Here's something that happened to me last May while fishing for spring Chinooks in a well known Southwest Washington river. I'm not sure if my actions were legal but I'll throw it out to the BB readers to get a variety of opinions.

In early May I was drift fishing eggs while about 30 feet downstream was another guy plunking with sand shrimp behind a spin n' glo (and 5 oz. of lead). The plunker's rod starts to bounce so he picks it up, sets the hook, and begins playing a nice fish. The fight seems sorta odd and the plunker has a difficult time getting the fish to shore. I ask if he needs help and he indicates that he does. So I set down my rod and wait till the fish comes closer before I can tail him. As the fish gets closer, I can see that's it's snagged near the underside of the tail, right behind the anal fin. As the plunker pulls the fish in (backwards), it's obvious to both of us that it's snagged. (It's the first and only time I've seen anyone snag a fish while plunking). The plunker pulls the fish up to shore where I was standing. As I was about to pick up the fish, the hook pulls out. So now the fish, without being hooked, is laying at my feet in about a foot of water. I hesitate before picking up the fish, hoping that it would quickly dart back into the river so I wouldn't have to justify helping to land a snagged fish. But it didn't. The plunker screams at me to pick it up, which I did. So I handed him his fish (a 20lb hatchery male), which he prompty bonked. I then resumed fishing.

Was any of this illegal? The plunker was NOT trying to snag. The fish was snagged unintentionally but it got off the hook before the fish was landed (sort of). Plus, the snagger didn't really land it - I did. So, was the plunker guilty of snagging? Am I guilty of aiding and abetting a violation of regs? Should I have returned the fish to the water or was I right to hand it to the plunker? What would you have done if you were me?

Any thoughts are welcome.


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MSB

On you being an accessory, I'm not quite sure on that, but I tend to think you are. On the plunkers side, yes he is quilty of snagging. You can't retain any fish that isn't legaly hooked in the mouth. Don't feel bad, last December I was on the bridge at Tokel creek and I pointed out a half dozen fish in a seam behind some rocks to a fisherman, three other guys come running up from down stream and proceeded to snag 4 of the six fish. On the first snag job I told the guy he could'nt keep a fish that was hooked in the a$$hole. He told me "YES HE COULD" his friends told me that it's not up to me to tell him how to fish. I wish I had my cell phone with me then,I would of been a taaaattle tale. These guys were true sportsmen, yea what a joke!! These are the type of guys that give fisherman a bad name.

Unfortunate that it snagged,but should not have been kept yes you were a Bad boy ...Os

Coho,
great question... I think the right and legal thing to do would be to revive it and send it on its way. Havesting a snagged fish is illegal, but being a hatchery fish that is there for harvest, there may be a moral justification to harvest it. But I think that the legal outweighs the moral in this case. I personally would not keep a snagged fish, hatchery or otherwise. It's all about satisfaction and feeling good about myself, I do not get the same satifaction of reeling in a snagged fish and I could never bonk one. He didn't deserve to die. the best thing that could be done would be to try to convince the other guy to release it. It's hard to say exactly what I would've done, but, I think I would've tried to release it. and If he did insist on keeping it, make him feel guilty about it.

If the fish isn't hooked in the mouth it should be set free.

Had an instance up on the sol-duc last October when my fishing partner foul hooked a silver in the belly spoon fishing. We landed the fish in front of probally 10 bank anglers and we released the fish back to the river. Over half of the guys on the bank were yelling and calling us idiots for letting the fish go. One guy even said "man do you know how hard it is to get these fish to bite in this low water ,you should have kept it". I think not!! Some people just don't get it.

I think it's interesting that many people have double standards when applying the law to salmon and steelhead. I posted on a topic nearly identical to this scenario last year, except it involved Bait Box Hole coho being foul hooked (snagged) by the trailer hook from a mooching rig and landed backwards. The majority of the responses were in favor of keeping and BBQing the fish because "it went for the herring." In this scenario the 20lb steelhead clearly also went for the sandshrimp bait and probably also got hooked by the trailer. Similar scenarios, same results, yet different reactions from members....

In this case I would have told him that it was foul hooked and proceed to walk back to
where I was fishin and let him deal with bonking or not bonking the fish,if it had'nt
swam off before he got to it.Then you would have been guilt free and not posting this post.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

About 10 years ago I was fishing the Puyallup River @ 115th st.hole. A WSDFG Officer walked down to where I was fishing and started to talk with me about how the fishing was. While he was still there I hooked a hathery steelhead and played it out, bringing it up on the beach I noticed it was fowl hooked in the head in front of the gill plate. I picked the fish up and was getting ready to release it, when WSDFG Officer asked why I was releasing it, my reply was because it was fowl hooked. He proceeded to tell me that it was not intentionaly snaged and I could keep the fish... I hesitaded before thumping the fish just because I thought it might be a trap ..it wasn't and I kept the fish.

I agree with above, if you would've told the guy he foul hooked the fish you'd be in the right, no matter what he did.

Riverliver, now you bring up an interesting point. It says in the lawbook if the fish is hooked in front of the gillplate then it's a legal fish. That's probably what the officer meant. I had same thing happen to me a few years back. I always keep a set of rules with me in the boat. Officer corraborated the same thing (my buddy had just hooked the fish right on the corner of the mouth on the outside so hook wasn't directly in mouth). I haven't double checked the regs, but it shouldn't have changed. I get the rule changes each year from the WDFW so since it hasn't been in there I assume it's the same.

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you haven't lived til you've rowed a cataraft. Friends don't let friends run Outcasts.

Second guessing is only productive if it can be instructional about what one might do next time, if ever there is a next time. It is illegal to intentionaly snag fish; it is illegal to retain a snagged fish. This fish was unintentionally snagged. It was not snagged, or even hooked, at the moment it was reduced to possession. I think we have "reasonable doubt." I wouldn't vote to convict.

But if it is a wild fish, I'd release it anyway.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

another way to look at it, fish wasn't netted so when attempt to land fish hook fell out fish was still in the water, illagle to net or attempt to retain fish if not taken with hook and line, and fish did not volintary take hook. just my .02 worth

Shoulda been released ... unintentional snagging occurs with every form of fishing once in a while. I've personally had a few steelies come in that way via driftfishing ... even a few flyfishing as well. I've seen kings snagged with both plugs and even a baitdiver - hey Parker ... my hand has finally healed

Looks like you'll know the right call next time

S69,

Where in the regs does it specify about hook location. All I can find is the "Snagging" definition, which says the fish must voluntarily take the hook in it's mouth. I see nothing else about hooking location........


Fish on.......

Poor Bob. He puts up with all the crap we put him through.

Not *only* did I somehow manage to tail-snag a nice 30+ lb hen with a bait diver on the retrieve, upon being released, the fish managed to inbed the hook in Bob's hand.

Ouch!

PS to Bob: I had a burn on my thumb for a good solid month after that fish. Just a bad habit I have when steelheading - I'll keep my thumb down on the spool when bringing in a fish and will pull my thumb off the spool when the fish takes line.

Parker

Parker, aren't you glad that I talked your wife into getting you some new gloves? That was pretty *pathetic*, as [Bleeeeep!] would say, that time at Fortson when your glove got caught in the spool and you crackered off that fish. I'm just glad you got rid of those wooly hobo gloves and got some Kenai's, they rule!!!