Northwest Fishing Reports

I am new to all this "rules and regulations" stuff...when I fished as a kid I suppose i didn't realize that there were special rules for catching fish, just thought it was as simple as a weight, a hook, and some bait. The anti snagging rule? I read the rule and I guess I am looking for a black and white answer. I was planning on heading out to Skokomish but I have no idea what i am doing and I don't want to p anyone off. I know I have to use barbless hooks, and information is hit or miss on artificial baits, weights etc. I need someone to be my Mr. Miyagi.

What that means is you can't use a snagging set up.



You can't use treble hooks unless you lure floats. This means you don't have to take trebles off your plugs. You're hooks have to be small, around 3/0 or less, and you can't have your weight below your hooks, i.e. a drop shot rig.

The leader length can't be under a foot, which effectively makes attaching a hook to a weight illegal.

On the Skok, the best legal bait to use is a bobber and eggs. Good luck though, finding fish is going to be the hardest thing to do this year. Owner makes a killer barbless hook with the power to bring in those big fish.

No snagging motions "constant pulling"

I have a question about this rule too, they got rid of the "non buoyant lure restriction" term right?, so ......a corky is buoyant right, so when I tie my corky and yarn up with my hook, that is my lure and it floats! or at least it should LOL next it says there cant be a weight added to the "lure or line" but right at the end of the rule it also says "a weight may not be attached to or below the lure or less than 12 inches above the lure......
My question is,
(A) is this confusing as hell to anyone else?
(B)it says single point barbless... since my lure is buoyant and my leader is always more than 12 inches long past my lead can I then use a second trailing hook (Barbless)?

I also noticed something interesting in the regs that I didn't catch before..
on the Puyallup it says "Release wild Adult Chinook" that means if you get a legal wild (over 12)Jack you can keep it.
on the Nisqually it says "Release wild Chinook" that means you cannot keep a wild jack.

I am glad I caught this because I was told you could keep wild Jacks at the Nisqually, I never noticed this clarification of the rule before.

There was a pretty extensive thread on this a while back (last fall maybe) and included flossing. You might search for that one.

Jerry starting issues again? Ive personally seen wardens hand out tickets for exactly what I said. So NO im not wrong. Constant pulling, yanking every cast is considered SNAGGING.

Springer Jerry wrote:Toxic, two hooks would not be a single point. And barbless is not part of the anti snagging rule.

Right, got it, but it says "except when fishing with a buoyant lure" I am asking if a corky and yarn falls under the Buoyant exception. Oh and I accidentally added the barbless, I think it used to say that in the non bouyant lure restriction or something..my bad.

Thanks guys for all the response.

I asked the warden at skok about this sort of. in the skok regs it says "single point barbless HOOKS only" apparently its a typo, should be "HOOK", so only 1 hook. the buoyant rule goes for if its under a bobber so you can use a weight right at your eggs if its under a bobber, no bobber means wt has to be at least 12 inches above or below hook, if its below you will most likely get dinged for attempting to snag. Also you are allowed to twitch jigs since they are considered a lure but you can't have a wt right above your jigs, that's just how I see it.
On the Cowlitz at barrier dam are you allowed to use 2 hooks ie a dropper jig with a bead?

Thanks Springer Jerry and Brat Bonker for your replies ....
yes the rule is worded screwy... I am going to have to grab the next game warden I see and ask to see if they can clarify this for me.
I haven't used a trailing hook for years but because of the way it is written and I didn't want to chance the ticket.....I have a friend that thinks it is still legal by definition....of course he likes to argue everything LOL.. I like to ask first instead of preparing a legal defense after the fact

toxicavengr wrote:I have a question about this rule too, they got rid of the "non buoyant lure restriction" term right?, so ......a corky is buoyant right, so when I tie my corky and yarn up with my hook, that is my lure and it floats! or at least it should LOL next it says there cant be a weight added to the "lure or line" but right at the end of the rule it also says "a weight may not be attached to or below the lure or less than 12 inches above the lure......
My question is,
(A) is this confusing as hell to anyone else?
(B)it says single point barbless... since my lure is buoyant and my leader is always more than 12 inches long past my lead can I then use a second trailing hook (Barbless)?

I also noticed something interesting in the regs that I didn't catch before..
on the Puyallup it says "Release wild Adult Chinook" that means if you get a legal wild (over 12)Jack you can keep it.
on the Nisqually it says "Release wild Chinook" that means you cannot keep a wild jack.

I am glad I caught this because I was told you could keep wild Jacks at the Nisqually, I never noticed this clarification of the rule before.

No your rig is not considered a buoyant lure. Nor is bobber set up. A buoyant lure would be a single device attached to your line that floats. No leaders trailing and no dropper weights. Think, plug, flat fish, quick fish, what ever. Single self contained lure that floats. I've also had clarification from the Wardens and the office folk that if you aren't in a boat, raft, pontoon craft, Etc. and you are using a floating lure with trebles you'd best be doing some fast talking because you're surely doing some snagging motions.

Bodofish wrote:

toxicavengr wrote:I have a question about this rule too, they got rid of the "non buoyant lure restriction" term right?, so ......a corky is buoyant right, so when I tie my corky and yarn up with my hook, that is my lure and it floats! or at least it should LOL next it says there cant be a weight added to the "lure or line" but right at the end of the rule it also says "a weight may not be attached to or below the lure or less than 12 inches above the lure......
My question is,
(A) is this confusing as hell to anyone else?
(B)it says single point barbless... since my lure is buoyant and my leader is always more than 12 inches long past my lead can I then use a second trailing hook (Barbless)?

