Got this warning from the Warden yesterday

[dwh4784]

This is getting pretty silly. Everyone knows PowerEggs are bait. Everyone. Sorry OP. You were the last one, hey it has to be someone.

Okay, that's out of the way.

Now, in all my years of fishing I've probably caught hundreds of bass and trout. Twice, I've caught a LM bass when attempting to fish for trout. Both times in lakes not known for bass fishing (Priest Lake, ID - Medical Lake, WA). Other than that, I don't think I've ever crossed species accidentally. I can't imagine catching trout on my standard bass tackle, but there are some monsters out there so you never know!

Kokanee vs trout, sorry purists but there's not a lot of difference there. You probably have to take responsibility for any trout/salmonoid species that you bring in when fishing for one or the other.

[countryboy87]

A perfect example.. I fished lake Cassidy today floating nightcrawlers under bobber.. In the 6 hrs i was there i caught perch bluegill pumpkinseed lm bass catfish rb trout. 6 different species on the same bait.. My point you ask? Theres bound to be occasional accidental bycatch.. If the law says your done your done.. Theres always tomorrow.

[dwh4784]

That is a perfect example, bobber/worm will catch anything, so you are fishing for everything. It would be hilarious to catch/release a bunch of trout in that scenario and try to tell the game warden that you weren't trying to fish for trout so they shouldn't count.

[jonb]

Agree with the 2 above comments.

Ill ad there is a scentence in the catch and release portion of the general regs that state . you may catch and release until your daily limit is retained. Key words here are limit and not limits for those who mentioned the possesion limit of 2 daily limits. Next youll see the word retain which kind of undermines my previous understanding. So i guess if you released those 5 trout caught on bait, they counted towards your limit but technically werent "retained" because they were released. So in this case you could keep fishing although you would have to stop using bait because the next trout you caught on bait would be considered an over limit. Ill admit my understanding was not perfect.

[Larry3215]

Agree with the 2 above comments.

Ill ad there is a scentence in the catch and release portion of the general regs that state . you may catch and release until your daily limit is retained. Key words here are limit and not limits for those who mentioned the possesion limit of 2 daily limits. Next youll see the word retain which kind of undermines my previous understanding. So i guess if you released those 5 trout caught on bait, they counted towards your limit but technically werent "retained" because they were released. So in this case you could keep fishing although you would have to stop using bait because the next trout you caught on bait would be considered an over limit. Ill admit my understanding was not perfect.

I think you are in murky water with that interpretation

I dont think the regs are absolutely clear on this - there are two different situations. Exactly how they over lap is NOT clear, but I think you might be pushing it with the wardens.

1) Fishing with a lure - you can "catch" all you want until you "retain" your limit.

2) Fishing with bait - every "catch" counts towards your limit even if you dont retain them.

Once you "catch"/"retain"/"Posses" your limit, you have to stop fishing - but which one has priority and in what order? Plus it depends on if you are fishing for "trout" or some other species. Exactly how does it work when there are multiple species in the same water?

I would want to be safe and I would stop which ever one came first.

[jonb]

Larry i violently agree. I was trying to give the others benefit of doubt. I always stopped when one limit was caught (counted towards whether retained or not. ) others mentioned a few points i touched on, so i pointed out that grey area in the wording.

[Onmygame]

Well, simply put - there is NO such rule on the books that state that once you've caught XX amount of trout on bait that you have limited out for the day when those fish have been C&R.

Nothing in the regs.

Nada, zip.

There WAS however, a PROPOSED rule change for the 2016 - 2017 season that states that trout caught on bait count toward your limit - but ONLY on rivers, streams and beaver ponds.

It was not recommended for further consideration -

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/ ... W153197-16" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

onmygame

[Larry3215]

Well, simply put - there is NO such rule on the books that state that once you've caught XX amount of trout on bait that you have limited out for the day when those fish have been C&R.

Nothing in the regs.

Nada, zip.

There WAS however, a PROPOSED rule change for the 2016 - 2017 season that states that trout caught on bait count toward your limit - but ONLY on rivers, streams and beaver ponds.

It was not recommended for further consideration -

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/ ... W153197-16" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

onmygame

You should read the thread before posting absolute statements like that - or better yet, read the rule book (P 17 is just one example)for this year

[Onmygame]

I stand corrected -

I looked through definitions, statewide rules, special rules - everything but Species rules. Even put keywords in the search field of the website - to no avail.

Thanks,

onmygame

[dwh4784]

What, the regulations are complicated? BS....

I drove to Fish Lake in Spokane County the other day and encountered a "Closed Waters" no fishing sign at the launch. That lake is open for fishing, I even called WDFW and got transferred three times and nobody could tell me why the sign was there. So I fished anyway (as did a bunch of other people), emailed the County and got a response back of "oops" basically, the sign shouldn't be there.

[Let's_Go_Fishing!]

Page 18 is misleading:

"Where use of bait is prohibited, or where
lures or flies are used voluntarily, Game Fish
may be caught and released until the daily
limit is retained. If any fish has swallowed the
hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it
should be kept if legal to do so."

