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Recreation
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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) encourages all Californians to give fishing a try for free on Saturday, Sept. 2.
CDFW annually offers two Free Fishing Days, typically around the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends (the first of the two Free Fishing Days in 2017 was held July 1).
On these two days, people can fish without having to buy a sport-fishing license.
Free Fishing Days also provide an easy opportunity for licensed anglers to introduce non-angling friends and children to fishing and the outdoors.
All fishing regulations, such as bag and size limits, gear restrictions, report card requirements and fishing hours and stream closures, remain in effect.
Every angler must have an appropriate report card if they are fishing for steelhead, sturgeon, spiny lobster or abalone anywhere in the state, or for salmon on the Smith River.
CDFW reminds anglers that recreational salmon fishing in the Klamath-Trinity river system remains closed this season due to very low predicted adult returns.
Anglers residing in urban areas also have opportunities to fish close to home. Trout from CDFW hatcheries are stocked in urban waters when the water is cold and adequate to sustain trout.
Some CDFW regions also offer Fishing in the City, a program that allows children to learn to fish for catfish and trout in major metropolitan areas.
For more information on the Fishing in the City program, please visit http://www.wildlife.ca.gov/fishing-in-the-city.
For more information on Free Fishing Days, please visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/fishing/free-fishing-days.
All anglers should also check the rules and regulations at www.wildlife.ca.gov/regulations for the waters they plan to fish because wildlife officers will be on duty to enforce them. In addition, information on CDFW trout and inland salmon stocking is available at https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/fishplants and a fishing guide can be viewed at www.wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/guide.
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- Written by: Carrie Wilson
Question: My buddies and I do a fair amount of striper fishing and seem to always debate this question. Am I allowed to keep fishing after keeping a limit of stripers as long as I am fishing for largemouth/smallmouth bass instead? The techniques are similar, so I’m wondering if we could be cited. (Brett M.)
Answer: After catching your limit of striped bass, you can continue fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass. However, once you have made this switch, you must make sure to immediately release any accidentally caught stripers.
Collecting a road-killed opossum?
Question: I saw an opossum dead on the side of the road yesterday, not playing possum (it was actually dead).
I wanted to take it home to keep the bones but I left it there untouched because I didn’t know what the law on collecting was.
If I find an animal like that again, can I take it home and process it? If I can’t, is there someone I can talk to who might allow me to keep the bones after the state processes it? (Rachael)
Answer: Road-killed wildlife may not be possessed. “The accidental taking of a bird, mammal, reptile, or amphibian by collision with a motor vehicle while the vehicle is being operated on a road or highway is not a violation of this code” (Fish and Game Commission, section 2000.5).
This means it is not illegal to accidentally kill the animal, however, the Fish and Game Code does not authorize possession of wildlife accidentally killed in vehicle collisions.
Opossum are classified as non-game mammals that may be hunted with a hunting license (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 472(a)).
The only way for you to legally possess them would be to hunt them or to obtain a scientific collecting permit, if your collection purposes are for scientific research purposes.
Illegal animal imports?
Question: A while back I saw the reply in your column regarding the legality of buying/selling python snake skin. I see kangaroo on the prohibited list.
Does this include all species? As I understand it, the Australian government allows the cull of Marcropus giganteus due to gross overpopulation. (Steve B.)
Answer: Yes. California Penal Code section 653o includes all species of kangaroo and provides that it “is unlawful to import into this state for commercial purposes, to possess with intent to sell, or to sell within the state, the dead body, or any part or product thereof, of a polar bear, leopard, ocelot, tiger, cheetah, jaguar, sable antelope, wolf (Canis lupus), zebra, whale, cobra, python, sea turtle, colobus monkey, kangaroo, vicuna, sea otter, free-roaming feral horse, dolphin or porpoise (Delphinidae), Spanish lynx, or elephant.”
Where can to use two rods in San Francisco Bay?
Question: I’m a little confused about the rules on using two rods when fishing San Francisco Bay.
The rules state, “While fishing from the shore in San Francisco and San Pablo bays between the Golden Gate Bridge and the west Carquinez Bridge, you may only use one line with no more than three hooks; you may also use an unlimited number of crab traps. Species-specific gear restrictions (such as for rockfish, lingcod and salmon) do apply when fishing from the shore.”
So, if I’m fishing from Alameda, can I use two rods? The rule says only from between Golden Gate to Carquinez Bridge. Alameda is to the east of the Golden Gate but I’m fishing from the shore in San Francisco Bay. Please let me know. (San S., Alameda)
Answer: The answer to your question is no, but you’ve asked an excellent question. There is a section in our regulations (CCR Title 14, section 27.00) that defines the waters of San Francisco Bay. The waters off Alameda are part of San Francisco Bay pursuant to this definition. This section, as recently amended, includes the following definition:
“The Ocean and San Francisco Bay District consists of the Ocean and San Francisco Bay, as described herein. The Ocean is the open seas adjacent to the coast and islands and the waters of open or enclosed bays contiguous to the ocean, including the waters of Elkhorn Slough, west of Elkhorn Road between Castroville and Watsonville. San Francisco Bay is the waters of San Francisco and San Pablo bays plus all their tidal bays, sloughs, estuaries, and tidal portions of their rivers and streams between the Golden Gate Bridge and the west Carquinez Bridge. …”.
