A couple of fishing law questions.

[tracksoup]

1) just bought my 15 year old his freshwater fishing lic. It was $8.05 plus fees.
Is he going to have to buy another license at $29.50 in a couple months when he turns 16??

2) Here is a quote from the regs for the lake of question. "juvenile anglers (under 15 years old), licensed adults accompanied by a juvenile" my question is: can my licensed 15 year old fish, if he is accompanied by his 12 year old brother?

[lokidog]

Your kid's license is good for the license year.  Buy his hunting license before he turns 16 if he is going to get one, it'll be cheaper as well.

I believe that if he has purchased a juvenile license he is good to go fishing there during that license year, even after he turns 16.  That would be my argument anyways if challenged.

[Oldguy]

Your kid's license is good for the license year.  Buy his hunting license before he turns 16 if he is going to get one, it'll be cheaper as well.

I believe that if he has purchased a juvenile license he is good to go fishing there during that license year, even after he turns 16.  That would be my argument anyways if challenged.

  !00% true! And if he plans to hunt, get the hunting license too.

[bigtex]

Your kid's license is good for the license year.  Buy his hunting license before he turns 16 if he is going to get one, it'll be cheaper as well.

I believe that if he has purchased a juvenile license he is good to go fishing there during that license year, even after he turns 16.  That would be my argument anyways if challenged.

  !00% true! And if he plans to hunt, get the hunting license too.

[tracksoup]

Thank you for the responses and yes hunting licenses already purchased.
I'm still not completely following. The regs clearly state that anyone "under"15 years old may fish this lake and a licensed adult may fish this lake if accompanied by a Juvenile (under 15). So where does that put someone between 15 & 16?
He is neither a juvenile under 15 or a licensed adult over 16. He is a licsened juvenile??

[Special T]

The age is in reference to the time of purchase...

[bobcat]

I'm with you track soup, it sounds to me like he can't fish that lake since he'll be over 15 years old.   

[lokidog]

I'm with you track soup, it sounds to me like he can't fish that lake since he'll be over 15 years old.   

Really?  So I guess 15, 16, and 17 can't fish it huh, even with a young kid along?     Sometimes I wonder Bobcat you seem to try to read regs to make them more dificult to understand.   

Fifteen and under is considered a juvenile for license purchases, 16 and older an "adult", it would follow that under fifteen AND fifteen would be allowed to fish in a juvenile only fishing area since they are considered juveniles at the time of the license purchase.  Someone just dropped the ball, apparently, when the wording was reviewed before printing the regs and "fifteen and under" was not used.

[bobcat]

All I'm commenting on is the wording of the rule for fishing a specific lake. If it says you must be under 15 to  fish there, it seems pretty clear to me. I would assume it means exactly what it says. I don't know why it has anything to do with the minimum age a fishing license is required.

[lokidog]

It says "juvenile anglers"  they are defined by being 15 or under at the time of the license purchase, I would say that this wording trumps "under 15" in parenthesis since many people consider the wording under x to include x. 

In your assumption then, 15 year olds would not be allowed to fish at all since they are not under 15, nor are they adults.      

[tracksoup]

So, how I am reading it is,you can not fish this lake if you are 15 years old, only under 15. You can fish this lake again when you are 16 (with an adult lic) as long as you now have some one under 15 with you. The regs do not say "15 and under" it says "under 15" so basically you can fish this lake at any age under certain rules expect 15 years
old! Unless it is a mis-print and should read "15 and under"
That is how I read it. It is Bear lake Spokane county.

[lokidog]

So, how I am reading it is,you can not fish this lake if you are 15 years old, only under 15. You can fish this lake again when you are 16 (with an adult lic) as long as you now have some one under 15 with you. The regs do not say "15 and under" it says "under 15" so basically you can fish this lake at any age under certain rules expect 15 years
old! Unless it is a mis-print and should read "15 and under"
That is how I read it. It is Bear lake Spokane county.

Misprint on the part in the parethesis, before that it states "juvenile anglers" a fifteen year old or 16 year old who purchased the license when 15 is a juvenile angler by definition.  It would be incredibly stupid, even for our wonderful state in which stupidity is an hourly occurance for the govt., to disallow 15 year olds from fishing.

[tracksoup]

On page 10 bottom right of the definitions in the regs it states "juvenile only waters open for fishing only to youth under 15 years of age"

[lokidog]

I stand by my words.  I would bring my 15 or 16 year old son to fish given the same circumstances.  They cannot exclude someone from fishing juvenile only that legally purchased a juvenile fishing license.  Bigtex posted that it would be OK, he is pretty familiar with WDFW enforcement.  Maybe you just need to call WDFW. 

So, I just looked at the regs, I did not know that 15 year olds are in some weird category between juvenile and "adult".  How absurd.  I think I would still fish.   

[Curly]

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/kids/where.html
I assume 15 yr olds are considered juniors. From the above link to wdfw youth fishing,  bear lake is classified as a family fishing lake and it says family fishing = junior or adult are allowed to fish if accompanied by a juvenile.  So I'd say the two kids would be allowed to fish.