Snagly
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Skeena Swim Team Blood Donor
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Reged: 08/08/00
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Loc: Singapore, Bangalore, Sri Lank...
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The good news is that as of last fall you can buy a British Columbia fishing license on line at www.fishing.gov.bc.ca. I just completed the process and it's straightforward. You end up with a permanent angler ID number and a printable, email-able, PDF-formatted license. This gives you some downside protection in case you lose the license and want to replace it.
With the USD and the "Loonie" (Canadian dollar) basically 1:1, the following prices for non-Canadian freshwater licenses give pause for thought:
$50 for an 8-day license
$80 for the 2008/09 season
$60 for a steelhead stamp (even if you are 100% C&R)
If you are going to fish any classified waters (certain rivers/ parts of rivers cost money to fish on a daily basis) the cost is now $20/ day for Class 2 waters and $40/ day for Class 1 waters.
Clearly, the days of BC as cheaper alternative to fishing Washington State are long past.
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What are out-of-state license costs for non-Washingtonians running these days? It may be time to start thinking about the Oly Pen again!
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Suffering withdrawal symptoms and already making plans for Fall 08 on the Big Water
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Baitsoaker
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dual red striper
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Reged: 12/16/02
Posts: 372
Loc: Renton, WA
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Quote:
Snagly said:
...What are out-of-state license costs for non-Washingtonians running these days? It may be time to start thinking about the Oly Pen again!
About 81 bucks, for the complete (combo salmon, steelhead, shellfish) license
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Here fishy, fishy...
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Marty
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redneck yachter
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Reged: 07/17/00
Posts: 18848
Loc: Olympic Peninsula
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ugh
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Marty
Got Your Steelheader.net stickers?
Pay it forward
Steelhead dues paid one cast at a time repeated a 1000 times a day...one more cast looking for a fix
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fishyness
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gone fishin
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Reged: 11/01/07
Posts: 466
Loc: bellevue wa
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dang that spendy for a license! they really charge to fish sections of river i wonder if its all the terminal areas i hope washington deostn ever start that bs 
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team bobber down
team sunset wheat
member friends of the cowlitz
member cca
tiller monkey prostaff
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ABUfreak
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dual red striper
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Reged: 03/28/07
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Loc: south of the nisqually
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i'd love it if washington would institute it on some rivers. as i understand, BC does it on their "quality" fisheries like the the kispiox.
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if we aren't supposed to eat fish, why are they made out of meat?
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Desertdog
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Road Warrior
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Reged: 11/11/00
Posts: 1971
Loc: Nevada??
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Cost me right at $50 for my Nevada with trout stamp and 2ndrod stamp. For the most part I see nonresident fees as being fairly reasonable by comparison. Even better deal when you compare fishing oppertunities.
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Gettin' old ain't fer wimps!!
Lonnie Gane
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Mojo
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Instigator
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Reged: 09/10/03
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Loc: Bootsville, Idaho
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Come to Idaho and fish the Clearwater. You can buy a Tribal license much more reasonably. I'd suggest the Vet's Day Tilla...
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Tight Lines,
Mojo
TEAM MOOSE DROOL
TEAM SMOKIN' MERC
TEAM JACKSON BALDWIN
Alaksa Nitro Baits Pro Staff
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workin4fishin
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Chromer - I wonder what one looks like up close
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Reged: 09/13/02
Posts: 2785
Loc: Monroe and Redmond WA
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Yeah Snagly, the BC licenses are painful. Even more so when you drive up to fish with your Dad and discover you left your BC license at home, and it's Mar 15 so you have to pay the full meal deal to fish only for a couple wks.
I've heard rumor of some un-named people using old BC Driver's license to get the Resident license. I guess it helps to buy your license from the same shop for more than 20 yrs, and your Dad is well known at that shop for longer than that  Still have to buy the steelhead tag though.
What's really really frustrating about BC licenses, is that on many rivers there is absolute zero enforcement, so you just know that a lot of the other guys on the river have not paid their licenses. I've never been checked. My Dad's never been checked, and he's spent 40+yrs fishing in BC (spent some time in Alberta and Saskabush)
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Snagly
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Skeena Swim Team Blood Donor
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Just to explain that Classified waters bit, NONE of the classified BC steelhead rivers up north has a hatchery so there aren't any terminal fisheries to speak of. Locals pay a single flat fee (don't know how much that is) for their Classifed permit for the season. Meanwhile, shlubs like Marty and me pay $20-$40/ day on top of the license/ steelhead stamp to fish "River X". If River X goes out, you drive back to a tackle shop to purchase a "River Y" permit. Ignoring the money, this can be very time consuming as the province gives the shops selling these permits the princely royalty of $1-$2 each per day, plus demands 100% accounting for all the license pads, etc. Mess up and get a fine. So you can be fishing the BobLip and it goes out, and you have to make a one hour detour to buy another daily permit if your "main supplier" has disappeared for the afternoon.
It's an all around nightmare when this sort of thing is going on and frankly the actual cash isn't the worst bit of it. It's the lost fishing time.
