while fishing the skagit today i proceded to the fishing hole and stopped to talk to a fellow fisherman. he asked why i have so many pole ( i had 4) and i replied that they were spares. he went on to tell me that we may only be in possession of one pole while fishing. i then explained to him that i only intended to have 1 in the water at a time. i later learned from him that the game warden gave him a warning for having 1+ poles in possession even through the extras were collapsed and no rigged. is this true?

Doesn't sound right I know the regs allow you to fish with 2 poles in certain areas as long as second pole is used for forage fish. So long as the poles aren't in the water or hanging from a rod holder I wouldn't think there is a problem. I know if I'm headed out to sea for a day of fishing I would want a backup rig in case something broke or malfunctioned.

That sure doesn't sound right... I know my boat usually has over a dozen rods in it, and I don't intend to change anytime soon. We change techniques during the day all the time.

Salmoncatcher:

I think the guy was giving you a line of BS. I would ask him (or anyone) to show me, chapter and verse, where it says one can't carry 2-3 rods with them, providing they only have one line in the water at a time.

Sounds like he was yanking your chain.

My 2 centavos...

MB

I don't know about the regs, but I generally carry about 2.5 poles per angler, and have been checked many times with this many poles clearly visible in the boat. If it were illegal, I'd have paid for the governor's mansion by now.

WOW.........if this was true, I'd be dead in the water........because I fish lot's of tide water, in a day I might fish:
1. Jacks----use a 10.5' rod, with light spinning reel and light line.

2. Then if silvers are around...my 9.5' rods, either spinning or level wind.

3. If king fishing, maybe Kwik fish, with my 10-20 rated rod........

Now I realize that I could use a few of the rods for "other" fishing.........but why???? I have the room and I have the equipment. Sports fisher people have enough restrictions, leave us alone..........

I'm upset enough that the rivers in my area are opening soooooooooooo late. Jacks are there......NOW!!!!! Boo to WDF and the North of Falcon process........

"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"

Maybe he did'nt want you fishing his hole.Like it's really his hole.

Wow,

If that were true every Bass fisherman would be in BIG trouble as they tend to have 15-20 rods on board their boats at any one time! Even on my sled I typically have 6-8 rods on board strung up and ready to go. Of course only 1 rod per person has a line hit the water at any given time.

I usually carry a fly rod and gear rod with me when I go fishing in the rivers. Or sometimes 2 fly rods, one for salmon/steelhead, the other for SRCs.

i also noticed a helicopter with a large camera in front that was rotating and pointed towards myself and other fisherman. maybe they were filming that adventure race, but who knows. it was making me nervous