Well after reading how this went down I can say that once again, my assumptions were wrong. You know what they say about what it is to assume... LOL

This person may not have known the status of the Golden Trout prior to his trip (or even until you brought it up) and could have felt a little put upon or threatened by your email. I don't know what the case is of course, I'm only speculating. I can tell you that once I ate a fish out of season, and didn’t know this until after the fact... Years after the fact...

In any case, if you want an honest opinion, your initial email could have been contained within the bounds of FYI and probably shouldn't have wandered into the territory of assumption, accusation and derision. It seems to me to be perfectly acceptable to question his knowledge of the plight of the Golden Trout, but when you assume he has no fishing license, call him a poacher and then finish by questioning his love of nature, you probably crossed a line and should have expected such a response.

While “ignorance of the law is no defense” as the saying goes, people still make mistakes. Sure, technically, if he caught and ate a Golden Trout it seems as though he is a poacher, but his intent probably wasn’t to go on a weekend poaching excursion or to take part in the decimation of a species. This could have been a mistake, and he may very well have said so if the need to go into a defensive posturing had not been triggered. Of course it doesn’t help his case to defend himself with a page subtitled “WILD TROUT & CATCH-AND-RELEASE WATERS”, but he’s probably not in the mood to apologize or own up to the mistake after your email.

Anyway, if you intend any more follow up emails, you might want to start off with an apology for the accusations. Then again, you may not feel the need to do so after his reply, which was a horrible way to respond. Needless to say, I’m not defending his position. It appears that he is in the wrong, but I thought it might be important to let you know where I think it all went bad.

If you do respond to him once more, you might find a comrade in the cause for the Golden Trout. Who knows?

On a side note: I keep referring this person in the masculine due to email signature, but it seems to me that the person who caught and ate the trout was a female. I’m not even going to try and clear that up. I should be in bed. LOL