Dahlberg Speaks Out

TV Host tells his version of Kitimat incident.

For a man that has won several conservation related awards including The Henshal Award from the Federation of Flyfishermen and The International Conservation Award (1998) from the the International Gamefish Association, and has been inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, Larry Dahlberg is obviously concerned about his reputation.

"This looks really bad on my record," Dahlberg said to me in a telephone interview in response to a question about being recently charged with 'Fish Molestation' by a conservation officer in British Columbia, Canada.

"In retrospect I made a huge mistake by paying the fine to retrieve my hostaged tapes!" Dahlberg exclaimed angrily. In our wide ranging conversation, The Hunt For Big Fish TV show host spoke of his concerns about both the charge and the manner in which he was treated by the Canadian officials.

Although Dahlberg is looking into ways to appeal the charge, he also wants very much to let the angling world know his side of the story. In his opinion, Conservation Officer Andy Lewis was unreasonable and in fact was "decidedly aggressive towards the guide that was with us. It was obvious that Andy had his mind totally made up."

A number of issues have surfaced since the incident took place. Since writing the first article on what took place in Kitimat, there has been a great deal of debate over both the ethics involved as well as the charge itself. Is this a case of, to paraphrase Charles Dickens, the law being an ass?

Prior to our conversation, Dahlberg kindly sent me copies of letters he has sent to the management and supervisors of the Conservation Officer that charged him. These letters provide a detailed look at what happened from the accused's point of view as well as some explanation. Mr. Dahlberg gave permission to quote from these letters:

"I had just caught and released two fish including the one in question with a floating fly line and a fly called a Deep Wiggler. One of our party, Dr. Bob Capetelli from Florida, had also caught a steelhead. It was his first steelhead ever and he caught it on a fly as well. According to officer Lewis, we were reported by two German anglers who had been fishing the same area using bobbers, bait casting gear and spawn. It appeared we were in the area they wanted to fish at the confluence of a small tributary, and that they had so far not been successful.

"During the event in question, our encounter with the second fish, I was at the bottom end of the confluence and my cameraman, Mark Holt who was on the opposite bank, filmed me fighting the fish and got a couple of nice jumps but was not near enough to get a sound bite to close the segment. My wireless mike was not functioning so he could get clear audio unless he was right beside me. When the fish settled down I shouted to him to bring the underwater gear to shoot underwater footage of the landing and release. Since the underwater camera gear, which is somewhat cumbersome, was in the boat several hundred yards downstream and on the other side of the mouth of the small tributary, it took several minutes to retrieve even though he was hurrying as fast as possible. When a person is carrying a $40,000 camera on his shoulder and wading in waste-deep, fast water over a rocky bottom it's difficult to set any speed records.

"I considered bringing the fish down to the camera boat, but thought better of it since this would put more stress on the fish because I'd have to get him pointed downstream and try to force him down stream, pointing him in a direction where he'd not be able to breath as efficiently. Plus, the bank was steeper there, with margin of no slack water. This would have made it difficult to control the fish and avoid undue stress when we had to handle it for photos and release. At the time he was resting comfortably behind the riffle in front of me, where he felt safe and protected and since I was maintaining only enough pressure to keep the hook from falling out, was in no panic.

"While he was doing this I brought the fish into shallow water to see if it was securely hooked. Naturally I was using a small barbless hook and needed to determine the hooks location so I would know how best to keep it attached with the least stress on the fish or likelihood of coming unpinned. This is what Officer Lewis refers to as the first landing. As I've explained, the camera was no where near at that time and was therefore not rolling. When slid it into the shallows and tailed it to prevent it from flopping on the rocks I noticed how large it was, and that it would serve as the center piece of a show. We held it upright and submerged in the shallows for a few moments with thoughts of waiting for the camera, but rather than hold it in the shallows and risk undue stress, I let it swim back into the riffle, took all but the slightest pressure off and it returned to the fast, highly oxygenated water below the riffle, over dark bottom, with choppy surface over its head. From experience I knew the combination of these elements would make it feel secure. As I was hoping it would, the fish stopped and completely settled down literally forgetting it was hooked.

"When my cameraman returned with the underwater gear I told him this was a big fish and we should first shoot a close with it on the Beta cam. When the camera was ready I gently led the fish back into the shallows, Tailed it in typical salmonid style and while supporting its weight with my hand under its belly, kneeled down and gently lifted the fish making the closing statement for the segment, "If you want to catch big steelheads come to British Columbia, here's the number you call." This is what officer Lewis refers to as the second landing.

