Anonymous
12/18/2013 8:14:00 PMWhere are you fishing - near the bridge? I had some luck down river farther using some micro gear - Fluorocarbon leader seems to be the trick.
jonb
12/18/2013 8:37:00 PMHalf mile up stream of the bridge, i had to wade down the middle of a stream to get there. (alot of private property)
FishingTenor
12/18/2013 10:39:00 PMHey Jonb, I'm trying to understand the regulations on the Pilchuck. Is it not ok to keep salmon there?
jonb
12/19/2013 7:02:00 AMThat is correct fishingtenor, they can't be targeted or removed from the water. You can fish for cutthroat trout, whitefish, suckers etc. no salmon or steelhead (they're all wild) the problem is all these fish will hit the same stuff. Usually worms work for trout, and salmon won't touch it, but not yesterday, I assume that's because they are gorging themselves on eggs...that's why I went with eggs and such.
steelseeker
12/19/2013 8:16:00 AMI love that river.but from what I remember there's no bait allowed.pretty sure selective gear rules.please check regs.for example some people on samish river didn't follow regs very well and almost got shut down this last fall for the most of us that follow All rules.
jonb
12/19/2013 9:43:00 AMThat's incorrect steelseeker. Statewide general rules, trout daily limit 2 min size 14".. There isn't a night closure or anti snagging rule in affect, but fishing from a flotation device is prohibited. I'm 100% sure.
steelseeker
12/19/2013 10:25:00 AMYa its been 4+ yrs since Fishing that river.just never heard anyone really using bait down there much.
jonb
12/19/2013 11:58:00 AMAll good, im fidhing for trout, so bait is my first choice, if steelhead were open id float a pink worm or bead
LastCast
12/20/2013 1:45:00 PMYou really should know the regs yourself before making a comment about somebody breaking the rules. Everybody wants to be the first one to jump on somebody. Do some homework first, nobody likes to get accused of something, esp if its not true.
PWRSTROKIN
12/21/2013 10:32:00 AMHey jonb....I do see in the regs where fishing for Salmon is closed unless listed as open, No argument there. However, I cannot find anything that say's you cannot fish for Steelhead on the Pilchuck river. Granted they are wild and must be released unharmed and not removed from the water of course. I do see in the regs that the Pilchuck is open for Trout from Dec 1-Jan 31 and in the definitions the term "Trout" includes Steelhead. Am I missing something in the regs that say's you cannot catch & release the Steelhead? I cut and pasted the quotes from the Regs that I could find pertaining to the Pilchuck and fishing for Steelhead in general below:
PILCHUCK RIVER (Snohomish Co.)
from mouth to 500' downstream of the
Snohomish city diversion dam (840)
ALL SPECIES - fishing from any floating device prohibited.
TROUT Dec. 1-Jan. 31 Min. size 14". Daily limit 2.
Other Game Fish Dec. 1-Jan. 31 Statewide min. size/daily limit.
"The term TROUT includes: STEELHEAD"
All FRESHWATER areas are CLOSED to fishing
for SALMON, Dolly Varden /Bull Trout ,
LAMPREY, and GRASS CARP unless listed as
open in Special Rules.
PILCHUCK RIVER (Snohomish Co.)
from mouth to 500' downstream of the
Snohomish city diversion dam (840)
ALL SPECIES - fishing from any floating device prohibited.
TROUT Dec. 1-Jan. 31 Min. size 14". Daily limit 2.
Other Game Fish Dec. 1-Jan. 31 Statewide min. size/daily limit.
"The term TROUT includes: STEELHEAD"
All FRESHWATER areas are CLOSED to fishing
for SALMON, Dolly Varden /Bull Trout ,
LAMPREY, and GRASS CARP unless listed as
open in Special Rules.
4steelhead
12/21/2013 4:55:00 PMJonb: Nice fish. Great ethics. The Pilchuck myst be full of coho.
Pwrstrokin: I agree, thats what I understand. Catch and release wild steelhead
Pwrstrokin: I agree, thats what I understand. Catch and release wild steelhead
jonb
12/21/2013 6:10:00 PMI've been informed in the form of pm, yes pwrstrokin, you are right. I was wrong about the no steelhead fishing part, they are trout and fall under trout regs, but if wild must be released. I recant my statements regarding steelhead. I figured as protected as they are they needed to be specified to be open. But you live and you learn. Thanks for the comments and info.