June 19 — Rog: Somedays You Can’t Snag a Break

By Roger Phillips, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Jun. 19–If you saw the headline on today’s printed story about salmon fishing, you will understand this headline. I wrote about Idaho Department of Fish and Game approving a salmon season on the South Fork of the Salmon River starting June 28.

The headline in today’s paper reads “Anglers Can Still Snag Salmon This Year.”

You can see the problem here. Snagging salmon, or any other game fish, is illegal.

The way things work in the newspaper business is reporters (that would be me) write stories and copy editors write headlines when the story is put on the page.

In this case, the copy editor used “snag” synonymously with “catch,” which is fine if you’re talking about snagging a grounder at third base. But as we know in the fishing world, they mean two entirely different things.

This isn’t about blaming others. Truth be known, the same folks who write headlines are also the people who proofread my stories, and they have saved me from silly mistakes many times.

So put away those weighted treble hooks. You know better. And have fun salmon fishing on the South Fork. I hope you catch one.

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