RG,

4S is right, but here's a little more information about that rule...

It's not really intended to apply to salmon and steelhead...it's intended to apply to trout fishing. The reason that it is in the "selective gear" rules is that when BAIT fishing for trout, each fish you catch, regardless of whether you retain it or not, counts against your limit.

If you're fishing with artificial lures, it is legal to catch and release trout without them counting against your limit. The rule is there to encourage people fishing with lures to keep a trout that has been hooked in the eye, gill, or base of the tongue.

Tongue, gill (from the inside) and eye (from the inside) are certainly hooked in the mouth.

Fish on...

Todd.