NEW SIMPLIFIED FISHING rules will go into effect throughout Washington in July, highlighted by the repeal of mandatory hatchery steelhead retention, the separation of trout and steelhead rules and a cut to the statewide daily limit of kokanee.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife offered a number of proposed rule changes and sought comment from the public on issues such as mandatory hatchery steelhead retention.
A total of 64 comments were received with 43 in support of eliminating the mandatory retention rule.
Fish and Wildlife explained that “in most cases there are few enough hatchery steelhead available for harvest that anglers are not inclined to catch and release hatchery steelhead, especially in western Washington waterways.”
The department also noted that mandatory harvest can result in false creel reporting by the public.
“Under the current rule, anglers are reporting higher catch rates of wild versus hatchery steelhead to avoid being cited for illegal catch and release activity of hatchery steelhead. Continued false reporting will result in increased wild steelhead encounter rate estimates in fisheries and may require the department to abbreviate steelhead fisheries because of erroneous creel information.
“Finally, this rule has proven to be difficult to enforce in most cases.”
Mandatory hatchery steelhead retention will still be required in steelhead fisheries in the Upper Columbia (i.e., Methow, Okanogan and Wenatchee rivers) because mandatory retention is a requirement of the federal fishery permits that regulates these fisheries.
Changes in season-opening dates call for the majority of rivers and streams to open the Saturday before Memorial Day and stay open through Oct. 31, unless otherwise noted, said Steve Thiesfeld Fish and Wildlife’s inland fish program manager.
Those rules don’t start until July 1, meaning most opening days in 2018 stay the same.
Kokanee limit dips
Season openers and bag limits for lakes also changed, Thiesfeld said.
“We had so many different regulations on lakes, between when we had them open and what the bag limits are, we really tried to streamline the number of options that biologists could apply to lakes,” he said.
Default bag limits have also changed for kokanee and trout caught in lakes. Now the default statewide daily limit for kokanee is 10 with no size restriction. The default statewide daily limit in lakes will be five. Certain lakes will have exceptions and anglers should check before they go, Thiesfeld said.
Besides changed opening and closing days, Thiesfeld said there will no longer be a minimum length or daily limit on brook trout.
“We’ve pretty much removed the limit on brook trout statewide,” he said.
That decision was made because the non-native brook trout population has grown too large and stunted in most areas.
The new rules also change which streams are open. Under previous rules, a stream was considered closed unless specifically marked open.
Starting in July streams will be open unless specifically closed.
“There are a lot of small little streams that were closed previously that will be open,” Thiesfeld said.
Boat motor restrictions also will no longer be published in state fishing regulations.
Those restrictions are set by municipal or county governments. In the past Fish and Wildlife would adopt those rules and publish them in the annual fishing pamphlet. That required the deparment to monitor and track numerous laws and ordinances across the state.
Thiesfeld emphasized that just because an angler might not see a motorboat restriction listed on a lake or body of water doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
“They [anglers] would want to check with that municipality to see if it’s still in existence or not,” he said. “We no longer have that kind of staff time to keep up with those.”
Other rules that were passed in January include:
• Allowing incidental steelhead retention in almost all state waters
• A proposal to allow chumming statewide received overwhelming negative feedback and was not adopted.
“There was strong opposition to this proposal based on the perception that it will create ethical issues, conservation issues and potential for negative environmental impacts from the over use of chumming materials,” according to a summary of Fish and Wildlife’s January commission meeting where the proposals were passed.
To see the list of rule changes, visit tinyurl.com/PDN-SimplifiedRules.
Searun cutthroat
Fishing guide Jeff Delia will discuss searun cutthroat fishing in the Hood Canal at Monday’s meeting of the Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers.
The club meets at the Campfire USA Clubhouse, 619 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles, starting at 6 p.m.
Delia will begin with a fly-tying demonstration and then move on to cover fly fishing Hood Canal for searun cutthroats.
RSVP for halibut
Expert angler John Beath will hold a free halibut seminar at Brian’s Sporting Goods and Moore, 609 W. Washington St. No. 21, at 6 p.m. Friday, April 13.
“Not many anglers will open up and provide the kind of information that John will offer,” Menkal said.
“He’ll cover a number of techniques, including anchoring, using bait, fishing Canadian waters and more. It’s a great way to learn those techniques, where to go and how to do it.”
Menkal asks that those interested in attending RSVP to the store at 360-683-1950.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
