So how come the WDFW can say "No fishing from a boat above the 7400 line on the Wynoochee" when they couldn't say "No fishing from a boat with a motor above the intake on the Wynoochee and above the west fork on the Satsop"?

They can tell you what to do in a driftboat or cataraft, but not a sled? Or is is that the nifty little phrase "Any floating device" means they aren't being discriminatory in overstepping their authority?

Comments anyone?

Good question Dan!
The mind is a dangerous instrument, lets see what the others members THINK!

I'll jump in later!

Cowlitzfisherman
Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook????

yah know u coulda posted this on my thread..its the same quetions..
from what i get outta the wdfw talk is that they do want to close the nooch from the intake up for sleds but the county has to do that, and of course they have their hands in everyone else's pockets so they wont.
Do you mean the west fork satsop?? its closed because the runs are wild and they are poor right now.

loophole found, "any floatind device" doesnt mean u cant fish with a boat, use just have to get out of the boat to fish...works great on those small rivers where this rule is in effect and no one will walk in to fish them

Dan,
I am looking at the WDFW 2001\2002 Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet and in the special westside rules section concerning the Nooch it does not say anything about no boats above 7400. It is closed waters from Oct. 31 to June 1. Am I missing something? The way I read it you could float it when it's open. Is the new 2002/2003 pamphlet out? Does it list it as being closed to fishing from boats?

no he just misstyped that i think..its open to float during trout season..but its closed to all access during steelhead season..

dan, i think they ought to close all rivers to boat and bank access and only allow helicopter access.

Dan how can I philosophize about a rule which doesn't exist? There's squat about boats in the current rules regarding the nooche.
It is only open to summer run steelie/ other game fish fishing above 7400 between June 1 thru Oct 31 and again squat about any kind of boat. Please clarify :p ?

gooose

Don't you guys request the WDFW sends you your rules proposals ? These are the new 2002/2003 rules we're talking here, and they DO exist.

Call WDFW and get on their mailing list.....they'll send you info on new rules being proposed, testimony for/against, and the action taken on the proposals.

NEXT season, the Nooch is open ABOVE the 7400 line, but you can't fish it from a floating device. The question is: Why can they prevent you from fishing from "any floating device" on the Nooch, but they can't (or won't) prevent you from fishing from a boat with a motor on the Nooch above the intake, or above the confluence of the west/east forks of the Satsop?

Pretty sure the answer to the question why is that each activity is regulated by a different agency. 'No fishing from a floating a device' is WDFW regulation, 'no motorized boats above...' is a county regulation.

And to you boaters who would begrudge a rule limiting access to certain rivers with your sleds...tough crap. Go to the big water where your boats belong...

Never see sleds in the upper reaches of the Hoh, Bogey, Calawah, Sol Duc and that doesn't seem to affect the quality of fishing negatively. Now I've gone and pissed off every guy with a sled...

I can hear the arguments now!! Its my GGR to drive this sled in this river.... yada yada yada



P.S. I sure wish people would quit whining about the rules...either do something to change them other than just posting on this board or quit fishing. Simple...

StlhdH2O is right about jurisdiction.

The WDFW Commission has authority to make rules controlling the time, place, and manner of fishing. They can make rules regarding a vast array of fishing issues, including the ability to fish or not fish from a floating device.

That said, the courts have ruled that the county has jurisdiction to decide if boats can have motors or not, at least on rivers, since that is far enough removed from a "fishing" issue as to take it out of the Commission's province.

It seems a little funky to me because the Commission has not been challenged regarding lake regulations that prohibit boats, or internal combustion motors, or motors at all, electric or otherwise. I think the issue there is that the Commission has specific authority to create "quality" fishing waters, and in those instances have been allowed to regulate not just gear types, but boat or motor types, too.

Fish on...

Todd.

H20.... and what kinda cheese do you prefer with that? Get a grip son...I for one lobby personally WDFW staff constantly for needed changes or need not to change and many others here on this board also put in the effort and time .

Now for the subject we are discussing. Dan sorry I should have known you were referring to the recent regulation changes. The reason they can restrict boats from above 7400 is that it can reasonably be called a conservation measure. Allowing boat traffic of any kind across the primary spawning beds would be detrimental....side note I personally hate to see them allow any winter fishing up there but oh well thats an entirely nother subject. The issues below 7400 are user group related and not by any reasonable means conservation related. If you or anyone have really read all my posts on this subject here and in other threads you'll see my primary concern is once you start down this path of divvying up the rivers amongst user groups simply where does it stop? How about making Blue Creek a bankie only area....or how about lets have parity amongst all the user groups based on percentages of the whole? Hmmm jets get 10%...drifties get 20%...and 70% for bankies. Hey sounds like a good road to go down...especially as I'm a bankie!

Todd many of those lake prohibitions are likely similar to what you see with state/private land owner nonmotorized hunting areas. Pass Lake in Deception Pass State Park is an example....WDFW has made an agreement with a property owner or manager.

gooose

goose,

I agree with your post entirely. I was just wondering when the regulation of fishing from a boat became a conservation issue vs. a user-group designation. I'm not sure how this judgment is made......do you have any insight?

Dan glad we can reach an mutual agreement or understanding. The below 7400 boat issue originally was a package by itself seperate from the above 7400 cnr season. There was some reasonable conservation issues raised on the cnr season above 7400 regarding spawning grounds and concerns about any boats allowed up there damaging redds. The below 7400 battle is strictly a user group issue.....and I dislike what I'm seeing and hearing. It keeps up and most of us won't like the results. Here's a real one for the next step if sleds are prohibited. Imagine the driftboat traffic doubling, tripling or more....when are we gonna see restrictions on how many days a particular drift boat can float/fish the upper noooche?

As I pointed out ...be careful which slippery slope you choose.

gooose

Its sad Marsha but yeah I'm willing to lose a few priveleges....this having to be carried to and from the river is burdensome.

Seriously access whether it be by boat or bank for those who are disabled or physically unable is something that should always be considered.

gooose

gooose -

I hadn't fully considered where such restrictions could lead if they were carried to an extreme until I read your posts, thanks for giving me something to mill over.

P.S. You can stop with the lurker talk already, you don't have to agree with my contributions to consider them valid.

How can I find merit in that which is disagreeable? . Live and learn H20.

gooose

I figure,when I get to where I can't row a river any more, I'll start fishing the Cow, Sno, Columbia, Skagit and other larger flows where a sled won't do as much damage as it would do to a smaller river. Until then I'll stay bebind the oars and pray for sled bans on all the smaller rivers.

There's nothing like a quiet peaceful day on the river, the wind, birds, sound of the water in a little riffel, your oars pushing water with each stroke,then all of a sudded the roar or a 115 merc tearing up the river, the wake spinning you and your plugs off the slot you've been working for the last half hour, no thanks!!

Don't get me wrong I fish from a sled all the time, but only places where a drift boat is just a target for other sleds. With the springers starting to show I'll be fishin from sleds for the next couple of months, that is if I don't piss off driftboat and scrawny with this post. no hard feelings guys. By the way scrawny, after rowing your 6'10" 320lb frame down those OP rivers last weekend, I think I'm ready to upgrade to the 18' willie .