"I then immediately lowered the fish back in the water, again to minimize stress, and while everyone with a still camera was yelling for me to hold up the fish I instead held my fishing rod where the fish would be when snapping a photo and instructed them to compose and focus on the rod. This a technique I came up with, always do, and is a practice I would suggest you include in your regulations within the section advising people about the best way to take a photo of a fish they intend to release..

"Making the comment I was only going to lift it once and they should all shoot their shots on that lift, I removed the fish from the water for a few seconds while the cameras clicked, then put it down and immediately let it swim out into the dark, well oxygenated riffle where it would be under less stress than if I was holding it in the shallows.

"While the fish rested comfortably ten feet or so from shore my cameraman Mark got the underwater camera ready, a process that takes a couple of minutes. When he indicated he was ready, I gently led the fish back into 18 inches of water and let it swim by the camera a couple of times. This took less than thirty seconds. The fish was then gently brought to hand, head still in the water and with me kneeling, carefully released. As the underwater shot clearly shows the fish was in excellent shape, was breathing fine, had no problem what ever remaining up right and was totally unharmed because we had handled it in the safest possible manner.

"Our goal of catching and releasing a big steelhead without harming it, and at the same time capturing the event on tape in such a way to get the most professional and compelling footage had been accomplished. This is what Officer Lewis refers to as the third landing.

"When I explained to Officer Lewis what I've outlined above he refused to listen. His mind had been made up and he actually said so on tape. He also told me these fish are not here to film television shows. (If that was true why had we been invited here in the first place to make a TV show to promote fishing?) His only reply to my explanation was that he'd watched, made notes and that my rod was doubled up several times. Since he did not inspect my rod to see how stout it was he couldn't have let the fact it was a very flexible #7 flyrod which is designed to be loaded by a mere 185 grains of weight enter into his analysis of the situation. The fact is two ounces of pressure will bend it tip to the butt. To move the unattached filet of a 20 pound steelhead in the water would double it over."

After he was charged, Dahlberg had his films confiscated by the Conservation officers. According to Dahlberg, C.O. Lewis originally failed to provide him with the correct phone number to make arrangements to retrieve the tapes. This caused him a great deal of stress as he was on a tight schedule and needed to catch a flight out of the Province. Finally, Dahlberg and his party, which included a doctor from Florida who is also a member of the West Palm Beach Police Services, went to the conservation office in Terrace to attempt to get the films back.

They were met there by a dispatcher who apparently attempted to interrogate Dahlberg further. This officer wanted to know why the film footage could not be played on a regular VCR. According to Dahlberg, the officer was not satisfied with the answer that the tapes were not in VCR format. The interrogation went on for some time until it was learned that Bob Capetelli was a police officer. According to Dahlberg, "Within seconds after Bob flipped out his badge, Brian (Ed - the DFO interrogator) began to sweat visibly. I think he knew full well he was way over the line and we had a highly credible witness to his unusual tactics."

Dahlberg believes that he would not have been able to retrieve his tapes if he had not paid the $250.00 fine. Under Canadian law, some Provincial Statutes provide a choice to the accused - they may either pay the fine or file for a court date to plead not guilty. If the fine is paid however, it is considered an admission of guilt, and will stay on the accused's record as if it were a conviction.

"My paying the fine levied on me - $250.00 - for alleged fish molestation, is in no way an admission of guilt." Dahlberg wrote in his letter. "The field tapes confiscated by Officer Lewis are my livelihood and must return with me to the United States in order for me to remain on schedule and meet my deadlines. Since paying the fine was the only way to insure the safety of my tapes and the only way to get them back in time, it is what I was forced to do."

Dahlberg claims that he will be able to prove that no harm ever came to the fish and it was neither injured or molested. "The film footage of the fish swimming away is beautiful!" Dahlberg told me. "Anyone who sees it will know that the fish was not fatigued and was in excellent condition."

In retrospect, if Dahlberg's version of the events are true, he has certainly been mistreated. In my opinion, he did not deserve what he got with respect to the charge against him and the manner in which the DFO handled the event. There does remain, however, the question of "ethics" that has been debated by many with respect to Dahlberg's actions. I would like to discuss that in my next article and include Mr. Dahlberg's own views.

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