Artificial structure question. Is putting this in lakes in WA state legal?

[StuckOnTheBank]

http://www.porcupinefishattractor.com/fishing_tips.htm

I've been scanning the regs and can't seem to find an answer? You can build crappie condos with a five gallon plastic bucket, a little cement and some 1/2 inch pvc pipe. Does anybody know if this is legal and if it is have you ever tried and does it actually work.

[uncyboo]

This is not gonna help answer your question, but my .02 anyway. In the south we would gather up several christmas trees, tie them together, and take them out with a couple cinder blocks and dump them in a spot easy to find later. Didn't have GPS back then, so we would try to find a spot easy to triangulate, along with the depth finder. Don't know if it's legal here or not, but it was a cheap and easy way to create cover that crappies loved.

[Teal101]

My uncle puts his old xmas trees under his dock on Hayden Lake in Idaho. Sure seems to work good!

[Marc Martyn]

http://www.porcupinefishattractor.com/fishing_tips.htm

I've been scanning the regs and can't seem to find an answer? You can build crappie condos with a five gallon plastic bucket, a little cement and some 1/2 inch pvc pipe. Does anybody know if this is legal and if it is have you ever tried and does it actually work.

Email the game department and attach the same link that you have above.

enforcement-web@dfw.wa.gov

They will be able to tell you if it is legal or not. Post their response on this thread. It would be good information to know.

[curado]

i would think that they would approve because it is fish habitat. thats just my .02 though

[Bodofish]

Not so fast there Lil Shaver, that falls under the Shore line Mgt Act. It may just require a permit. I know back in the 70's when I was in school we sunk a few cleaned ships for marine habitat and it was a pretty clean fill out the paperwork deal and we had to have the hulls inspected by the state. Very do-able.

[G-Man]

A person could contact Mardon's Resort and ask them for some background info. A few years back they had been getting volunteers to assemble and place "habitat boxes" throughout the lake. They may be able to give you a person to contact in the WDFW.

[curado]

but still e mail fish and game regional office. better safe than sorry

[Anglinarcher]

I agree, e-mail the F&W and ask. You could call them, but if you get an e-mail response you will have something in writing.

I know that many just do it, and don't ask. As a youngster, and later as a Scout Master, we helped the State of Idaho sink those Christmas Trees, and it works very well for many species of fish, but............

I have also considered something like Bill Dance's and others snag free style, but only if I could make them myself. If you find it is legal, then I just might go for it.

[StuckOnTheBank]

I sent them an e-mail. Let's wait and see if I get an answer. I'm originally from Mississippi and everybody down there just builds their own. It takes a while for the algae growth to start on them to attract the bait fish but they say they work well. You can go to Home Depot and get everything you need for much cheaper than the porcupine.

[Bodofish]

I don't realy think WDFG has anything to do with it. Dept of Ecology are the ones to deal with on shore line mgt. I hope it works.

[smokum]

Not too many years ago, Western Bass Club would make Crappie habitat and sink it in several lakes throughout the state and had good results. WDFW was in accord with it

Times and ecology rules have changed, but I think it is still acceptable and I hope it still is.

It only helps the fish!

[jbball50]

I remember this topic being issued in the F&H washington magazine a few years ago and how the author used to put christmas trees in a certain lake. I believe they said that if you want to do it you should ask the wdfw about which lakes would allow this because some didn't allow people making artificial habitats in some lakes.

[fishing collector]

As far as being legal or not I just don't know for sure.....You will have to check it out. But if you want to make them cheep just use a kids plastic ball that is 10" in dia. Poke holes in it and shove 4 foot 1/2" PVC pipe thru holes and tape up any irregular holes in ball to seal in pipe and cut large hole on the top and fill with cement......This would work, I'd guess. You could also fill ball with foam and use a brick weight. Just a thought ... :-)

[MikeFishes]

Did a quick search, seems that the WDFW is all for artificial habitats for fish, especially for the salt and rivers. There may be some disagreement (especially for Rock Fish), but that's a different topic (we're talking fresh).

Of course, they might want to have a say in which lake and where you put it.

This one might be of interest: http://www.tourgrantcounty.com/index.php?page_id=209. The county might be your friend here.

[fishnislife]

Great topic. Wondered years ago about this. In Cali we use to put structure in lakes for bass and in the canals for catfish. Of coarse, we never considered whether or not it was legal.
I do run into a lot of artificial habitat on lakes around docks. I'm sure the homeowners don't even think twice about it.

Quality discussion and thanks for the link MikeFishes. Still, let us know what you get back from the Dept. StuckOnTheBank.






fishnislife

[StuckOnTheBank]

I haven't heard from them which makes me think they probably won't respond. Anybody have any other ideas as far as who to ask about the legality of this matter?

[Amx]

Took them almost a week to answer me when I asked them a few questions a couple weeks ago.

[G-Man]

As Bodo mentioned give the dept of ecology a try. I took the questionnaire and received the following contact info:

Fish Habitat Enhancement Projects

Department of Ecology
Headquarters
300 Desmond Drive
PO Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
Website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/
Telephone: (360) 407-6000

Based on answering 'Yes' or 'Don't Know' 'to:
Is your project designed to enhance fish habitat?

Shoreline Conditional Use Permit

King County Development and Environmental Services
900 Oaksdale Ave. SW
Renton, WA 98057-5212
Website: http://www.kingcounty.gov/property/permits.aspx
Telephone: (206) 296-6600

Based on answering 'Yes' or 'Don't Know' 'to:
Is the project or activity in a water body within city or county boundaries?

[Bodofish]

Sometimes it's tough pill to swallow when the route you're on changes. The WDFG may be all for it but just like everybody else, they have play with the the guy's that are holding all the cards. Department of Ecology holds all the cards on anything that goes in the water after the shoreline mgt act was signed into law. As I said earlier I've done this before. It's not hard you just have to fill out all the forms and get their blessing.
thx Gman!