Anti-"Flossing"/Leader Length Restriction

[bigtex]

The practice of "flossing" salmon has grown exponentially in WA rivers over the past few years. Flossing is dragging a line with a hook/lure through the mouths of salmon swimming upstream. The goal is to hook the fish without them actually voluntarily biting. It's so popular that WDFW just posted on Facebook a WDFW Sergeant explaining that flossing is actually illegal. But, how do you enforce a reg that requires you to know that the fish voluntarily took the lure? To make it more complicated under state regs its unlawful to possess a fish taken for personal use from freshwater areas that were not hooked inside the mouth or on the head, the head being defined as all parts of the fish anterior of the rear margin of the gill plate.

So "snagging" is taking fish where the fish didn't voluntarily take the lure. But yet you can possess a fish that was hooked on the head forward of the gill plate? Makes sense!

In order to "floss" you need a long leader, sometimes in excess of 6 or 10 feet. Oregon instituted a 3-foot leader restriction a decade ago, other states have similar restrictions. Some fishing groups are talking about submitting a rule change proposal instituting a 3-foot leader restriction while fishing in rivers where there is an open salmon season.

Your opinion?

[HntnFsh]

No. There is a lot of fishing using longer leaders that aren't flossing.

[CP]

No.  I don’t see that flossing is causing any harm to the runs.  You want to throw a 20-foot leader, have at it.  And what do you do with fly rod fisherman?   It’s hard enough to keep the regs straight as it is.
 

[HUNTIN4SIX]

BS in my opinion.  So what’s the point?  The decline in salmon is due to flossing?  I got my feet wet (no pun) flossing at the mouth of Kennedy Crk and in Capitol lake.  Nothing filled a day better than as a late teenager flossing salmon between the morning and evening hunt.  Of course it wasn’t called flossing then, just fishing.

[fishngamereaper]

No
Didn't they try this in 2013 ish? And the data didn't support it.
I always loved casting my 6-8' leader with single point hook on the skok back in the day and watching the kids across the river casting a bundle of treble hooks into the same pool...

[Boss .300 winmag]

Isn’t flossing good dental health, I wouldn’t want salmon to have bad teeth.🤣

There’s so many restrictions as it is, I can’t see this making much of a difference.😉

[fireweed]

There wouldn't be a fish caught in the Copper River In Alaska without it.  Chocolate water.  And how do you know a fish voluntarily took a hook?  Its dumb.  I've always thought it was dumb.  and BTW leader length is no guarantee either way.  Leave it alone.  Already a law that says the leader has to be longer than a foot (anti-snagging rule), now you want it shorter than 3 feet.  Aren't the kept ones hatchery fish anyway to be spawned, donated or dumped.  EEEKKKKK.

[scotsman]

Would I be flossing if I’m using, say, a spin reel loaded with 200 yards of 8# fluoro? At the end of the fluoro I have a simple, hand tied 1/4 oz black caribou jig. Casting across the river, wouldn’t that be flossing with a 200’ leader?

[SuperX]

wouldn't this require everyone to use a leader?  I fish mono without a leader just a hook and split-shot.

[HntnFsh]

There goes my diver and coon shrimp steelhead setup!

[Special T]

The complications of rules keeps me from engaging much in fishing.

I talked to a game warden that works the Samish river run. he has told me he has yet to write a fishing infraction because he cant get farther that 300yards from the bridge before he finds some one with a warrant.

Would this change really help, or is it just a feel good measure?

 

[HikerHunter]

In the rivers I fish, its a joke to think that leader length has an effect on the fish population.

[boneaddict]

Shorten the leaders but leave the gill nets in.  Brilliant!

[Dhoey07]

I got to watch the rise of the flossers in the Puyallup and Carbon.  We would laugh at them and make fun of them.  I don't consider it real fishing but I also don't think it's necessary to try and stop it. 

Just let them think they are good fishermen, or that it's required because salmon won't bite in rivers and just go on with your day.....

[WSU]

I dislike flossing and flossers.  It some cases, like the Skok, it can take biters and turn them into worse biters because they are constantly being harassed.  I avoid fishing in those types of situations.

That said, places were flossing is effective are places with a whole lot of fish stacked up.  Often those are hatchery fish created for us to harvest.  I don't see why we should let the rest of the fishers (commercial and tribal) fish with nets and more effective gear and then limit our ability to harvest our share.  In reality, we should get rid of bag limits in those situations and do everything possible to harvest all the hatchery fish we can.  Taking away flossing would be counterproductive.