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Mark Freeman Commentary Brauner's proposal helps the steelhead Tony Brauner never meant to start a civil war among Rogue River anglers. "All I wanted, really, was to see us be more conservation-minded with the summer steelhead," says Brauner, 60. So he crafted a little proposal for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission: To make the upper Rogue open only for fly-fishing in late fall, while wild summer steelhead are hanging in Rogue riffles waiting to jet up various tributary creeks for spawning. It�s a notion that has been floated for the upper Rogue every time in the past two decades that the commission asks the angling public for fishing regulation proposals. And it�s been sunk every time, mainly because it would ban the common practice of bait-fishing in November and December upstream of Gold Ray Dam, a ban that biologists say would provide only token benefits to wild steelhead. Brauner, a retired social studies teacher in Grants Pass, admittedly figured his latest shot in the dark would miss as well. But here he is, today, with his name next to a new angling regulation whose passage by the commission two weeks ago has spun Southern Oregon�s sport-angling community on its ears. Despite opposition from state biologists who say the change could cause more harm than good, the commission on Sept. 22 adopted a ban on bait-fishing on the upper Rogue in August and from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. The change, which is set to begin next year and run at least for four years, would allow fishing only with flies and lures upstream of Gold Ray Dam during those periods. Those three months sandwich the current flies-only steelhead fishing season of Sept. 1 through Oct. 31. The new rules effectively ban fishing with roe clusters or worms for almost the entire summer steelhead run on the upper Rogue, where late-fall bait-fishing has been legal and popular since the early 1980s. Bait has drawn criticism from some anglers who believe steelhead are more apt to swallow a baited hook than a lure or fly. Swallowed hooks, particularly those that cause a fish to bleed from the gills, are generally thought to be more damaging than those stuck in a fish�s lip. The change has been met with more anger and criticism than any steelhead-fishing rules change in two decades � more criticism than the 1990 ban on wild summer steelhead harvest, more than the 1996 rule demanding barbless hooks, and more than the 1998 rule allowing only larger hooks while bait-fishing year-round. It�s caused angry exchanges between bait-fishermen and fly-fishermen in Medford, intense ill will on the water near Eagle Point and near brawls at angler hang-outs in Shady Cove. It�s pitting fishing�s brother against brother, and it has sickened Brauner. "That�s for sure," Brauner says. "At no time did I want this to divide the fishing community. At no time." Brauner is listed as the regulation�s author, but he says it resembles little of what he asked for consideration last year. The bait-ban in August was added by the commission, as well as the flies-and-lures language for November and December. It�s snowballed to a point where Brauner says he can barely see his fingerprints on this new law attached to his name. "I was a small cog in this thing," Brauner says. "The commission did their own thing. They took a small idea and expanded it. "It�s not the fly-fishing community," he says. "It�s the commission." Jim Broman, a Grants Pass tackle-shop owner and an outspoken critic of the new rules, agrees. While the schism once seemed to fall neatly into the bait-casters verses fly-casters squabble instigated by Brauner, Broman says he and others are trying to look past the personalities. "You can�t blame a guy for trying to use the system to propose things that he thinks are right," Broman says. Broman believes the fault lies within the commission, which ignored an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recommendation that says a fall bait-ban on the upper Rogue would save about three dozen wild steelhead from catch-and-release mortality a year. The opinion, authored by ODFW biologist Mike Evenson, also states that the National Marine Fisheries Service doesn�t believe a bait-ban is necessary for protecting wild summer steelhead. Evenson also believes the ban will cause unwanted negatives like discouraging angling effort and reducing the harvest of excess hatchery summer steelhead. Broman also finds fault with another companion rule � a bait ban from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 in the lower Rogue Canyon from Grave Creek to Foster Bar. That rule would severely cut back fall chinook salmon fishing in the canyon, eliminate sturgeon fishing there and cut back on summer steelhead fishing, particularly for those who want to use bait for halfpounder steelhead. That proposal, which was panned by the Oregon State Police as too tough to enforce and slammed by fishermen as too elitist, was also passed by the commission. "People are upset about it taking away their style of fishing for no good reason," Broman says. Broman believes the culprit in general is the seven-member commission more interested in helping fly-fishermen than setting biologically reasonable policies. And he blames commission member Don Denman, a Medford attorney, in particular for helping shepherd the changes through. Broman has collected more than 600 signatures on a petition to repeal the new rules. Broman has organized a public meeting for 7 p.m. tonight at the Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, at Eighth and Olive Streets in Grants Pass, to garner support for a repeal. He also plans to attend the commission�s Friday meeting in Newport, where he will demand an explanation from commission members then ask for a repeal of the bait bans. "Something stinks," Broman says. "I�m going to Newport to find out what stinks." Brauner, meanwhile, still stands by his original intent of helping summer steelhead by banning the use of bait in the fall. "I know what bait will do to fish when that bait is taken deep," Brauner says. "I know that happens more with bait than flies. I still come back to that scenario." While he believes the commission may need to revisit its ruling, he doesn�t believe it should be scrapped simply because it�s caused so much divisiveness and heartache. "I think it ought to be tried," Brauner says. "If it doesn�t help, then I�m the first one to say let�s try something else." (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at: [email protected] ) Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.