (non anadromous)
6. Bass (large and small) I could see splitting them but??
7. Halibut (personal bias as I plan on catching them this summer, need something exciting to catch!)

8. wild card fish (x amount of points per inch) applied to whatever one fish you want. ie you could have a 8inch pile perch then next trip you catch a flounder 14in it replaces the perch next time you get a 20 inch carp etc etc. maybe not a lot of points per inch but if you catch can catch it you can count it excluding the above species.

Greenling in the wildcard cat. Sounds OK to me. Maybe Walleye could be a wildcard species also. Used to catch them when I lived in N. Dakota for a couple years as a kid. It was a kick.

I'll prolly never fish them, but if carp is added, it should be its' own category, because of potential size. Maybe wildcard species could be broken into size categories? I can see how this could get fairly complicated.

How 'bout Northern Pikeminnow? We could moniker "Yak, the Bounty Fishers"  

open the doors, let our brethren in the north and east of us in.. last i looked they are still part of NWKA.

open the doors, let our brethren in the north and east of us in.. last i looked they are still part of NWKA.

should walleye be its' own category? how 'bout catfish?

askin the wrong guy. i dont fish for either species, nor will i have much time to fish at all in '09.

I think I like Pelagic's list... I'm willing to deal with a consolidated bass category (my favorite) if the salmon and trout groups are consolidated.  I think this list is balanced enough to give those of us primarily freshwater guys a fair enough shot at earning decent points with the inclusion of the wild card fish.

Pelagic is right, some of us have to worry as much about our $$$ as we do WAF...  

I'd love to see catfish on the list, at least as a wildcard.

Let's look at this another way.  From Seattle, within a 2 hour drive I can reasonably expect to find the following species.

* Salmon (all of them).
* Trout (including lakers).
* LMB and SMB.
* small rockfish.
* yellow perch or crappie

Not quite as reasonable to expect, but the possibility does exist.  But note that I would pass up targeting larger rockfish, lingcod, or halibut locally because I believe the chances are too low.  I gotta go at lease 4 hours to get to good spots for these.

* larger rockfish.
* lingcod (for a 6 week season).
* halibut (slim chance for about a month).
* sturgeon (low to medium possibility in the local "S" rivers.

I cannot expect to be able to find.

* Walleye.

So, what do expect to find within a 2 hour drive from Portland?  How about Coastal OR or Eastern WA?

Allen, you should be able to find Walleye within 4 hrs of Seattle.  I believe you can get to the Columbia River near Camas in 3 hrs.

Anyway, from Portland a 2 hr drive could yield
Chinook, Coho
Steelhead
Trout (but not lake trout)
LMB and SMB
Rockfish
Lingcod
Panfish
Sturgeon
Walleye
Halibut (long shot near shore on Oregon coast)

Within 4 hours you could find lake trout and you could drive up to Puget Sound for Chums and Pinks.

Eastern Wa:

*Bass (LMB & SMB)
*Perch
*Trout
*Catfish
*Musky (I really want to give this a shot... could be a combo category with sturgeon)
*Pikeminnow
*Sockeye Salmon?
*Walleye

Allen, you should be able to find Walleye within 4 hrs of Seattle.  I believe you can get to the Columbia River near Camas in 3 hrs.

Oh yes, I know that.  I was saying I couldn't find Walleye within 2 hours.  The 4 hour statement was mainly for larger rockfish, lings, and halibut.

-Allen

Eastern Wa:

*Bass (LMB & SMB)
*Perch
*Trout
*Catfish
*Musky (I really want to give this a shot... could be a combo category with sturgeon)
*Pikeminnow
*Sockeye Salmon?
*Walleye

Steelhead and chinook depending on where in Eastern WA ...

-Allen