It should have read: "Game Fish
may be caught and released until the daily
limit is ATTAINED." Attained means achieved whereas retained means KEPT not C&R. Sheesh WDFW

from the on-line regs;

page 12;

Bait
Anything that attracts fish or shellfish by
scent and/or flavor. This includes any device
made of feathers, hair, fiber, wood, metal, glass,
cork, leather, rubber, or plastic, which uses scent
and/or flavoring to attract fish or wildlife


Bouyant Lure
A lure that floats on the surface of
fresh water when no additional weight is applied
to the line or lure, and when not being retrieved
by a line.


page 15;

· Do not net your fish – but if you must, use a soft, knotless net or rubber
mesh net. Knotless nets are now required in fly-fishing only areas and
freshwater areas with selective gear rules.


page 18;

Where use of bait is prohibited, or where
lures or flies are used voluntarily, Game Fish
may be caught and released until the daily
limit is retained. If any fish has swallowed the
hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it
should be kept if legal to do so.


page 19;

In lakes, ponds, and reservoirs:
No min. size. Daily limit 5. When fishing with bait, all TROUT (except
STEELHEAD) equal to or greater than the minimum size are counted as part of the daily limit whether
kept or released.


There is probably more that pertains, but I'm not going to look it all up, I'm missing the movie looking up all this. And it also depends on what lake, as in whether or not it is a "selective gear rules" lake and so on.

[Amx]

No, it isn't misleading.

'Retained' means 'kept', until you have kept the limit, you can keep fishing. THAT is what it means. You CAN keep 'achieving'/'attaining' until you've 'retained'/'kept' the limit. They are maybe using 'bigger' words to impress us peons. lol

[hewesfisher]

This entire topic is about fishing for trout when using bait, it's what the original poster stated. He was fishing waters where bait was PERMITTED and was using BAIT. Definition on pg18 has no bearing on fishing for trout with bait, UNLESS bait is PROHIBITED on the particular body of water, which if so, would be ILLEGAL in the first place. This specific condition does not apply to the original poster's complaint of receiving a warning for catching and releasing trout in excess of his 5 trout daily limit while using bait on waters where bait is permitted.

[Hunter757]

So if I fish for Kokanee and catch a trout incidental catch that does not count towards my limit on a lake that has 5 trout and 10 kokanee separate from the trout limit I can keep releasing trout because I am fishing for kokanee?

How I look at your scenario above is this, if fishing for kokanee with bait on a lake where kokanee are not included in the trout daily limit, when you have caught 15 trout, whether kept or released, you are done. Kokanee are defined in the regs as trout, only thing that changes is the daily limit for each species. I personally view your example above as being a combined 15 trout per day limit.

In comparison, at American Lake, kokanee are included in the trout daily limit when fishing for trout with bait and every trout caught counts whether kept or released. At American, if you target kokanee, catch and release a rainbow, it counts toward the 5 trout daily limit.

Now, my personal ethics are, when I'm targeting rainbow with bait, I stop after 5 even though I can legally continue fishing for kokanee. Same thing when fishing for kokanee with bait. At Roosevelt the daily limit is 6 kokanee, no more than 2 with intact adipose fins. If I'm targeting kokanee, I stop after 2 with intact adipose fins regardless of length, even though I can legally release a "short" koke and try for a larger one. Again, my personal ethics.

Agreed hole hardheartedly for sure!! This topic has many takes on it but rules are rules and everyone reads them in a way that they see pertains to them. Some people have not even read the regs as they stand corrected in topic so there you go. It's fishing and fun and large fish always the target no one wants a 6" fish. So in the excitement of wanting more it happens everyone know this. The people who blatantly brake the rules who need a ticket but that is not my job! That is what the wardens are for right. I will however lend my 2 cents to someone if I see this going on and remind them of the rules. There is a lot of passion on this board we can all see that here. Tight lines and fish on!!!

[Let's_Go_Fishing!]

To the contrary. The wording is as mistructured and confusing as other parts of the regs.

No, it isn't misleading.

'Retained' means 'kept', until you have kept the limit, you can keep fishing. THAT is what it means. You CAN keep 'achieving'/'attaining' until you've 'retained'/'kept' the limit. They are maybe using 'bigger' words to impress us peons. lol

[Amx]

no it isn't. call them up and ask them.

[bigdaddy3769]

The argument about retaining two limits of game fish is based on the assumption that once you've limited on one species and are "targeting" another, you will release "incidentally" caught fish from the species you've limited on. That is all well and good IF you are actually able to release them. If you have a limit of trout and are fishing for perch, crappie, kokanee, etc and you end up hooking another trout in the eye or gill or tongue, how are you going to release it? You would have to keep it, which would then give you 6 trout. If the stars align and you happen to limit perfectly on two separate species, good for you, but usually you will be better off calling it a day after limiting on a species.

[Larry3215]

You are not required to keep a fish that is hooked in the eye, gill etc unless it is legal to do so. So if you have your limit on trout and accidentally catch another and hook it in the gill, you must release it anyway.

Selective Gear Rules Only unscented artificial
flies or lures with one single-point, barbless hook
are allowed. Up to a total of three artificial flies or
lures, each containing one single-point, barbless
hook may be used. Bait is prohibited; fish may
be released until the daily limit is retained. Only
knotless nets may be used to land fish except
where specifically allowed under Special Rules
for individual waters. If any fish has swallowed
the hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue,
it should be kept if legal to do so.

And under Bait Rules:

It is unlawful to chum, broadcast, feed, or
distribute into freshwater any bait or other
substance capable of attracting fish unless
specifically authorized in Special Rules.
Where use of bait is prohibited, or where
lures or flies are used voluntarily, Game Fish
may be caught and released until the daily
limit is retained. If any fish has swallowed the
hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it
should be kept if legal to do so.
It is unlawful to possess or use live aquatic
animals as bait, except:
1. Live aquatic animals (other than fish)
collected from the water being fished.

[dwh4784]

The OP was witnessed catching and releasing 15 trout on powerbait, so by anyone's reading of the rules he broke the law and was very lucky to get a warning.