Finegrain,

1. I don't use circle hooks for salmon, just for halibut. I'm not sure how they'd work for salmon, but I'll have to ask around, if anyone here has used them for salmon, let me know.

2. I have not netted many fish this year, even the ones we've kept. I have two of the "hook-stick" things on my boat, one for each side (they also come in handy for grabbing the downrigger clips). We bring the fish alongside the boat, look for a fin, and then release it with the stick if we need to... we never touch the fish.

I will say, however, that we do lose a lot of fish at the side of the boat, especially coho, seem to thrash and roll and throw the hook. Coho seem to be especially bad at hooking themselves through the mouth and then the eye or such, because they roll so much. I find that if I use flashers, it gets worse, and they roll and get the line wrapped around their head, too.

3. I use pretty sturdy line, either 25lb or 30lb leaders on all my spoons, if the fishing is slow, I'll try flashers and hootchies, on the hootchies I use 60lb test.

The only reason I've heard for the WDFW opening in Area 5 is that Chris Mohr (spelling?) out in Sekiu (Van Riper's?) went to all the North of Falcon meetings and lobbyed hard for an opening... same with Area 7, I forget the name of the person that lobbied, but there are a lot of rich, influential people that live in the San Juans that like to fish.

I agree with you on the 1 rockfish rule, that's just dumb. If they want to leave it as 1 rockfish, it should be the first and only rockfish you catch... there's got to be practically a 100% mortality rate on them when you're fishing deep water.

Andy, I agree with you, too. If someone is that worried about wild fish, they should stop fishing, or fish with super specific gear.

If the state is going to open some areas but require us to release certain fish, then we desperately need a well-thought-out education program to show people how to handle and release these fish. We also need concrete studies on what methods produce the lowest mortality rates.

-N.

Hi Norman,

I used circle hooks last year for the Sockeye fishery in Lake Washington with GREAT success. Once I figured out the heavy leader on the flasher deal, every trip of the downrigger result in a fish, and every fish was hooked in the corner of the mouth.

I did not release any, however, as they are my favorite fish to eat.

Morals, Ethics & Fishing

It's easy for me. Sport fishing is.. well a sport. I feel my selfworth would be lowered by breaking rules. No matter how retarded the rule may be it's just part of the game. I'd rather lose(not catch fish) than cheat.

No flossing for me. Thank you very much.

Now, I'm no saint. I'll even take a toke when offered, for example. I just think if it's part of a sport I should play by the rules, that's all.

So Aqua Man,

Is that your specialized breathing aparatis, or is it just a bong?

MAAAAAANN, another superhero bites the dust!

Andy

Morals and ethics differ all over the world. What one society feels is right and just, another would find revolting and terribly wrong. Wars are fought over such differences everyday. For our purpose we debate over popular and unpopular topics. Everyone taking a position wheather they express it publically or not.
In my opinion, wasting __________ (fill in the blank) is wrong. Except I don't mind wasting time. Which is what i'm doing right now.
Don't be too hard on people with different views, you never know they may be your views someday.

Aquaman,
Isn`t that kinda like a Lays potato chip,nobody can stop at just one?

Hi Andy,

Where did you get the circle hooks you used? I've only ever seen big ones, 6/0 or better. I'd like to try some, I'll be over in Seattle tomorrow, if that's where you got them. What brand/size were you using? Were you using bare hooks, or using the with small hootchies?

Mmmm... don't remind me, those sockeye are really nice tasting fish...

Thanks in advance for the info.
-N.

Norman,

I got the circle hooks at Boater's World last year. They were Daiichi brand hooks. The size that I found were about 3/0, or maybe 2/0. They were just plain hooks, without any leader. I still have three of them, as they were the only ones that I could find, so I am keeping them in the off chance that we get another shot at those sockeye in the near future. They were also STICKY SHARP, and I never had to sharpen one.

Andy

Keeping dark hens just for the eggs.

I don't like intentional snagging.

However, what seems more unethical and maybe immoral is the practice of keeping dark and obviously inedible hens(mostly wild fall chinook) just for the eggs.

I've heard lots of justifications-"Oh it'll smoke up OK", or "It'll make good crab bait", or "Well she's dark outside, but the meat will be good". My guess is usually the eggs get cured up and the fish is trash. I'd much rather see someone keep an accidentally snagged fish that is bright and in good shape than keep a dark and unusable hen caught "legally" just for the eggs.

You can get Owner circle hooks at Ted's. If you increase your line rating to land fish faster[less stress] you may need to fish with a broomstick [a G. L. Broomis], not much fun.

Hntnfsh I understand what your saying but here's some clarification first,WDFW does not make the laws the politicians do, WDFW agents enforce the laws and the court system interprets them.Myself I have no problem at all understanding the fishing regulations you just have to spend the time and energy to read them inside and out, after all it's your personal responsibility to do just that.

Last Cast,I was just being a bit too vague about the law stuff.
What I'm getting at is that not all WDFW people enforce the laws in the same way,and not all courts interpret them in the same way.
Sure a lot of laws are pretty black and white.But there are plenty of them that are kinda grey also.We have discussed grey areas of the law on this b.b. before.
IF you read your pamphlet and know it inside and out then your doing way better than the average Joe.Which is definitely a credit to you.Especially if you interpret them the same as the people that count.As the judge would say,"ignorance is no excuse" The other part of the equation is that there are a lot of game laws that are not in those pamphlets.Most people either won't or don't know how to access them.
Sure we have heard that this is the law or that is the law. But a lot of the times its an interpretation by somebody that probably ran afoul of the law and its how a certain law was interpreted when they had their day in court.OR maybe even just one of those things that has been passed around for years with nobody really knowing if its actually the law or just that somebody said it was.
I said all that and really all I was trying to say is that just because you feel like your doing the right thing doesn't necessarily mean you are.It just depends on how several different people interpret something.
Of course not in every case,but its very easy to feel morally right.And that you are within the law.When in somebody elses eyes that aint so.
As somebody said previousley Every body looks at things differently,and what might be right and moral for one person,might not be for another.
I think that its possible to break the law either knowingly or unknowingly and still have good reason to feel right morally.
I hope all this makes sense.I thought it did when I was writing it.But its been a long day and I'll read it again later and hope it still does.