I gotta say, I think NickD90 and the like are the ones that are off-base here. Certain types of fishing-related activity will violate the Proclamation 20-25, and certain types will not. This is no different than certain types of *any* activity. Yet, the Proclamation 20-25 wisely (in my opinion) does not ban all out-of-the-house activity. In fact, it deems "outdoor exercise" to be an "essential" activity, as long as social distancing guidelines are followed. The Governor himself recently said it's fine to "go for a drive," but it's not a good idea to drive half-way across Washington. The Proclamation explicitly identifies biking and hiking as examples "essential" outdoor exercise activities.

All of the arguments I've heard against allowing *any* kind of fishing apply equally to all the other "essential" activities that are allowed. Packing a bunch of buddies in a boat to go fishing would violate social distancing, just like packing a bunch of neighbors to go for a Costco trip would. So you shouldn't do either. But grocery runs are still allowed. Getting a pack of 50 bikers to go on a ride would be a bad idea, but biking is still allowed.

Using the public restrooms at a park might be a vector for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, so many are closed (including at ramps). But we are not prohibited from taking walks in the park. We are prohibited from wetting a line while we're there.

The bottom line is that WDFW went further than any other county, municipality, or statewide agency that I'm aware of by not only closing facilities, but banning a particular outdoor activity statewide (despite Inslee's order deeming outdoor exercise activities "essential").