Sorry to admit, I have been a lurker on this board, but I'm trying to clean up my act. I finally came up
with a question for you guys, so I got myself registered. Thanks for all the great information and
entertainment found here. The question was this: I remember reading a few threads about snagged
fish. It seems like you were saying in Washington a fish must be hooked in the mouth to be legal. Our
regs in Idaho say the head OR mouth is okay. The other day I was looking at the cover of the December/
January STS. Is this fish foul hooked? In Idaho, we wouldn't say it was, but I was wondering what you
people thought. (No Idaho jokes please--Ha!)

Welcome aboard,This topic was discused,
the jig feel out when the fish was landed,so some dork just stuck it back in ....Os

Thanks for the answer. I was afraid it may have already been discussed, but was still curious.
I'll pay better attention from now on.

Hey Os,

Some dork said he's gonna soak your a$$ with a little oar spray next time you're in the front of the dork's boat. :p

salmonriver, welcome to the board , and he said he was only helpin that sheep over the fence

If I recall correctly, the conclusion was that gill plate forward is legal in WA but the regs are unclear.

Sorry UFK the regs says the fish must voluntarily take the bait or lure.....that means in the Mouth!!!
No more "HeadShots".........Os

Oh sorry Danny Tell the Dork *@! *^

Here we go

Osprey, Does that mean you must release "ALL" Sockeyes? They don't vol take your lure. You floss their teeth with your line then hook em.

lead thrower,
You are funny and right!

Osprey,

Before all these snagging threads I always went per regs (as you mentioned) and I still do. But I remember someone asked about the STS picture couple? months ago and things got hot. I backed him up and said that it was a legit question. Finally it was concluded that the hook fell off during the picture taking and it was put back in a wrong place and made it look like that fish was snagged, but in reality it wasn't.
Also someone had an email from WDFW and it was concluded that gill-plate forward is legal and I said that if this is the case and we need to update/revise the regs.

I am trying to find that thread but am having a hard time. Stand by.

does it really matter?? some people will call a fish "snagged" if it isnt hooked perfect in the mouth to their standards, regardless of what the regs say, just check some of the previous threads and you will see who they are...

I found it.

Thread : "foul or fair"
date : 12-05-2001

Please read the thread for more details (2 pagaes)

"Pitch Pocket" got this email from WDFW

Received this reply to my email from WDFW:

--------------------------

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Fish Program.
Your question is a broad one, as it means different things per different bodies of water, and also is different per salt and fresh water, and per species. If you are referring to the difference of snagging verses legally hooking, the rules state that you must fish in such a way that the fish voluntarily takes the hook in its mouth. And almost without exception, you can keep a legally caught fish that has been hooked in the gill plate forward.

For more detailed information on this subject, you may contact Evan Jacoby in our Legal Services, directly at (360) 902-2930.

If you have further questions, please email again or call (360) 902-2700. Our Customer Service hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Sincerely,
Fish Program

--------------------------

"Doug Kelly" and "Nebb" also said the same thing before on that thread. This was news to me but no one objected to it.

Osprey,
You were an active participant on that thread and you did not raise your concerns at that time!

Whats the big deal? You can almost tell its really a hac. fish anyway. Nice placement of the printing STS. Make s you think, huh?

I did a little work on this picture, took around 3 minutes to do with Adobe PhotoShop.

Cool, but I can tell #2 is the real pix. Not much to lose. Your photo workshop sucks!!

LOL...it sure as hell doesnt suck I just didnt want to put a bunch of time into it.

Show's.

SORRY...I showed what Pitch posted to several enforcement officers including a seargent and a lieutenant....conclusion was identical...if it ain't in the mouth...regardless of flossing...you will most definitely get a ticket for $500. Suggest any doubters reread that post....it definitely does not say that you definitely will not get a ticket. still doubt it well arrange to do it in front of an officer....I can help you if you want?

gooose

I had to do a little Gimping myself, but I think it will say volumes:

It's alive...glad to know our boards most cherished icon is still there!

Reconstituted out of a can Dave?

gooose

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