illegal, no question. of course, there should be a waiver for those who are truly disabled... but imo electric reels should be banned.

first, because the seasons are getting shorter on the north coast and the best holes are often over 400 ft. deep, electric reels give people the option of sorting fish that they otherwise wouldn't if they had to actually crank up their own fish (not that it's that hard).

secondly, this is sportfishing, and to me electric reels are not sporting or necessary.

we're seeing a dramatic explosion in pressure on the north coast (and the resulting shorter seasons).... for the sake of the economy, the state should make some moves to save our halibut fishery, and one step would be to make fishing deep water harder.

the charters don't fish them, and there are tons of inexperienced anglers that reel up their own fish. imo, if you aren't disabled and using an electric reel, you're a bit of a puss.

chris