Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few hours fishing for halibut and lingcod in Admiralty Inlet. While we were fishing and seeing several posts recently reporting catches of halibut and lingcod a regulation question came up. Fishing for lingcod, a bottomfish, is restricted to depths of 120 feet or less. Most halibut fishing occurs in depths greater than 120 feet. I assume that if a legal size lingcod was hooked while trying for halibut in water deeper than 120 feet it would have to be released. The more troublesome question was if you retained a legal lingcod, caught in less than 120 feet of water could you then go for halibut in deeper water. You would be fishing in an area, with a fish in your possession, that was not open for that fish. After considerable reading through the 2011/2012 regulations I did find this in the definitions section;

"Fathom Line (20 or 30) It is unlawful to fish for or possess bottomfish or lingcod seaward of a line approximating 20 or 30 fathoms when fathom restrictions are in place."

This would seem to prohibit fishing in waters deeper than 120 feet if you have a lingcod in your possession and in many cases prohibit going to pull a shrimp pot or your return to a boat ramp with a lingcod if you have to pass through waters deeper than 120 feet. I would be interested in hearing comments on and clarifications of this regulation.

I think it's pretty damn clear, if not pretty damn inconvenient, but if you have a legal lingcod on board, you better not be dropping any fishing lines down below 120 ft., which means no halibut fishing deeper than that if you've already got your ling.

I think pulling a pot would be ok, since you're not fishing...it would be impossible to expect a boat to not cross a 120 foot depth line when you are running...how the heck would you be able to get back to port if you were fishing almost anywhere besides right outside the breakwater?

Fish on...

Todd

Todd is correct, it is inconvenient. Legally you would have to take your ling back to the ramp and drop it off before you returned to fishing for your halibut at depths greater than 120'. As far as pulling the shrimp pots are concerned I guess that depends on what your WDFW agents definition of fishing is that day.

One more example of our Dept's superior performance!


Fishy

Here's one for you...........if I catch a ling cod at 120 feet, the current is running strong, and in the process of dragging him up, the boat drifts off the edge of the cliff that I had been fishing along, and by the time I get the fish alongside I'm in 300 ft of water, must I release the fish?

I can think of a number of places that fit that description to a tee, and there would be no way to hold the boat over the 120 foot plateau and drag ol' bucket mouth against the current, believe me.

Slab, you get to release that fish, if you keep it you will be tagged with a ticket for illegal possesion. I know this this because I have a framed ticket in my living room for a similar occurrence while salmon fishing in 1998. Caught a chinook in legal waters where the limit was one chinook, crossed the boundary line to pick up a silver for my limit on the way back to the ramp and got a ticket for $250 even after the gamie cut my downrigger line with his prop. He just couldn't wait to give me that ticket even after watching me catch my chinook in legal water. Fishermen just can't be trusted...

Hatch, so what you are saying is that if the reverse is true, I get to keep the fish, right??
Just messin' , but it does pose an interesting concept....Which end of the line counts???? If I keep the boat over the legal depth, can I let the current carry the business end of my presentation into the depths?

People who dream up regs like this actually don't fish, do they?

I'm thinking next is a reg that states that you may not use any line longer than 120 feet in length.

That was our conclusion while on the water and certainly after reading the regulations. I would also point out that this rule will also be in effect during the salmon fishing season in areas 3, 4, and 5 where some bottomfish retention is allowed subject to depth restrictions, so no salmon fishing in waters deeper than the depth restriction if you have a bottomfish on board.



There is more truth in this statement then one might suspect. The best lingcod areas in Admiralty Inlet are flat topped pinnacles that range in depth from 120 to 90 feet and rapidly drop off to depths of 250 + feet on all sides. Even with light winds and slack tides the drift across the tops is about 10 minutes. If you run back to repeat a drift, cut your motor and drop your line at 120 feet your boat will most likely coast out to the 150 foot depth (in many places only 10 yards) before drifting back over the 120 depth. If you go past the 120 foot depth, out to 150 feet depth and the drop your gear as you drift back over 120 foot depth you will be at 100 foot depth before it hits bottom. It is a similar situation when you are pulling your gear. The result is that when your gear is in the water, fishing, you have to keep an eye on the depth at all times. A good mapping GPS and depth sounder is a plus when your setting up to start a drift but even with that help it seems that it take more time to find the fishing spots than actually fishing.

I do think the 120 foot rule will help rockfish, and lingcod too, it just adds some difficulty that makes it interesting. In our few hours of fishing we hooked 20 ling cod, 2 were of legal size, 27" and 30". We also hooked 2 small rockfish at about 100 feet. I had made a weighted release cage but in both instances the rockfish went back down on their own before we could get them in the cage. We have fished that area for many years and know that the best ling cod fishing is on the drop offs, 120 to 180 feet deep. At those depths about 1 out of 3 lingcod were legal size. One often hooked rockfish at those depths and they didn't do well. Several years ago there were bottomfish charters operating out of Port Townsend, that fished the area and caught a lot of fish. The past few years we have seen very few rockfish and they have all been small. I hope the 120 foot rule works.