I also noticed something interesting in the regs that I didn't catch before..
on the Puyallup it says "Release wild Adult Chinook" that means if you get a legal wild (over 12)Jack you can keep it.
on the Nisqually it says "Release wild Chinook" that means you cannot keep a wild jack.

I am glad I caught this because I was told you could keep wild Jacks at the Nisqually, I never noticed this clarification of the rule before.

No your rig is not considered a buoyant lure. Nor is bobber set up. A buoyant lure would be a single device attached to your line that floats. No leaders trailing and no dropper weights. Think, plug, flat fish, quick fish, what ever. Single self contained lure that floats. I've also had clarification from the Wardens and the office folk that if you aren't in a boat, raft, pontoon craft, Etc. and you are using a floating lure with trebles you'd best be doing some fast talking because you're surely doing some snagging motions.

I appreciate your input on this bodofish , but I am still gonna have to ask a warden what a corky and yarn tied to a hook is ....is it a lure by definition?.... and is it buoyant?


As it is written in the reg book:
pg 11
lure : A manufactured article complete with hooks, constructed of feathers hair fiber wood metal glass cork leather rubber or plastic which does not use scent and/or flavorings to attract fish.
pg 10
buoyant lure: a lure that floats on the surface of fresh water when no additional weight is applied to the line or lure and when not being retrieved by a line.

Now a corky and yarn with a hook and leader, meets the criteria of both definitions...with the exception of adding weight to the line which you do not have to add weight ( but your not going to catch much drifting without weight) (this is where it is sticky )because the anti snagging rule then allows a weight to be added more than 12 inches above the lure.... if this is done correctly, it could be argued then "one single point" does not apply.

We all know what the state is trying to get at with the rule.... meaning no snagging fish or attempting to snag, duh!

I know I am playing devils advocate here but I just wish that when they write these rules , they would consider making them a little easier to decipher for the average fisherman. ...sometimes it seems like they want to be a little cryptic so they can write more tickets to people because they were confused and had no intention of breaking the rules.

This is all you need to know about a lure. Your corky doesn't fit this description.
"lure : A manufactured article complete with hooks,"

DannyL wrote:Jerry starting issues again? Ive personally seen wardens hand out tickets for exactly what I said. So NO im not wrong. Constant pulling, yanking every cast is considered SNAGGING.

They can try to hand out tickets for this, but you will beat it in court. Every time. They cannot prove that you're attempting to snag. They cannot prove that you didn't feel a fish, or get a bite. You could be jigging, which is a very effective technique, in fact, a corky and yarn is the same exact presentation that you're getting with a jig, and is more effective at twitching since it floats up above the surface rather than dragging the bottom, they won't pick it up off the bottom in the muck. Twitching jigs isn't illegal.

The rule is very self explanatory: No snagging setups. Everyone knows what that is. No double hooks, trebles only on plugs. Don't keep fish hooked anywhere but the head.

I'm not going to debate it further as far as attempting to snag, because it's frigging pointless. Every year this conversation starts, and every year it's tiresome and ridiculous. Bobber and eggs balh balh blah mouth breathing snaggers blah blah blah I'm more legit than you blah blah blah Skokomish is a train wreck snag fest blah blah blah Nisqually Blah, blah blah blah blah blah.........

Bingo!!!!!

Bodofish wrote:This is all you need to know about a lure. Your corky doesn't fit this description.
"lure : A manufactured article complete with hooks,"

I think I am missing something here, and honestly I am not trying to be difficult or argumentative, but what part of that disqualifies a corky and yarn with a hook and leader from being a lure?
I am guessing you mean the "manufactured article" reference, and I will tell you that I am holding in my hand an old store bought package of "eagle claw lazer sharp salmon /steelhead "setups and it is "complete with hooks" yarn beads and corky which had to be manufactured. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe it is specifically designed to entice or "Lure " a fish into striking...... (to me that would be a lure, whether or not the state recognizes this as a lure is the $50,000 question I guess LOL)
.....and because I can basically reproduce the same thing out of the little boxes of gear in my vest shouldn't disqualify mine from being the same thing.


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/manufactured
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_of_manufacture

toxicavengr wrote:

Bodofish wrote:This is all you need to know about a lure. Your corky doesn't fit this description.
"lure : A manufactured article complete with hooks,"

I think I am missing something here, and honestly I am not trying to be difficult or argumentative, but what part of that disqualifies a corky and yarn with a hook and leader from being a lure?
I am guessing you mean the "manufactured article" reference, and I will tell you that I am holding in my hand an old store bought package of "eagle claw lazer sharp salmon /steelhead "setups and it is "complete with hooks" yarn beads and corky which had to be manufactured. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe it is specifically designed to entice or "Lure " a fish into striking...... (to me that would be a lure, whether or not the state recognizes this as a lure is the $50,000 question I guess LOL)
.....and because I can basically reproduce the same thing out of the little boxes of gear in my vest shouldn't disqualify mine from being the same thing.


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/manufactured
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_of_manufacture

The weight. No added weight. If you put weight on a kwikfish, you can't have trebles either. Weight is separate.

anyone going to be out there this saturday or sunday that can show me the ropes? I am quickly learning the terminology, rules and just general ways of becoming a fisherman and I could always use some schooling from the expierenced. Thank you agian for all who have provided answers.