This year I am seeing more and more fisherman fillet there fish on the bank and packing out the fillets instead of carrying the whole fish out. I didnt see anything in the regs that this is illegal. There is a paragraph about wasting and mutilation. I always believed you are reuqired to pack out the fish for the following reasons:

A. Prove to the game warden its a hatchery fish/legal fish

B. So the state checkers can wave their metal detector over the head to retreive their wire

Good question. I can see why people would want to do this but have always assumed that it was illegal and therefore haven't done it.

I'll be anxious to see people's replies.

I never fillet my fish on the bank. because I save the head and bones for crab bait.
But that's a good point never thought about that.

I believe its illegal to do I would think a game warden would want to see if its a clipped fish or not but as far as putting them back in the river its feed for smolt. I know the wdfw packs alot of hatchery carcasses back into the river system to dump them for feed..

Well unless I read this incorrectly it looks to me like it is legal...

Fish or shellfish may be cleaned or portioned
while in the field with the following
exceptions: It is unlawful for an angler to fail
to retain proof of compliance with species,
size, number, weight, sex or wild or hatchery
origin restriction, if such restrictions apply,
until the angler is ashore and has finished
fishing for the day.

IN THE FIELD OR IN TRANSIT
Anywhere other than at an ordinary
residence. Dockside fish cleaning facilities,
boat ramps, and cold storage lockers are
considered in the field.

I do it sometimes because I would rather shove the fillets in a back pack rather then try to carry out two whole fish. Plus this way I do not have to dispose of the carcass at home

Absolutely legal. Have checked this with game wardens on two different occasions. But proof of clipped adipose or other hatchery markings is required. The clipped fin can be retained on either fillet, as the two fillets will match. I suppose one could screw up and give a fillet away that had the marking, but it seems unlikely.

I should start to fillet at the river. I usually fish on weekends but our garbage collection day is every Friday. So if I get lucky and bring a fish home, the guts can be in the garbage for a while and start to stink things up...

KK: I put fish guts in a bucket in my freezer until garbage day. Keeps the neighbors G** D*** dogs away.

DV: thanks for the freezer tips. Those raccoons can be pretty nosy too.

Thats great info. I have trouble filleting just becuase I am new. Therefor, I try to do it in privacy. Any filleting classes coming in town soon? LOL

Nice, I never thought of this. It makes more sense to leave the carcass in the river for nourishment anyway. Thanks!

I have been old on two occasions by game wardens that this is entirely illegal. One time crabbing at Everett. We were never getting checked so we cleaned them at the docks and kept two really big shells to give to my niece to take back to Missouri. The game warden came up and we had a disagreement. I asked technically where the "field" was. Law states to keep all carcasses while in the field. He said any place that is other than your residence. He didn't cite me but was citing others. The other was last summer at Westport. We clean all of our fish in the marina everyday (habit) and throw the carcasses back in the water. I forgot the day we were pulling out and cleaned two silver carcasses to give to two old guys for crab bait as they didn't have anything any good to use. The fish had already been checked by the checker and told us it would be okay to clean them. I thought about it and usually pulling out on the weekends at the ramp are the wardens. (We take all of our previous days catches back and package them at camp so they are not on the boat) There was a warden there and he wanted to see our fish. I showed him and told him of the two coho fillets plus the rest of the kings were whole just gutted. He told us had he found the fillets in the cooler before we told him he would have fined us. I think it was $150 or $175 per fish. I told him the fishchecker said we could clean them. He also said fish checkers have no authority to tell you anything you can and can't do. After you have left the marina cleaning them is fine. This didn't match what the crab game warden said. The guy was nice, I just wanted to hear his version of it.

Please place your fish carcasses back in the water, I have a friend who has managed to hook and land several in the mouth. Oh that's right he started this thread!!!

Check the game regs and you will find it IS legal to clean your fish in the field, on the boat, or the bank. You MUST leave the clipped fin on one of the fillets. Cleaning in the field among other things gets you plenty of water, limbs to hang your fillets, no smell at home, bagged, and ready for the frig. I called Olympia and got the skinny. Have your regs with you if you are checked. Don't be a Smart
A__S unless you want to prove in court with your attorney you were right! Raft-Cat

Funny....even a question that is clearly answered in the regs (As Gary points out early in this discussion) still receives mixed responses.

I understand that we have differing opinions on fishing techniques, favorites, preferences, and about everything else too, but wouldn't you think we all could agree what the regs clearly state?

Some bonehead Temp-Hire ticket whore might write me up wrongly, but other than the inconvenience of taking time off to prove the bozo wrong, it's really not a big deal. And a lawyer is not necessary.

NOT being a smart arse (as previously mentioned) can be beneficial, however.

Last year I brought most everything home and froze the guts and carcass's in a garbage bag in the bottom shelf of the freezer. When I felt like it, I would take the frozen block of waste back to the river and toss it in. The technique works great, as the frozen parts float and thaw slowly, thereby depositing pieces far downstream.

Hungry4fishin,
There is a piece on salmonuniversity.com on "how to fillet a salmon". It has detailed descriptions on how to, as well as pictures. Its a fountain of information.

Thanks for the info,
I will go and check it out. I can fillet pretty well, but I could get better fillets. I will see what i can learn. Thanks for the Info!

V/r

Hungry4FishN,

The best fillet method I've ever seen was off a post on this message board:
FishNPhysician Fillet Method

Before this, I always would have to go back and get the scraps (or chunks) I missed. This is an awesome method.

--Bank Angler

Hey bank,
Thanks for the help. I appreciate everyones assistance with this. This board is great. I appreciate it guys!

Ya that fillet method rocks

It seems to me that this would be illegal because you cannot determine the size of the fish, a friend of mine got a warning from a game warden one time for cleaning and removing the head and tails off of a couple of sea rum cutthroat while he was still at the beach where he caught them.

If its not illeagle... it should be... Why bother having any sort of restriction on the harvest of wild fish in Washington state. What about the Columbia river ??? do you fillet those on the river also... I can't believe it... no wait... I guess I can

Well you would have to see a game warden to worry about it. I have been fishing in the west since I was 5 years old, 40 years now. I have been checked by a game warden 1 time and it was in Alaska 15 years ago.

You know King... that might be the first time I agree with you on something. However, I did get checked the other day by chance... sort of shocking actually. There are game laws, but wonder what they do with our money if they are not out enforcing them.

I think you can fillet some fish in the field and not others. If there is a size limit or if you can no longer determine the species or its origin after filleting then it is not allowed. If there is no size limit on that species and you can still determin species and origin it should be ok. Crab have a size limit as do most kings, but some silvers have no size limit (depending on where they are caught).
I agree that is usually much easier to take care of you fish cleaning and filleting on the water, but I usually just gut them and wait till I get home for the rest to save the possibility of hasseling with the WDFW.