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Sport anglers want ban on bait fishing reversed By Mark Freeman Some sport anglers are mounting a petition drive to repeal a new state ban on fall bait-fishing in the upper Rogue River and in the river�s Wild and Scenic section beginning next year. The same critics are calling for the resignation of Medford lawyer Don Denman, vice chairman of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, who helped get the bans passed. Denman said he has no intention of resigning. "Don Denman ramrodded it through, and the rest of the commission followed him like sheep," charged Jim Broman, a tackle-shop owner in Grants Pass who is heading a group opposed to the ban. Saying the Fish and Wildlife Commission pushed through unpopular fishing rule changes without biological justification, the group wants the commission to rescind its Sept. 22 decision to ban all bait-fishing in the Rogue upstream of Gold Ray Dam in August, November and December. The three months are popular among bait-anglers who fish for summer steelhead either headed for Cole Rivers Hatchery or to tributaries for spawning in the winter. The three months also surround a current flies-only fishing season Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 on the upper Rogue. The new rule would allow fishing with only flies or artificial lures in August, November and December beginning in 2001. The fishing groups also want the commission to repeal a similar bait-ban Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 in the Rogue�s Wild and Scenic stretch between Grave Creek near Galice downstream to Foster Bar near Agness. The angry anglers blame Denman, vice-chairman of the seven-member commission, for what they see as an effort to set aside more fishing opportunities strictly for fly-casters. "We�re going to stand up and call for Denman�s resignation," Broman said. "Denman is supposed to be representing the region, and he�s not doing it. He�s representing a very small minority of the fishermen � the fly-fishermen." Denman said he won�t resign and that the seven commission members weighed the testimony over the bait-ban proposals on their own. "Anyone who would suggest I have any particular power over six other independent people doesn�t really know how the system works," Denman said. Broman�s group has circulated petitions at fishermen hangouts throughout southwest Oregon to gather signatures demanding the repeal. The anglers also are holding a public meeting and rally at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, at Eighth and Olive streets in Grants Pass. The new Rogue rules mainly target the use of small clusters of roe to catch a mix of hatchery and wild adult steelhead busy feeding on the eggs from spawning chinook salmon. Opponents believe the bait is too easily swallowed, which can lead to the wild steelhead dying after release. Bait-casters say the numbers of wild summer steelhead � all of which must be released unharmed � that are lost in this manner are exaggerated. They point to various studies that suggest less than three dozen wild steelhead would be spared annually by the more restrictive rules. For these and other reasons, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Mike Evenson had recommended no changes to the upper Rogue�s rules. Evenson presented the commission with a lengthy opposition to the proposal, claiming that banning bait creates no appreciable help for wild steelhead, but likely hurts efforts to catch excess hatchery steelhead. It also limits some angling opportunities, he said. Despite his recommendation to reject the proposal, the commission passed it unanimously. The commission should have listened to its own staff recommendation over the pleas of a few fly-casters who have Denman leading their anti-bait fishing crusade, Broman said. "Obviously," Denman said, "those folks who are unhappy with it can read anything into it they want. "When the commission considers a decision, it considers all sorts of opinions and aspects," Denman said. "The opinion of the staff is just one of them. That�s just how the system works." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.