I have had alot of people ask me if I was fishing legal. Today at minter creek was no different.I am using a jig.

Why do people think its illegal? It is legal and very effective as more people saw today. At the Creek there is even a sign that says its legal as long as the hook from point to shank is 3/4 of an inch or less on sinking lures.There was some guys there that fished the skok and were told they could not even use spinners or spoons let alone jigs. Is there anybody here that thinks that? why? please look at the regs first and the definitions if you still think that way please tell me why?

Micro

I have also wondered why people have thought this. The regs read as the sign -- less than 3/4". I think it just goes to show how little some people read the regulations.

FS

Some people don't understand the regs. Some people think a "non-bouyant lure restriction" means you can't use a non-bouyant lure. When, in fact, it is perfectly legal to do so.

I spent a couple of hours on the skoke just to check it out a couple of months ago.I was not realy fishing but skoping out the mayhem.I had a guy jump my **** for having a ltlcleo tied on my rod.There was no explaining to this guy.I had to laugh as this guys corky and yarn was getting a hit every cast.

I stopped down at the bottom to see if anything was moving with the high tide.Mentioned to some expert that I was going to drop a spoon into a couple of the deep slots and got the same"You cant use a spoon due to the non...".I thanked the man for letting me know that and went fishing with my spoon.

You have to admit it is very mis-leading.

Micro

I am relatively new to fishing rivers and a major reason for following this board is to learn about different techniques. I've been using floats with jigs or corkies but am not locked in on any particular method. What type of jigs do you use and do you have favorite colors or sizes. How do you fish them, casting up river, straight across or quartering downstream? What species do jigs work best on?
Thanks for any info.
Deepwater

It's only misleading until you read the definition of "non-buoyant lure restriction" in the regs. Then it's crystal clear.

The problem is that people DON'T READ the regs. Looking at some of the crowd at the Skok.......maybe they CAN'T read the regs.

non bouyant has more to due with being able to fish with treble hooks, thats the fuuny part that I see, the name of the law Or the descrition of the law desnt have any thing to do with the area that they are addressing....DJ

DJ,

That's not the case at all. You can fish a treble on a plug in a non-buoyant lure restriction area. You just can't fish a treble on a lure that's "non-buoyant". Hence, the name.

If you read every page from 19 the begining of the Freshwater rules to the end of the special rules page 87 the defintion is not there. You have to refer back to page 15 definitions. It would make more sense to have all the definitions contained in each area Freshwater, Marine etc. 120 pages of regs to read and remember. I have a copy in every vehicle,trailer boat etc I own and read the regs for the area I plan to fish before I get out of the truck or into the boat just to make sure I have it down. I have been fishing and hunting in this state for 40 years and have yet to meet a game warden in the feild. I think the average guy just says to heck with it knowing they will most likely never get caught. The rest just assume.

Dan \
I understand that completly i was just using it for the example that I see people goofing it up....I seen a guy throwing a wiggle wart in the samish and there were some people that were giving him a hard time. I tried to explane it that it was leagle because the lure floats...but everybody had different thoughts so I just gave up...DJ

Yeah........I guess people are just looking to bust someone's chops......even if they don't know what they're talking about.

I always carry a reg pamphlet with me and if they insist, I will let them read the definition to me themselves. That usually does it. If that doesnt' do it, I just give them the number to game enforcement and offer to let them use my cell phone.

TheKing -
The definition of NON-bouyant lure restriction is on page 15 (definitions begin on page 14).

The reason for the definitions of course is have to expalin the rule just once rather than many times (the non-bouyant lure restriction must occur 50 times in just the West side rivers). If WDFW had to explain every definition every time it occurred in the pamphlet (single hook, fly fishing, catch and release, wild steelhead release, length, juvenile only, equiped with a motor, etc) the pamphlet would be much longer.

Tight lines
Smalma

Salma,

Not what I said. I said put the appropriate definitions in the appropriate section. Ie all definitnon that apply to Freshwater would be at the front of the fresh water. Marine definitions in the marine section. Some people only fish freshwater so everything they need to know should be in that section.

A gamie approached us one time and indicated that we needed saltwater licenses where we were fishing. I told her that in the area where we were, the rules defined the area as freshwater. She wanted to write a ticket. Her supervisor/partner then came by and pulled out the regs pamphlet and checked, and agreed with me, and both of them left. The lessons to be learned:

1. The gamies do not themselves know the rules all the time, especially if they are covering an area that is not their normal territory

2. Always carry the regs with you, even if you just keep them in the glove compartment of your car. You can refer to it to defend yourself, in case the gamies are making a mistake and they do not happen to be carrying their own copy of the regs.

Dont get me started with gamies not knowing the regs of the area they are patroling. All I will say is if you plan on fishing the Green, bring your regs cuz that @#$% will tell you your fishing in closed waters or try to put words into your mouth! As far as anyone that does not believe you are fishing legaly, I guess that is their choice and they ar more than welcome to inform the gamies or nearest law enforecement agency.

I fished the Green a few years ago,at a time when the WDFW opened the river early for silvers. I was among 3-4 guys who knew that the change was made and the info was on the WDFW hotline explaining the details of this change. A WDFW officer RAMBO, swooped in like a Swat team raid from his position in the bushes,actualy a tree. He told us to stop fishing, and put the poles down. After a minute or two of being told that the river was closed until the 15th of October, and we were idiots and blatant violaters of the rules and the tickets were going to be many and costly. I had a fish on the bank as did a guy next to me so I was the first guy to explain that the river had been opened early due to the amount of fish that the tribe had been taking in the nets, thus upgrading the run size to a number that justified the early opening of the lower river. After I was told to shut up and stop telling him how to do his job, the officer made the decision to call the hotline and his office. I think the fact that cars were pulling in to park and fish played a part in his decision to do this. After a few minutes of phone conversation at his truck. Without a word of apology we were all told to go ahead and fish again and in a announcing tone he said The river is now open for coho and all chinook must be released. This statement was made to a now growing group of anglers who were watching the situation unfold with the officer and the suspects. It is appaling to me that a WDFW officer who is in charge of this area can have no clue as to a rule change that was under consideration for over a week, a change that was on the hotline many days before with the instuctions to call daily for the updated info. How can a large number of anglers be more in tune with the rules than a long time WDFW officer? I wont even tell the story of how I have been yelled at and handcuffed twice in one week on the OP for the crime of fishing legal with a special use permit that two different officers had never heard of or seen before and being told that I was a poacher,violater, a@#$#%$#%&&, how dare I, what right do I have, who do I think I am, I should be disgusted with my actions, etc,etc,. Only to be told to go ahead and return to the river, and I am lucky that I did not get arrested for my LEGAL ACTIVITY. PATHETIC....

A few years ago I was fishing the sinclair bubble fishery.I was fishing the tennis courts more towards Illahee.I got a friendly chack for barbs and liscense fron the gammie.One was an old boy and one was a kid.Kid tried to tell me I was over the boundary and fishing in the 2 oz weight resticted water.I had to argue with this punk before the old boy addmitted I was not over the line.Basicly would of been an unjustified ticket if I had been ignorant.

crooked unchecked enforcement