Hooks Rules Snag Anglers

Hooks are on the minds of the region’s anglers.

Many aren’t sure they can use treble hooks on sinking lures when they fish for salmon along the Columbia River.

Many others are puzzled by the Idaho Fish and Game Department’s recommendation that rules requiring barbless hooks for fishing at many waters be rescinded.

When the “upriver bright” chinooks arrive in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River each September, Fish and Wildlife Department officials know they’re going to be asked to clarify the regulations about hooks.

The regulations are confusing and many anglers, remembering when wildlife agents cited numerous fishermen for fishing with sinking lures that had one or two sets of treble hooks, want to know for sure that they won’t be arrested if they use their Blue Foxes or heavy, colorful jigs. The Blue Foxes are weighted spinners that have large treble hooks.

Fishermen can use sinking lures with two or even three treble hooks without fear of arrest, according to Madonna Luers, information officer for the Spokane regional office of the FWD.

Under “Statewide General Definitions” on pages 8 and 9 of the 1997 Fishing Regulations pamphlet, a paragraph under “Non-Buoyant Lure Restriction” says, “The use of a non-buoyant lure that has more than one single hook or has a hook measuring more than one half of an inch point to shank is prohibited.”

But on page 52, under “Statewide General Freshwater Rules,” a paragraph under “Tackle” says, “Barbed or barbless hooks may be used, and a hook may be single, double or treble, but not more than one line with up to three hooks per angler.”

The key to understanding the regulations is the wording of headlines, Luers said.

All those paragraphs on pages 8 and 9 are definitions. They’re not regulations, she said. For the rules, anglers should read pages 52 and 53.

Despite her assurances, some fishermen, when drifting such lures as the Silver Fox and the all-metal jig lures that are equipped with treble hooks, will be uneasy when a department boat approaches them while they’re fishing.

All too many remember the fines they paid when the regulation said that only one single hook could be used with a non-buoyant lure.

Anyway, if you fish the Hanford Reach of the Columbia during the next few weeks, you know you can use one or two or even three treble hooks on your Silver Foxes or those 4-inch-long metal jigs. You’ve got Luers’ assurance you won’t be arrested.

Most of Idaho’s anglers who attended meetings in the Panhandle and Clearwater region last week told Fish and Game officials they are against the elimination of barbless hook requirements for all waters in the state.

Fly fishers and fly shop operators aren’t the only ones who are opposed to dropping the barbless hook requirement. Even some anglers who fish for Kamloops rainbows at Lake Pend Oreille said they believe the department shouldn’t change the rules.

The department says that conservation officers spend too much of their time writing citations for violation of the barbless hook rules.

“None of the nine studies pertaining to the use of barbless hooks can show any benefits for barbless hooks,” commented Phil Cooper, information officer for the Panhandle region of the department.

“When Oregon rescinded its barbless hook rules, our department decided, after taking into consideration all of the studies, to recommend that our rules be eliminated. We can’t justify the use of barbless hooks to increase survival of fish.

“We issue large numbers of citations for violations of the barbless hook rule. And our conservation officers say that most of the fishermen who got the citations weren’t aware of the regulation.”

Anglers in favor of the barbless hook requirement insist there are several benefits for using barbless hooks.

They say they can release a fish quickly. In many cases, a barbed hook is imbedded so deeply in a fish’s mouth that the fisherman has to keep it out of water for 2 to 3 minutes to get the hook out. A trout kept out of water for more than 1 minute is not likely to survive.

So far the opposition to the rescinding of the barbless hook rule has been overwhelming. In the end, though, the department might still want the rule abolished in favor of a strong recommendations in the fishing regulations that anglers use barbless hooks.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can reach Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, ext. 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review