"ALL FRESHWATER AREAS are CLOSED to fishing for SALMON, Dolly Varden/Bull Trout and Grass Carp Unless listed as open in the Special Rules.

Plunker,
Ya, I saw that on page 20. To me that is a statement of the obvious for the thicker sculled among us, that is, the only waters that are open for those species are listed in the special rules. If this is the language they use to state that C&R of closed species is illegal then I guess I have to be included in the bone head group. I would like to see it stated clearer than this. Maybe like "Targeting closed species for C&R is unlawful". Then you would get into the can of worms of what is "targeting". You know these people are never fishing for the closed salmon, just accidentally hooking them one after another while trying to catch the trout or steelhead that are legal. I guess what it boils down to is there is no good way to write a regulation to stop people from targeting closed species for C&R. If it becomes too much of a problem the WDFW will probably close all fishing in the effected area, like they did in the spring to protect steelhead the last two years, until the salmon season opens.