Sanddab Limit 8-2?

[luvmystang67]

So looking at regs... it seems like Sanddab fall under the "All other food fish" as "food fish" includes "bottomfish" which includes sanddab.  Does this mean that  you can only keep 2 sanddab per day?  What about the people who have bucket fulls for crab bait?

It seems like nobody really cares much about them, I was just curious if someone interprets this differently.  I don't see how you could, but its fairly confusing.

[h20hunter]

I believe your flatfish limit is total of 15....I'm not aware of qty of species that can be retained per limit.

[CP]

yea, 15 - it's considered a bottomfish.  See the definitions.

[luvmystang67]

Okay, so here's what I'm reading:

Year-round season. Daily limit is a total of 15 BOTTOMFISH (see definition page 10) regardless of species, subject to individual limits and seasons shown below.

Sanddab isn't specifically listed, so it falls into one of the following categories:

OTHER FOOD FISH Year-round No min. size. Daily limit 2 of each species. See definition page 11.
ALL OTHER FISH CLOSED CLOSED to fishing for, retaining, or possessing.

So I decided to look into what was qualified as a food fish on the definition page.

Food Fish: Food Fish Includes forage fish, halibut,
bottomfish, common carp, shad, tuna, mackerel,
salmon, and sturgeon.

since it wasn't listed... I decided to look into the bottomfish category further since it was included in the food fish category

Bottomfish
Bottomfish Includes Pacific cod, Pacific
tomcod, Pacific hake (or whiting), walleye
pollock, all species of dabs, sole and flounders
(except Pacific halibut), lingcod, ratfish,
sablefish, cabezon, greenling, buffalo sculpin,
great sculpin, red Irish lord, brown Irish
lord, Pacific staghorn sculpin, wolfeel, giant
wrymouth, plainfin midshipman, all species of
shark, skate, rockfish, rattail, and surfperches
(all saltwater perch are surfperch) excluding
shiner perch.

So, it would appear to me that a sanddab is a bottomfish, which is a food fish, which is limited to 2 per species per day and count towards a total of 15 bottomfish as a limit.

Further thoughts?

[h20hunter]

Overthinking it.

Catch up to 15 and you are good to go.

[luvmystang67]

Overthinking it.

Catch up to 15 and you are good to go.

I overthink nothing. 

On a serious note, I know everyone catches these things for bait and sometimes eating.  I just don't see how someone could argue that they don't fall under the 2 per species limit listed.  I just sent a note to wdfw on it, we'll see. 

Of things that you could get in trouble for, I'd be most upset about being busted for having 3 sanddabs in my boat.

[h20hunter]

 

For sure.

Also, I do agree about getting in trouble...

For what it is worht every time I've come into the dock and talked to fish people I give an estimate of my flatfish count and they haven't been concered about types....

[luvmystang67]

I think my message to WDFW is going to make their head spin.

Its their own fault though.

[luvmystang67]

Here's what I received from WDFW... looks like 15 is the game.

Flounder, Sole, Kelp Greenling, Sand dabs, all species of Shark (including Spiny Dogfish), etc., fall under the Bottomfish category, while the OTHER FOOD FISH and ALL OTHER FISH refers to other species of fish not listed or defined under Bottomfish, Food Fish, or Game Fish. Some examples of these would be fish such as Striped Marlin, Striped Bass, some species of Sculpins, Blue Fin Tuna, White Croaker Fish, etc.

In all Marine Areas, Bottomfish has a year-round open season, except for most all of Marine Area 12 – Hood Canal, which has a permanent closure for ALL Bottomfish. Anglers are allowed a daily limit of 15 Bottomfish (except only 12 in Marine Areas 1 through 4), regardless of species, but subject to the individual limits and seasons as defined for Lingcod, Surfperch, Pacific Cod, Pollock, Hake and Cabezon. A list of Bottomfish can be found on page 10, under the Definitions of Terms used throughout the pamphlet.

If you catch nothing but Bottomfish, IE. Dogfish, Sand dabs, Greenling, Flounder, Sole, etc. you may keep up to 15 fish. If you retain any other Bottomfish species, they will count toward your daily limit of 15 Bottomfish. For example, if you were lucky enough to catch 7 English Sole & 7 Dogfish or, 5 Sand dab, 5 Flounder & 4 Kelp Greenling, that would be 14 total Bottomfish. This means that during an open season for that species, you would still be able to catch the daily limit of 1 Cabezon, or 1 Ling Cod, without exceeding the 15 Bottomfish daily limit. If you were able to catch 15 Dogfish, or (not and) 15 Starry Flounder, or 15 Rock Sole, or 15 Kelp Greenling, that would be your allowed daily limit of 15 total Bottomfish, and you would be through for the day.

Now, with all that having been said, as per the Marine Area Rules on page 102, under Tackle/Gear Rules, the regulation pamphlet states: HOOK AND LINE ANGLING - Unless noted differently, only one line with up to 2 hooks is allowed. Barbless hooks are required for all species in Marine Areas 5-13, except forage fish jig gear. When fishing for SALMON in Marine Areas 1-13, single-point barbless hooks must be used.

If you intend to fish for Bottomfish, single point hooks are not required, meaning that you would be allowed to fish one line with up to 2 hooks. These hooks may be single, double or treble hooks – as long as they are barbless in Marine Areas 5 through 13. A treble hook is still considered to be one hook, it just has 3 points on it instead of 1 point. Also remember to check the rule for Bottomfish (from the 2010/2011 pamphlet year), which states that fishing for all Bottomfish (except Pacific Halibut) is prohibited in waters deeper than 120 feet. Also, new this year, is that Ling Cod & Pacific Cod may now be retained in waters deeper than 120’ on days when Halibut is open.

[HntnFsh]

Ya. Probably  not listed  a sand dab. More likely  sole. Flounder. The limit is 15

[Gobble Doc]

Last time I pulled into Everett the checker was going through my flatfish taking notes on each species.  Some dabs, some sole.  I just keep the # well below 15 and have never had a problem. 

Does anyone eat these?  I usually save them for crab bait. 

[h20hunter]

I've not as they usually get wormy when big enough to get a few filets off.....crab bait.

[luvmystang67]

They're a delicacy in California...

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=sand+dabs&find_loc=San+Francisco%2C+CA

[Ripper]

I've eaten plenty of flounder, they are very good. You can usually see the worms and cut them out or just batter them up and fry away. Everything is good fried right?

[NRA4LIFE]

They're delicious.  I gut them and cook them whole on the grill.  A little olive oil, Johnny's and pepper and that's it.