Disabled angler seeks helping hand

John Jankovsky is pretty much like any fisherman.

The Spokane angler doesn't hesitate to stop friends in the grocery store to tell a good fish story. He's not above the occasional embellishment.

He enjoys going to area waters, sometimes loading an ultra-light Kevlar canoe on his vehicle for a different angle on trout at West Medical Lake or smallmouths at Lake Roosevelt.

About the only serious obstacle Jankovsky faces in his pursuit of fishing pleasure is a rule that governs 20 waters in Washington.

"I can't fly fish," he said. "I've tried, but I simply can't do it."

A childhood bout with polio has left Jankovsky with one normal arm and a lifeless withered arm that's one-third as long.

"It's not totally useless," he said. "I can put it on a piece of paper and the paper won't blow away. But that's about all it's good for."

Jankovsky can load his light canoe or float tube with one arm. He can tie knots and cast a spinning rod with little problem. He reels in fish by tucking his special rod's extra-long butt under his armpit or between his legs.

However, trying to manage a fly line with one arm and his teeth has left much to be desired.

"I tried for five years, but I gave up," he said. "The main problem is that I can't strip in the line."

When North Silver Lake was reopened last year as a fly-fishing- only lake, Jankovsky was excited. He liked the idea of a quiet nearby lake where motor boats are not allowed. He knew the fly-fishing clientele was likely to favor the catch-and-release tactics that usually spell better fishing for bigger trout.

He figured he'd tie a fly onto his spinning outfit and go.

However, a closer look at the regulations indicated this wouldn't be legal at 20 specific waters such as the Spokane area's North Silver, Browns and Bayley lakes.

The rules specify the fly must be delivered by at least 25 feet of fly line at fly-fishing-only waters. The line cannot be on a fixed- spool reel.

That eliminates spinning gear.

Perhaps there is cause to wonder why fly fishers think they are special enough to have any water dedicated to their favored method of presenting a hook.

But Jankovsky says that's not his motivation. Indeed, he enjoys the atmosphere of fly fishers and fly-fishing waters.

He knows the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club worked hard to win access from a private landowner and get North Silver reopened to the public. The agreement specified the lake would be dedicated to fly fishing.

He said he understands the merits of having a few waters in the state in which fly fishers can ply their particular methods without being menaced by the somewhat less-disciplined masses.

"But you'd think they'd let a disabled guy give it a try," he said.

Not so. In fact, when he first approached the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department on the possibility of getting a disabled permit in order to fish the lake, he was, as he put it, "stiffed."

"They wrote and told me I could take somebody out in the canoe to cast for me," he said.

"Then they told me I should use an automatic reel, which still doesn't address the problem of stripping in line."

The treatment only made Jankovsky more determined. He approached the Portland office of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which apparently has more experience with the federal civil rights laws Congress has handed down regarding access for disabled citizens.

After a few letters and phone calls, state officials in Olympia started listening a little closer, although they didn't respond directly to Jankovsky.

"It's funny," he said. "I still haven't had direct contact with anyone involved in making a decision."

His comments and all upper-level responses were directed through a state Fish and Wildlife Department intermediary.

"He's not a fisherman, so it's hard for him to understand why I don't spool a sinking line on my spinning rod and go away," Jankovsky said.

Fred Shiosaki, a Spokane fly fisher who sits on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, sees little problem with adjusting rules to allow permanently disabled anglers to use special tackle on fly-fishing waters.

"First, we need to define what constitutes a fisherman who is unable to fly cast," he said. "And then we must find a way to identify these people, primarily so they aren't hassled by other fishermen who might think they are violating the rules."

Jankovsky thinks a lifeless footlong limb dangling on his right side ought to be obvious enough, but he concedes that maybe a badge or letter could be helpful.

Shiosaki said he knows a one-armed man who can fly fish, but he concedes that such mastery is more astonishing than intuitive. Seems as though there's plenty of middle ground.

"We want to see as many people as possible out fishing," Shiosaki said, noting that Washington has thousands of waters in which most angling methods are allowed.

"Some of the selective fishing lakes (where bait is prohibited and catch limits are restricted to one or two trout a day) are every bit as good as the fly-fishing lakes."

Spinning gear is allowed at selective fishery lakes like Amber and Dry Falls, he said, "and those are excellent fishing lakes.

"I can't imagine there would be many disabled fishermen who feel they need to get permits to use a spinning rod on the handful of fly- fishing lakes, but if there are any, let's let them do it."

A proposal to allow rule exceptions at fly-fishing waters for anglers with permanent disabilities will be presented by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department during the Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Feb. 9-10 in Tukwilla, Wash.

This sidebar appeared Wednesday February 14, 2001 - Sports C3

UPDATE

Help for disabled

Certain disabled anglers have been exempted from using fly rods and fly lines at fly-fishing only waters in Washington.

Last week, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission authorized anglers with permanent, upper-extremity disabilities to obtain a special permit to use spin-casting gear with a casting bubble and fly on waters designated for fly-fishing gear only.

The special permit must be in the fisher's possession while fishing.

Copyright 2001 Cowles Publishing Company
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.