Looks like a f#*@'in 12" trout anyway, who cares if your power-bait'in rag it it low in the mouth :p :p

Gooose,

In general when you have a correspondence with any agency the question is passed to the appropriate department and they respond to it accordingly and typically they are very careful when it is in writing. I have no doubt that you are telling the truth but it is VERY hard to dispute an official email from WDFW unless it is fabricated. I like to know because I was a "in the mouth, it is legal" person and after "foul or fair" thread I assumed "gill plate forward" is the law. Now that did not change my fishing habits but I like to know what the law is. I may call WDFW next week and get to the bottom of this.

Dave Jackson,

Your picture has "volume" but no substance. If you know the law, why don't you share it with us?

You want law? I'll give you law.

When the horse is dead, quit kicking it. It's the law.

This discussion in the past has come up with one clear fact: the Washington angling laws have a loophole that allows someone to potentially floss a fish or snag it in the head (if there is a difference) as long as the hook hits the gillplate or forward. This does not mean that a game officer cannot give you a ticket if the officer feels that you tried to snag (or floss) the fish. And that doesn't mean that you cannot be pissed about it either way.

There ya go. That's it in a nutshell. Take the horse for what it stands for and grow to love it as others have.

Dave

gooose

Dave, the rag is a nice touch but next time could you please enhance the hook a little?

hollysmolts, I have some lip hooked fish photos that I need altered to make them cover worthy. :p

FJ...out.

It was a red hook in a red horse. Doomed from the start, but if you blow the picture up you'll see that it IS there.

No detail too small.

Cut it in half for bait...Blow it up...How much can that poor horse handle?

FJ...out.

The photos as they have been presented do not necessarily represent the original timeline. This shot with the rag is the original shot. I removed the rag from the original shot to protect the rest of the run of horses on my Siberian zipperlip.

Now that the cat...er...horse is out of the bag the only thing saving them is their ungodly smell. I hope that is enough.

The cop is there to ticket you if you appear to be breaking the law to him. The judge is the one who will listen to your reasoning and decide if you or the cop is wrong. The gill plate forward defense with an official email from DFW is pretty strong. I'd be confident but concerned about a court date after receiving an official interpretation from the DFW like that. You can only make a reasonable interpretation of the law with the information you have to work with. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but if you have the official regs and have attempted to get an official interpretation of those regs, what else can you do?

Granted, if you are snagging, shame on you. But if you are attempting to legally hook a fish and hook the gill plate forward, a lot of things can happen down there that can result in a hook outside the mouth. If I've been dragging the holes all day and finally find a fish that will chase my birdie drifer up the line and swim upstream resulting in the 1'0 hook outside the mouth, considering what I've learned, I'm tempted to keep the fish. If I'm fishing with a boat hook and 4 oz of lead, different story.

Pitch peace...would you care to post that e-mail again? There's something I'd like to point out. Ulitmate when you make your inquiry please specifically request that the it be answered by the head of Enforcement not Fish Management. You might be surprised at the answer.
Sorry Dave but the Horsey lives on.

gooose