Northwest Fishing Reports

Wondering if anyone knows if castable crab traps/snares from a fishing pole count as fishing? I'd like to avoid getting a ticket for having 1 pole with a crab trap/snare and 1 pole for fishing actual fish.

I'm going to say yes, "a rod is a rod is a rod".

I'd email the local WDFW agency and be sure to get a response from an actual field officer and not one of the desk jockeys. Once you receive a response, be sure to print it out and keep it with you just in case you get popped. A few years back the definition of angling changed in the rule book. They have added the "hook and line fishing" in brackets and made the description a bit more vague. I would think that it would be legal as it is a crab snare, does not contain any hooks and would not be considered "hook and line fishing". Heck you may even be able to throw out "2 units" of crab snares and still fish with a separate hook and line setup. I'm not sure how this would differ from throwing out 2 star traps while also fishing with a hook and line setup.

Where in the written paper pamplet does it say 'hook and line'? Not everyone has a computer so it'll HAVE to say there. I'll have to look.

page 10 - definitions - angling [hook and line fishing];

fishing for personal use(not for sale or barder) with a line attached to a pole capible of being held in hand while landing fish, or a hand-operated line without a rod or reel.

Heated topic this seems. I'll contact wdfw for an answer. This past weekend, I saw many people by themselves with two poles and two castable traps in the water or 1 castable trap and 1 pole in the water to fish. I haven't come across any game wardens to ask, but figured I'd start here.

Great question. I never really thought about it, but sometimes I have 4 people in the boat and not enough room for 8 pots, usually 6 max. Could possibly bring a pole or two to get the 8 units allowed...

Please let us know what you find out.....

I asked this question to the WDFW lawyer several years ago. His answer was that the castable crab snares each count as 1 unit of crab gear, and do would not count as another fishing rod. Hence, it would be legal to use 1 fishing rod, plus up to two castable crab snares on other rods.

He did warn, however, that I should expect to be questioned by enforcement officers in the field.

This is the official response I got from fishregs@dfw.wa.gov

"the short answer to your inquiry is no – and for the very reason that you mentioned in your e-mail, which was: “This would mean two poles would have line in the water.” Even though anglers are allowed to use up to two units of crab gear per person, it is still illegal to have more than one fishing line in the water. If you were to use something tied up with a rope, such as a crab pot, ring net, or star trap, then you could legally fish with a fishing pole at the same time you are crabbing"

when did you get this reply? what about the two pole endorsement?

received response on 7/13/2012. two pole endorsement doesn't apply on the sound.

im courious to know why it dosent apply on the sound. is it only for lakes?

lakes and rivers, but there are alot of restrictions. Regardless of the regulations, I'm crabbing 2-3 days/week off the docks in area 11 and I see a lot of people with 2 (even 3) poles in the water for 1 person. I have yet to see a game warden in the past month.

Regs for two pole endorsement:
Two-Pole Endorsement: This endorsement allows you to use two fishing poles on most freshwater lakes, ponds, a few sections of certain rivers, and a few marine areas. You must have a fishing license in addition to the endorsement. There are about 145 lakes where you can NOT use two poles; visit http://wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/twopole" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; to see the list of lakes where a Two-Pole Endorsement is not valid, or look for this icon NO next to the lake listings. You can NOT use two poles in most rivers and marine areas. See individual stream and marine area listings for information where you can use
two poles. Not required on Free Fishing Weekend.

ah thanks

huma wrote:This is the official response I got from fishregs@dfw.wa.gov

"the short answer to your inquiry is no – and for the very reason that you mentioned in your e-mail, which was: “This would mean two poles would have line in the water.” Even though anglers are allowed to use up to two units of crab gear per person, it is still illegal to have more than one fishing line in the water. If you were to use something tied up with a rope, such as a crab pot, ring net, or star trap, then you could legally fish with a fishing pole at the same time you are crabbing"

I still think that this is bogus. They need to make a clarification, because I've always run two traps and a fish rod. There is no way that these are catching fish, just because they're attached to fishing line. This is another vague rule that they're arbitrarily going to enforce either way, but I don't think you'll find a warden that will give you a ticket for it.

Because that's under "hook and line angling" and crab snares have no hooks, therefore that rule doesn't apply, no matter what enforcement says.

this is from page 135 of the regs

GENERAL GEAR RULES:
May be harvested by hand or dipnet. Hand operated instruments may not penetrate the shell.
One star trap, one ring net, or one pot is considered one unit of gear. The maximum number of units of gear that may be fished per person is:
Puget Sound: (Marine Area 4, east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line, and in Marine Areas 5-13).
Shrimp: Two pots per person, and no more than 4 shrimp pots may be onboard or fished by any one boat at a time.
Crab: Two units of crab gear per person, and no limit on the number of units of crab gear per boat.

It looks to me that a snare would not be a "unit of gear". So you should be able to have snares out and two units as defined.
As to is it fishing I'm with everyone that said it is not hook and line. But you will have to argue it with the game warden. They may or may not write you.