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There's also the chance to meet up with some First Nations folk, many of whom are very nice but some of which will try to extract another C$15 cash for "fishing on reservation land" (irrespective of whether you're actually on tribal land).
In 7 trips, my license has been checked twice and not a wonce since 2001. But someone else will explain what happens if the CO's catch you w/o a license or fishing illegal gear. Grim indeed!
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Suffering withdrawal symptoms and already making plans for Fall 08 on the Big Water
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Salmo_g
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sockeye
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Reged: 12/29/04
Posts: 96
Loc: south Sound
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BC is a province in another country. They have generally good fishing, and they know it. They also know that is worth a lot in this day and age of diminishing resources and increasing numbers of anglers who want in on the good deal. Since a great many aliens are more than willing to pay the license fees - Europeans consider them a bargain in comparison to fishing their home waters - BC has nothing to lose, and much to gain. It seems like good business management applied to provincial fishery management.
I might decide not to fish BC if I feel I can get a better fishing deal somewhere else, but steelhead fishing in BC is far cheaper than Atlantic salmon fishing in Europe or even maritime Canada. The only reason I can think of for complaining is some false sense of entitlement.
Sg
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workin4fishin
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Chromer - I wonder what one looks like up close
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Reged: 09/13/02
Posts: 2785
Loc: Monroe and Redmond WA
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Quote:
It seems like good business management applied to provincial fishery management.
Wow. I've never heard that comment about BC fisheries mgmt. I wish I had time to discuss. Gotta get ready for the Cowtilla.
Quote:
The only reason I can think of for complaining is some false sense of entitlement.
Er, Uh, WHAT?!?!?! Ok I see your point. Just because we have a decent level of taxation and fee structures in our country, for much the same resource, I guess we feel nose out of joint because we have to pay ridiculous rates in the waters of our #1 trading partner.
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AuntyM
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Evil Woman
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Reged: 05/07/01
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Loc: Harstine Island
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IMO, it's always best to defer to W4F regarding anything Canuck. 
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http://www.ccapnw.org
The Monster Breaths!
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Snagly
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Skeena Swim Team Blood Donor
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Loc: Singapore, Bangalore, Sri Lank...
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Salmo: the purpose of the post was to convey information first, and have a general moan second. My submissions to various Skeena system fishing regulation review committees (including the ongoing one)start from the premises that:
a) BC steelheading is a world class experience and can be priced as such
b) The economic benefits of recreationally caught steelhead/ salmon dwarf those of commercially harvested fish, so the panels doing the evaluations should include members of the broader business community and not just guides
c) If there is a decision to limit fishing pressure on Skeena system rivers, the current (and proposed!) practice of allowing guides to buy/ sell "guide days" means that the entire economic benefit of enforced scarcity (i.e., no more guide days created, or guide days bought back and cancelled) accrues to the guides. I've recommended auctioning guide days annually with the gov't the beneficiary of higher prices.
So from the preceding, I think you'll agree that I have far from having a false sense of entitlement. In fact I think I'm helping the BC panel come up with ways of charging me more to fish the rivers I've grown to love. It just galls me to see the guides (the real owners of a sense of entitlement) reap the benefits of scarcity while motel operators, grocery store owners and gas station managers see a reduction of foreign fishermen because they're no longer able to fish the rivers they want to. Trust me, I'm real happy to be paying double the daily rate for Classified Waters than find out that people living in Singapore are banned from fishing District 6 in even-numbered years.
Having written all of that, the secondary reason for the post was to lament the passing of the Good Old Days when US$1 was worth C$1.50, gas was under C$1.00/ liter, and a day on the Copper down low was C$10. (I also remember when a case of Grolsch was $6.00 and might be known to whinge about that from time to time, too.)
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Irrespective of your perspective, I'm glad to see you posting from time to time on this Board. I recall your handle from 8 or more years ago (the last time I was on PP), and you were a voice of reason on many thorny recreational-commercial/ tribal-other resource allocation issues plus salmonid biology. Are you still with NSMS?
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Suffering withdrawal symptoms and already making plans for Fall 08 on the Big Water
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Salmo_g
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sockeye
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Reged: 12/29/04
Posts: 96
Loc: south Sound
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Snagly,
I wasn't sure. I hear a lot of US residents complain about BC steelhead management as though BC was part of Washington state, and their opinions mattered the same as BC and other Canadian opinions, when they don't.
I have donated money a couple times to BC steelhead conservation causes, but I mostly tend to stay away from the issue because I'm not Canadian, and I'm not a BC citizen or resident. I certainly have my opinions about what they "oughta' do", but I respect their right to do as well or bad with it as they choose. That's the reason I'm staying out of the Skeena commercial v. sport issue, and the guide/non-resident issue. They can do what they want, and if I feel it represents a good value compared to other choices available to me, then I'll fish there again. Of course if they valued and followed my advice, I'm more than OK with that. I just don't expect it.
We can hardly blame Canada for the value of the US dollar, but it would have been unreasonable to expect the 1:1.50 to last for long based on the long term values of the two currencies.
Still NMFS.
Sg
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