Wow, what a day. Nothing short of a world record fish would have made it an OK day. Got out late, heading out from Corrent bay lauch, thru deception pass, doing only about 15 mph and suddenly the sea disappeared. That has always been interesting but never seen it do that. We dropped about 4 feet. Landed flat and the down-rigger mount just snapped! Good buy Scotty 1101 :-(! Plug was still plugged in but nothing else to show it had ever been there LOL.

We kept going because I wanted to get my brother on some Salmon. We rarely fish together due to his schedule. I didnt have any divers in the boat so I decided to flat line with some lead weight and let him have the downrigger. Went to the Middle Channel/Salmon Bank area.

Got there and dropped the Trolling motor and turned it on, or I TRIED to turn it on. Nothing. Seems the slap cracked the shaft and scrambled some brains in that too. But the 115 Mercury 4 stroke idles at 2.5 ish.

My mood not withstanding. We got three pinks. Two for him and one for me. Put them in the lifewell and I called it a day. Went to fill out the license and NO Pen!! Oh come on, this is such a bad day. Took the knife and notched the right areas and prayed we could get to the truck for a pen when we got back in.

Got almost to the back to mainland side and decided to park and have some lunch and explore the caves and beach around Telegraph Bay. My brother really likes that kind of stuff. were drifting and eating sandwiches. Watching the harbor seals and Blue Herons and suddely hear a Massive engine sound. Turn around and a Fish, wildlife and Pirates massive boat was 30 yards away and CHARGING in like we were smugglers. There was two agents and a Camera man and a guy with a huge Microphone. Then never introduced the Bollywood types. And I never signed a release so there goes my chance to be on "Wardens" LOL

We went thru the complete; do you have the following list. Then asked for license. Duh duh dum duh. ohoh. Will they let us go with the notches cut?? Asked to see the fish. THANK GOD they were still alive and happy in the live well. I was going to rip the gills but didnt for some reason. Checked our hooks to see if they were Barbed, everything but asking for my boaters safety card.

They told us to wait and backed off 50 feet and sat there for 5 minutes. No idea why, its not like they had our personal information to run a wants and warrants on.

But came back in and gave us the "look" I hate that look. Said that we were fishing in a closed area. I told them where we caught them, NOT where we were. When they came up the poles were not in the water but laying in the bow out of the way. They said our barbs were not pushed enough. I disagreed but very politely. They said they COULD fine us and set a court date but were going to offer us a deal. LOL. a deal? after the day I had I would have gave my first born away to make them leave. They said if the Pinks could swim away they would just warn us about the license infraction and barb error. Thank god they did, I dont know if they could have made anything stick but with the way my luck was going, I was not going to push it. I was going to give them Mouth to mouth and advance CPR to make them swim.

After we just called it a day like we should have done at 8:30 and bought fish and chips and went home.

fishingboy

7/23/2015 1:47:00 PM

I HARDLY ever log on anymore but, This was worth logging in to comment, ahahaha! That is bunch of BS from WDFW! You are LEGALLY allowed, to travel through an area to fish in a different open area, (I.E Launching at Cornet Bay *MA 8-1* to go fish in *MA 7* ONLY NOT to fish in that closed area!) Seems like in the last few years WDFW became that Oligarchy Enforcement just to bust anyone for no good reason! Did you try and stick your hook through your shirt to see if it came back through with ease?

Shad_Eating_Grin

7/23/2015 2:09:00 PM

next time, use fish blood for ink on your punch card (if you do not have a pen). The blood might suffice for "ink". Also, the rules say "IMMEDIATELY AFTER RETAINING THE SPECIES BELOW AND BEFORE FISHING AGAIN, RECORD CATCH INFORMATION IN INK" -- it wasn't clear from your posting as to whether you tried to mark your card after catching each fish, or whether you caught all the fish first and then went to mark the cards. Gotta be careful here. The WDFW gives tickets during crabbing season for not immediately recording your catch, and they're known to also ticket for not immediately marking your card for fish.

Glad things turned out OK in the end.

Gonefishing

7/23/2015 2:25:00 PM

.... one year my friend and I went out. I had 3 pens with me he brings 0. One jumped out of the boat... OK I dropped it, and it hit the side of the boat and instead of staying in it went out (to sea). Second pen went awol. Third pen (newbie too) decided it didn't want to ink anything. So when I caught a silver I dipped the pen into blood and marked the card that way. Of course wardens showed and played 20 questions. Saw the fish. Said they couldn't read my hand writing (which nobody could have in this case). But let us go.

fishindude

7/23/2015 3:36:00 PM

Wait, who is in the wrong here? A bunch of BS from WDFW??? Are you kidding me? They are doing their job! The guy had 3 fish not marked on a catch card. How do you notch in the Marine Area, date, and species on the catch card with a knife? You can't. Then since they got checked while in a closed area, how do they know where he got those fish? Since he was already in the wrong, I'd just assume he caught them where they stopped to eat lunch if I was the game warden. I fail to see where the Game Wardens did wrong here.

cobrar543

7/23/2015 3:49:00 PM

You can Punch Holes in the Pink and Hatchery or Wild boxes. I agree, I should have had a pen. All on me. We reached a compromise and I was in NO mood to argue. LOL Still hope I end up on Wardens thou LOL

fishindude

7/23/2015 7:02:00 PM

Immediately after retaining a salmon and before fishing again, record
catch information IN INK. Page 8. Nowhere does is say you can legally punch holes. Also on the catch card it self it says (IN INK) and a failure to do so is a violation of WAC blah blah.

RiverChromeGS

7/23/2015 10:05:00 PM

Seriously fishindude? Yes "technically" without ink he broke the law... Its also against the law to drive 35.01 MPH in a 35mph zone... Get my point? The dude used a knife to write what he could, caught the fish in a legal zone and planned to mark the fish with pen when he could (on a catch card that is not legally required to be returned to WDFW by the way)... I mean come on. Hassling fishermen for ticky tacky bullsh*t is what WDFW is now days famous for and its ridiculous. These laws are not places to stop poachers or help our fisheries. They do it for a money grab. Simple as that. Ive been checked many times is situations like this and, instead of nicely informing fishermen something like "see this barb, its obvious you tried to cut it, but next time make sure its more flat" they hassle you like your some kind of criminal. Im sorry but i couldnt let anyone defend wdfw especially in this case.

mitch184

7/24/2015 8:26:00 AM

Something doesn't quite add up though. Forgetting to mark your card is one thing, but if you truly didn't have lines in the water, they can't give you a ticket for having barbed hooks on your line or for fishing in closed waters. They have to physically watch you fish to cite you. This would seem extremely obvious.

cobrar543

7/24/2015 12:47:00 PM

Mitch. They asked if the gear on my poles were the same that we caught the fish with. I could have lied and nothing to prove. but told the truth. It all worked out in the end.

GOOD new is the insurance company is replacing the Downrigger and the Trolling motor and somehow I got smart and only had a $100.00 deductible LMAO

Shad_Eating_Grin

7/24/2015 12:54:00 PM

WAC 230-56-175 (6)(a) Every person issued a catch record card must, by April 30 of the year after they used the card, return the card to the department of fish and wildlife. People issued a Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card must return the card to the Washington department of fish and wildlife or report the card information at the designated internet site by the dates indicated on the card.

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