2 hooks in hootchies?

[juandesooka]

Reviewing the fishing regs, it says "It is illegal to ... angle with a fishing line to which more than one hook, artificial lure or artificial fly is attached except...in tidal waters any number of hooks attached to a fishing line if the hooks are used in combination to hold a single piece of bait". http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/law-loi/restrictions-eng.htm

As I read it, that says you can use dual hook set ups with anchovies and herring, for salmon and halibut -- BUT you can only use single hooks with hootchies.

I talked to a woman at DFO who confirmed this. Interesting, especially given 90% of them are sold with two single hooks!

Is this a recent change or the way it always has been? Anyone ever had any static with DFO enforcement on this?

 

[scott craven]

The website makes no mention of it ?


Anglers are required by law to use a barbless hook when fishing for salmon, including cutthroat trout and steelhead. To change a barbed hook to a barbless one, simply squeeze the barb tightly against the hook shank with a pair of pliers. It is illegal to fish with a fixed weight (sinker) greater than one kg except on a downrigger line, in which case the fishing line must be attached to the downrigger by means of an automatic release clip. The clip must free the fishing line from the downrigger line when the fish takes the lure, allowing the fish to be retrieved by rod and reel or separate handline.
DFO is preparing a regulatory submission that would make it possible to implement the mandatory use of circle hooks in certain places and at certain times when fishing for salmon. The main cause of mortality in released sport-caught fish is organ and gill damage. This damage occurs when a fish is “deep-hooked,” that is the hook catches in the fish’s gut when it is set by the angler. Circle hooks are a valuable conservation tool in certain fisheries as they are less likely to deep-hook a fish and therefore have a lower post-release mortality rate than traditional J-hooks.
Be aware of hook and line and downrigger entanglement risks in the vicinity of the UVIC Venus project in Pat Bay, Saanich Inlet. For more information,
visit: www.venus.uvic.ca/notice.php

 

[Cuba Libre]

Ask too many questions and you might regret it later!!! There has never been an issue because it is only meant to catch one fish at a time. Why go looking for problems where thre isnt any?..

 

[spring fever]

Guess it all hinges on what your definition of bait is. Bait is anything or substance ment to entice a fish to bite - be it rubber, salmon belly, octopus etc. Coming to an enforcement hassle near you!!! Bet you can beat it if you have a single hootchy!

 

[chris73]

"...if the hooks are used in combination to hold a single piece of bait"

I do not know what would be confusing here. To me that is pretty clear: you have two hooks for one hootchie. Therefore compliant. Different was if you had two hootchies for two hooks on one line. But who does that?

 

[Finished Business]

what about cut plugging...does anyone run the 3rd trailer hook? Is that legal? (3rd hook freely dangling behind the bait)

 

[chris73]

I don't do cut plugging but I can't see anything wrong with this setup if all the hooks belong to one bait.

 

[IronNoggin]

...in tidal waters any number of hooks attached to a fishing line if the hooks are used in combination to hold a single piece of bait...

No Worries.

 

[juandesooka]

The regs seem to pretty clearly distinguish between "artificial lure" and "bait" ... I don't think the issue of how you define bait would explain this away.

How it's worded also suggests that a trailing hook in an anchovy rig, if not attached to the bait, isn't legal as well.

Don't get me wrong ... not looking to make trouble. I just found it interesting that one of the most common gear set-ups appears to be non-legal by the letter of the law. I've never heard of this being enforced and I'd be surprised if it has. [Cuba: you're probably right, if big picture intent of the reg is to ensure you aren't aiming to hook multiple fish at once, then this isn't a big issue -- compared to, say, some kind of contraption that lets you run a dozen hootchies at once off one line.]

 

[Dogbreath]

**** circle hooks.

 

[the fog ducker]

"Tandom" hook set-ups - cut-plugs- hoochies , %100 accepted by DFO , atleast in Barkley Sound lol ,
iv'e been checked 3 times this past 2 seasons , they were only concerned about them being barbless...

( designed to only catch " ONE" fish at a time is key i believe.....)

FD

 

[IronNoggin]

"Tandom" hook set-ups - cut-plugs- hoochies , 0 accepted by DFO , atleast in Barkley Sound lol

Polly's Point (Upper Inlet) and Inside from that is the only place I know where you can't. Single Barbless means JUST That in the inside waters.

Cheers,
Nog

 

[the fog ducker]

Polly's Point (Upper Inlet) and Inside from that is the only place I know where you can't. Single Barbless means JUST That.

Cheers,
Nog

agreed ,

I was checked , @ Yankee - Meathole - Sanford.... No problems

Dont fish the inlet much Mat , reminds me though , i did have a conversation with a dfo at China Creek 3 years ago , he chuckled and told me that the the last boat he checked on the water was using tandem " Bare Black Hooks" , he didn't have a problem with that ,told me ta give it a try even lol...


i am not worried about it at all... Confident it's on the OK.....

FD

 

[marula]

Thats a great question as the written regs leave some interpretation. When the wording is muddy i guess you have to ask what the "spirit of the law" is and as some one allready mentioned its intended to stop you from putting multiple hookups on your line to intentionally catch multiple fish like a herring jib has. Now can someone please explain the logic of max 2kg weight on your line ??

 

[trophywife]

Thats a great question as the written regs leave some interpretation. When the wording is muddy i guess you have to ask what the "spirit of the law" is and as some one allready mentioned its intended to stop you from putting multiple hookups on your line to intentionally catch multiple fish like a herring jib has. Now can someone please explain the logic of max 2kg weight on your line ??

isnt it max 2lb? and really? think about it.... you just hooked a grilse and dragged it for1/2 hour.... or your into coho fishn but not into fighting them? wow,, thought that rule was pretty self explaining...


oh,, and my rigs are one treble unless small fish are biting,if so then back to one big single,, no eyeball or gill hooking with the trailer....

 

[searun]

Who needs to use 2 hooks on a hoochie anyway...I always find a single shark hook works best. Sounds to me like that DFO officer has too much time on their hands.

 

[xavier]

Three beads, a barrel and a 3/0...happy with just one myself...

I believe it makes both hooking and releasing easier...

 

[marula]

isnt it max 2lb? and really? think about it.... you just hooked a grilse and dragged it for1/2 hour.... or your into coho fishn but not into fighting them? wow,, thought that rule was pretty self explaining...


oh,, and my rigs are one treble unless small fish are biting,if so then back to one big single,, no eyeball or gill hooking with the trailer....

Ah, my typo, 1kg I meant which is 2lbs . I was thinking more of halibut fishing, lots of days a 3lb ball would be nice but not allowed in the regs.

 

[Saxe Point]

juandesooka raises a very interesting question for which there appears to be no easy or clear answer. I looked at the Fisheries Act and the British Columbia Sport Fishing Regulations and it is not clear. It seems unusual that a rubber hoochy falls within any reasonable definition or understanding of "bait", especially when the Regulations refer to (but, interestingly, do not define) "artificial lure". If a hoochy is bait and not an artificial lure, then there are no artificial lures, it is all bait!. And since when are the hooks on a hoochy used to "hold" the rubber "bait"? That doesn't seem to make any sense. Interesting that Tomic plugs have a single hook...

Does anyone know a DFO official they can write to in order to ask for confirmation of DFO's understanding if the tandem hoochy is legal or not? One would hope that the answer is a simple yes or no.

 

[xavier]

Interesting that Tomic plugs have a single hook...

You can purchase a Tomic Multi with tandem hooks. Some also use Dacron to add a second hook to their "classic" or "tubby" models...