newbie questions - regulations

W

--weezl--

Member
hey everyone, I have heard lots about this site through passing over the years, and figured I should join up!

I'm not really new to fishing, done it here and there, and caught a few fish in the past, but never really got into it. Last week I bought my fishing license, and it was more expensive than I remember, so I figure I should get my money's worth. I have read over the regulations but still have a few questions, and want to make sure I stay legal and ethical.

My license is for fresh water only, and does not have the salmon tag, where I am allowed to fish is pretty well explained in the regs, so no issues there. I am mostly looking at fishing lakes anyways (region 2), so I shouldn't have to worry about making sure i'm upstream of ____. The big question I have right now is about size, on page 23 of the regulation book, it mentions " There is no general minimum size limit for trout in lakes" which implies there is for streams, so if I were to catch a fish in a lake, and head home with it, and get pulled over by DFO, what is to stop them from thinking my tiny little trout was caught in a stream?

the next question is about Crappie, (which is what I am currently planning on going looking for) in the regs, I forget where, it mentions that the head and tail must be on the fish, but recommends cleaning out the guts and gills asap to make sure it doesn't spoil, makes sense... i've never cleaned gills off of a fish, only cut the head and gills off, and all of the videos I've found online seem to show filleting a non gutted fish, which I know I can't do at the lake I catch it at, but seem to think it wouldn't be a good idea to wait till I get home. The other thing I can't seem to find is size limits for any of the fish in the reg book, only a few with specific sizes listed as per the waterway they are caught in, so for instance, how would I find out how big a crappie has to be to keep, in Minnekhada slough, if the slough isn't listed anywhere in the book? it's a rather small fish to begin with. Bass is the other fish I wouldn't be upset to catch out of there, how can I find the size restrictions to keep one of them?

all of the regulations I can find regarding the crappie is that there is a daily limit of 20 (WOW!) and bass, is 4 per day. all I can find for size is "Size limits are listed with quotas in the Regional Regulations and in the Regional Water-Specific Tables" so does that mean that on the chart for what you can and can't catch in a lake or stream doesn't specify, or if the lake or stream isn't listed, there is no minimum or maximum size?

sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to make sure I was through, and didn't seem like a guy who just wanted people to tell him the answers to all the questions he could find simply by reading a couple pages of info.
 
First off, freshwater is governed Provincially so you don't have to worry about the DFO unless you are fishing the tidal section of a river and tributaries below the tidal boundary. A conservation Officer would have to prove you broke the law so if you are transporting a trout from a lake you would be good to go. If the lake you are fishing trout holds wild anadromous trout you might have to do some more explaining.

If there are no size restrictions in the regional table and the body of water is not listed, have at it! Just stay within the limit. Get those Crappies cleaned and put on ice and take them home. Seems like a lot of work to filet them, just pan fry em with head on and pick out the meat at the lateral line.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, I'm a little illiterate when it comes to condservation and dfo and what not, so i figured the f in dfo stands for fisheries, so logic would mean that they would deal with all fishing, good to know! All I suppose i really need to remember is making sure I know the rules and if i see anyone in a uniform asking questions, have the correct answer! lol

I've been watching a few videos on how to filet them, doesn't look too bad after a little practice...

I suppose the big question is if i'm going to end up catching anything, that's more important than how to clean and cook them at this point. as for cooking though, I have seen a few videos where they fillets are rubbed with some tarragon and some fresh squeezed lemon juice over top, fried with a little olive oil, and others where they are fried in an inch of oil in a deep pan, with a light corn meal breading, both look like they would be pretty amazing!

The Minnekhada slough apparently has some largemouth in it too, so i'll see what I can catch!
 
I lived near that slough for many years and never thought of fishing there, but I say go for it and let us know how your adventure works out! Have fun!
 
I wouldn't have even thought of it to be honest, but i googled places to fish in coquitlam, and that was one on this top 5 places list for coquitlam, along with a few streams and buntzen lake, but most of them were for trout, which i'm not a HUGE fan of... I wouldn't mind catching a spring or kokanee though!

with spring, of course, I would need a stamp, right? where as with kokanee i don't?
 
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Just out of interest - in BC is there a definition to distinguish Kokanee (land-locked sockeye) from sockeye in lakes where both might be present? In WA state, in Lake Washington both exist so Kokanee are defined as any sockeye <12" long.
 
that's a really good question! I can find nothing in the regulations book,

the kokanee description on the goc website is
Kokanee_desc.jpg

Other common names:
Kickininee, Little Redfish, Silver Trout, Landlocked Sockeye, Blueback
Size:
Typical range in length for adults: 20-25cm
Maximum length: 60cm
Typical range in weight for adults: 0.1-0.2kg
Maximum weight: 4.5kg
Click to expand...

and sockeye has virtually no info for some reason,
SockeyeSalmon_desc.jpg

Other common names:
Red Salmon, Blueback Salmon
Click to expand...

I would imagine the spots on the back would be a or some difference...



Another question that just came to mind, what are the classified waters? I see a lot of mention of "when they are classified" which sounds like some rivers and streams are classified for certain parts of the year, but not others. is this the same as when the book says "no fishing from may 1 to june 30" all i have to do is buy a classified water license for $15 and fish away?
 
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The CW designation is noted in the specific water tables, but many lakes and streams have periods of closures as noted in the tables but may not be designated CW.
 
Minnekhada....lots of memories of that park. Lived in the area for 20 plus years. Probably catch some salamanders and frogs fishing those flats. Go to Lafarge lake. Fish off the beach there. Power bait used to work for me. Try for sockeye in Fort Langley off the beach when they are running.
 
Hey dan, where did you find that bass was catch and release right now? I can't find that anywhere in the regs...

Interesting situation happened today, I'm at minnekhada right now, and as I pulled into the parking lot I asked a guy who was standing around with a camera where I should go for fishing, he pointed down the hill to "minnekhada marsh" which we both agreed must be the same thing as the slough, then he mentioned "it's catch and release only eh?" We had a short discussion about this and he gave me his business card, he's the minnekhada parks association vice chair... There was no reason I could see him lying to me, as he had no problems with me fishing, but I thought it odd that no one has mentioned this to me on here, not at riverside fly and tackle, not on the website I found about fishing in minnekhada, not even in the rules book for waters that are closed.

So I decided to call fish and wildlife out in surrey and got passed to a voice mail box of someone of the last name Jeffries, I believe, who called me back a couple hours later (just now) and he says basically the region doesn't get to make rules on waterways, they are all owned and stocked by the province so the province makes the rules. While the city does occasionally try to lake their own laws, it's actually illegal for them to do this. He said you only need to follow the provincial streams and rivers guidelines, as a slough is classified as a river

So, who the hell do I believe? I'm leaning towards fish and wildlife, not the park association...
 
--weezl-- said:
Ahh, ok I see it there now, I'm in region 2 though, and that restriction isn't on the daily limit page (or any other page that I could see)
Click to expand...

Bass has been closed for spawning season every year since I was a little kid.

The males are still protecting the nest until the water heats up enough. The regulations are set to protect them during this spawning phase.

June 15th I believe it opens in all areas, but please correct me if I am wrong.
 
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