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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1996)
Page 2 The IHO€P£ND€NT April 17.1996 INDEPENDENT The Senrng the upper Se>a.'e^ River valey Pub¿shed r«nce morCVy on the first and trird ecresca-. s & each "north by Pubic O pr c r _aocre::<-. iJ d 725 Bndge Street «em o^a O fl as a free h a w scrappy Edkors and Puc-ushers Dirk & Sorw Arxierse^ 503) 429-9410. . Opinion •*1i .. .- Overreaction: WOEC sets great example! West Orego~ Eectric Cooperative s board of c rec tors heW their regular monthly meeting last ngnt. but with ore decidedly ¡regular difference: They had a Vemcr a Pol ce offcer a: the meeting because they feared some angry members might attend! Now, hew does this work? The ocard of directors le v e e on an increase before a 'ate hearing, ignore members concerns and objections, do exactly what they previousty decdec to do — then worry oeoause seme members "'e y get angry? Well, some members are angry, but they are seex- ng equity, not blood. T h e ' method s organization. "<X cnaos. Pjrthemncre they o e ia n ly haven't threat ened anybody. We don’t know whose bonehead idea it was to "ave a co ce o~ ce' in attendance, but whoever it was shoud have to write T wi not overreact again’ aco-t IC O X times — or would that be an overreac tion? Coos Bay drug tests far more sensible In Coos Bay, if a parent is co ncerned about whether a child is using drugs or alcohol, the parent sends a sample of the ch d's urine to a laboratory run oy the Oregon State Police. There is no charge, names are not used and parents may stay completely anonymous, getting the results by phone* If there is a positive result, the parent is given a Bst of 15 counsel ing agencies. Com pare that to drug testing in the Vernonia School District: Every student irrveiveo in extracurric ular sports is tested at the start of every season, plus random testing every week: there are three sports seasons and the taxpayers cay fo< every te st One justification given by the school cfetrict is that parents w art their children tested. Sensibly, the Coos Bay system allows ca'ents to test aJ they want, but it stays in the family; it doesn't become institutionalzee a re mpersonal. The system in Coes Bay is a two-yea' pilot pro gram that will end in June It ts a cooperative effort between all the school districts in the Coos County Education Service D’stnct and the State Police. Tne scroc a diStrtxrte nformaton and sample-gathering kits to ca'ents including a mailing to each parent at the begmnng of the scroc year. A grant pays only for the chem ca s used in tests: each test requires about 35 minutes of staff time, from reception to re port, which ts provided by the OSP laboratory. Parents nave the option of takrg care of problems within the family or enlisting qualified help. The schcc- still has the power to take care of dtsaplinary problems, but it doesn't become involved at the family level. The system ts both pnvate and inexpensive At the end of the pilot program, we hope it can be renewed and expanded. I iQuuiH Oavk? Jonas r e - r e ' zaa.«- Hfeton ¿aague \e h a e — Vziey Chapter ~~<e cas: «as a brt better than some of mine =-c seeded to be getting the feel of the new «eight-forward sink-tip fly line I was using. When :"e native steelhead hen hooked itself * t r r e oarcess fly and took off downstream, experienced that momentary jolt of surprise most hook-tps grve me and a bite of ego for doing what 1 had been trying to do for so long; mat s soidly hook a winter steelhead on a fly, u srg a fly ine and fly pole. (Flys can be very deadly on tradtfionaJ drift gear, as Don Webb 'a s tokJ me.) I did have the forethought to lift my Dc*e and turn the fish before it got to the white water below me. I turned another short n>K whooped a bit and thought that the fish d *jr * feel very strong. Another short nun and I was able to get the e ighMo-ten pound fish dose enough to see that she was not finckpped had a red open spot near her ta and that her tail seemed feathered as a scawner s would be. Wanting to release ner as soon as I could. I horsed her a ba and got her to hand. I could see the fly in the cor-er of her mouth but she had rolled and naif-hitched the line a'ound her head. As I was tryng to figure out how to release her the ‘asiest she roled and broke the 12 b. tippet eaoer and swam off I sal down on the rock in the —iddte of the rher as my partner, Len Brock hoftered from shore to find out what was happen■r c What a "ice feeling a beautiful day. a good nve' arc tre s u x e s s rj cumnation of years of c s c ip iT - and prectce to achieve a few minutes of heightened awareness. Hopefully our native stee-heac wii survive so our chil dren car srar? these cys One thing we fishermen can do to insure tra i future ge^eraters experience the joys of fisn re our ~acve fish, ts practice catch and re ease fishng. I think the shexid be done on all native sa -ernes even if t may be legal to keep some f one must k l fish to eat, there are ary nunoe' of a«es that are stocked with trout and there are st edbeod hatchery plants in a lot of systems It has been over eight years since I’ve seer a spawnng pair of steel head in Rock Creek (Henaiem system) and the water is usually fajrty d e a r during the morths of March and Apr! when the late wild run of st oebcod get up here There are a number of things that can be done to insure a fish's survival when it is re leased. One is to use a strong enough leader that you don’t have to fight the fish to exhaus tion in order to land it. The amount of stretch and the thin diameters built into today's lead ers and tippets seem almost unfair when one thinks back to what was available even twenty years ago. There is a 12 b. the size of 8 b. and there is 6 lb. line for spinning poles that is about like 4 lb. in diameter. Anyway, use a strong enough line to get the fish in and re lease it while it's still strong enough to survive and, hopefully, reproduce. To maximize fish survival, don't use bait and be ready to cut your leader with scissors or knife, if necessary. I will be happy to send anyone a hook, or a half dozen, if this is a big financial setback. Barbless hooks sink deeper and since I've gone barbless, I've hooked more fish and, with a tight line, have lost hard ly any. On small fish I use a forceps to grasp the hook and twist it out without even touching the fish. For years I have used a pair of pliers to release plug-caught fish from the boat by simply grasping the hook with the pliers and letting the weight of the fish drop itself back into the water. Usually it is possible to do this without even taking a fish out of the water or using a net. If it is necessary to handle a fish, try not to squeeze the belly area, as that can cause in ternal damage. Do not put your fingers in the gill area. Gills are the fishes' equivalent of lungs and it’s hard for them to survive if they are damaged. Another reason to avoid bait is that hooks often get caught in the gills or cause damage when the hook is removed. With large fish, many anglers grasp them at the wrist of the tail and cradle the other hand under the belly for that trophy picture. If you got a fish in and unhooked, and it seems too tired to swim off, you can help by pointing its head into the current and holding it until it’s strong enough to swim off. If the cur rent is really strong, some anglers find it help ful to hold the tlsli In the eddy of their waders until it recovers, In still water it may be neces sary to move the fish back arid forth to get the water moving acioss the gills so oxygen can get Into Ilia h|. mn I Good luck, hail ilnns hooto, and please re lease natives
