Wildlife troopers reeling in fish phonies

July 6, 2007

By Hannah Guillaume

Frontiersman

MAT-SU -Fishing doesn't have to happen with a pole or net to result in fines.

Ever Lopez of Anchorage figured this out when Alaska Wildlife Trooper Doug Massie wrote him a $110 citation Wednesday for fishing closed waters with an 8-foot-long tree branch.

&#8220It's an expensive picnic,” Lopez said. &#8220I learned my lesson.”

Lopez found the branch, equipped with a line, Vibrex hook and rocks for weight, on the shores of Montana Creek covered with more than 50 filleted king salmon carcasses south of the Parks Highway. Massie thinks Lopez made an uneducated mistake, partly because the creek is closed for fishing downstream a half-mile north of the Parks Highway to the Susitna River from midnight Monday to midnight Friday.

The 2007 Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary for South-Central is 63 pages. &#8220I understand,” Massie said. &#8220It's pretty tempting, isn't it?”

Lopez was sport fishing without a license or king salmon stamp, but received a verbal warning for those offenses.

&#8220It could have been a lot more expensive if he'd caught a fish,” Massie said, before adding that &#8220throwing the book” at Lopez could have resulted in $580 in fines.

Bill Payne, a public safety technician for Alaska State Troopers, helps Massie locate offenders like Lopez by wearing regular clothing and peeking through bushes.

&#8220At first, I thought he was fishing with a tree,” Payne said. &#8220Turns out it was an Alaskan king rod.”

Clear Creek, about a 15 minute boat ride up the Talkeetna River from the Talkeetna boat launch, is one of a small number of creeks open for king salmon fishing during the week.

Sam Booth, 24, of Salt Lake City said the fish were biting for him at the Clear Creek confluence with Talkeetna River. He caught 15 before dinner on Wednesday.

&#8220I haven't kept any of them, because then I'd have to be done fishing,” he said.

Fisherwoman-in-training Jessica Hassell, 15, of Fairbanks caught her first salmon, a 20-pound Kking, at the confluence with her parents in tow this week.

&#8220The reel broke,” she said. &#8220So, it was kind of rough.”

Hassell said she had to balance the broken end of the pole while her parents helped bring in the rose-red bellied fish with a net.

Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2284 or hannahguillaume@yahoo.com.