| rhyak |
01-08-2017 04:41 PM |
Nicely done man, Pulling on some sand bass and getting some by catch while at it.
Found the most recent DFW Q and A very interesting had to do with targeting halibut up north when the season is closed for rockfish but regardless could play into effect for the so-cal guys.
Think the answer personally is pretty poor, but this was it.
Quote:
Question: I want to fish for California halibut from a boat out of Tomales Bay near Bird Rock or Elephant Rock or go out of the Gate. I used to fish for them whenever herring, squid or anchovy would come in to spawn during the winter or spring. The halibut would lay in wait as the forage fish came through, usually from January through April or May.
I haven't done this kind of fishing for a long time (years in fact) because no one wants to go out there in the wintertime when no one else is fishing and we are absolutely alone at sea. My fishing buddy wants to go but is worried that we would be cited for targeting lingcod or rockfish. I told him that as long as we were not keeping anything except the halibut, we would not be cited. We wouldn't be doing anything wrong. But he repeated that he was worried that we would have no protection against being cited because we were out there during the closed groundfish season.
Can we be cited for targeting groundfish as long we do not keep any incidentally caught groundfish? Or, how about steelhead or Pacific halibut or canary cod or anything else that you are not allowed to keep? (Jerry Z.)
Answer: You know that the sandy bottoms are where the halibut hang out. You indicated fishing the Bird Rock and Elephant Rock areas, so keep in mind there are a lot of underwater rock outcroppings there. That's where the rockfish and lingcod hang out.
According to local California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. Jim Jones, incidental catch is not a violation. However, once you do catch a species that is prohibited, it's recommended that you leave that area. If you continue to fish and catch fish you are not targeting, you could be cited.
If you are fishing during a closure (such as now) and start catching lingcod and rockfish, even if you are fishing catch and release, you could receive a citation for targeting those fish, depending on the situation
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