In the San Francisco Bay (as defined above), “only one line with not more than three hooks may be used” (CCR Title 14, section 28.65(a)).
Carrie Wilson is a marine environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week in this column. Please contact her at
California Outdoors: Bringing home fish caught out of state, no deer tag, measuring salmon correctly
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- Written by: Carrie Wilson
How to bring home fish caught out of state?
Question: Later this year I am planning a trip to fish in the state of Washington.
The limits and retention are different. What is the best way to bring fish home from the trip?
Is there some paperwork trail that must be kept or some type of certification? (Ross B.)
Answer: Yes. To import fish into California, you are required to complete a declaration of entry form once you reach the California border (Fish and Game Code, section 2353).
On this form you will list your fishing license information from Washington, along with the county where the fish were taken.
You must deliver one copy of the declaration to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) entry station, mail one to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and keep one for your records.
The declaration of entry provides you the paper trail back to the county and state where the fish were legally harvested.
No deer tag, so what can we hunt?
Question: Half of our group drew tags for our favorite hunting zone and half did not. The unlucky ones will be helping with chores, fishing and hunting coyotes. Can we carry a rifle for coyotes while riding with the hunter with a tag?
Many times we’ll drop the deer hunter off and then come back to pick them up, meanwhile calling coyotes as a way to kill the time.
Is it legal or would it be best to leave the guns at camp and separate the two activities? (Mark)
Answer: This would be legal as long as the coyote hunters are clearly not attempting to hunt, pursue, catch, capture or kill a deer.
If your friends are hunting deer and you are hunting coyotes, it’s best to keep the two practices separate. This is especially true during deer season, so the coyote hunters will not appear to be deer hunting without a tag.
In addition, as coyote hunters, you cannot engage in driving deer for your friends to shoot because this is considered “take” of deer.
Take is defined as, “Hunt, pursue, catch, capture or kill, or the attempt to hunt pursue, catch, capture or kill” (FGC, section 86). If the coyote hunters are involved in any activity which results in the pursuit of deer, they would be in violation.
Keep in mind that coyote hunting methods are often not compatible with deer hunting, so wildlife officers sometimes encounter hunters claiming to hunt coyotes when in fact they are deer hunting and trying to fill a friend’s tag.
This is a significant problem in areas where drawing a tag is difficult, such as the X-1 zone, so the officers are watching for this.
Measuring salmon correctly
Question: Salmon fishing can be challenging because it often entails spending all day on the water, with some days not even getting a legal size fish.
I was fishing over the weekend and caught a salmon that when laid flat on the deck measured 23-3/4 inches. If I grabbed it by the tail and held onto it, the fish would measure 24-1/4 inches, making it a legal catch.
If a warden had checked me, would it have been a legal catch if I squeezed the tail while the game warden was measuring it? (Ralph C., Santa Cruz)
Answer: Since salmon are measured by their total length, this means measured to the longest length from the tip of the nose to the longest point of the tail.
Pinching the tail or stretching the fish using gravity or muscle to find the longest possible length is not permissible.
The best way to get the longest length is to lay the fish down flat on a flat surface, pinch the mouth shut and then swing the caudal (tail) fin back and forth until you find the longest point.
Some species, such as tunas, are measured by fork length rather than by total length. This measurement is taken from the tip of the mouth to the length inside the fork of the tail.
Minimum and maximum size are defined as, “Tip of the head shall be the most anterior point on the fish with the mouth closed and the fish lying flat on its side” (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 1.62). A diagram showing the correct measurement methods can be found in the 2017-2018 Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet or online.
Keep in mind, fish that are just barely legal can often measure differently between the person’s on deck measuring device and a warden’s device on shore, especially after cleaning/bleeding. I suggest using a bit of caution when keeping a fish that appears to be exactly the legal minimum size as it might come up short when measured later on.
Carrie Wilson is a marine environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week in this column. Please contact her at
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Angling for steelhead remains open on both rivers for the entire year.
Due to historically low stock projections of fall Chinook in the Klamath Basin for 2017, a full fishing closure was adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission earlier this year.
The fall Chinook fishing season is defined as Aug. 15 through Dec. 31 on the Klamath River and Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 on the Trinity River. All Chinook incidentally caught during these respective dates must be immediately returned to the river.
Fishing for steelhead trout remains open in designated areas. The daily bag limit is two hatchery steelhead and the possession limit is four hatchery steelhead.
Hatchery steelhead can be identified by a healed adipose fin clip (the adipose fin is absent). All wild steelhead (with an intact adipose fin) caught must be immediately returned to the water.
Please consult the 2017-2018 supplemental sport fishing regulations for further information on open areas and gear restrictions that may apply.
The low projected stock abundance of Klamath Basin fall Chinook this year is thought to have been caused by several environmental factors, including severe drought and poor ocean conditions.
Klamath Basin fall Chinook are managed for conservation thresholds and long-term sustainability, and the closures this year are designed to maximize spawning escapement to rebuild future population abundance.
The Klamath fall Chinook stock will be re-evaluated in the winter and spring of 2018, at which time a new forecast and potential harvest quotas will be developed for 2018 in-river and ocean fisheries.
Klamath Basin fall Chinook regulations are typically adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission in April of each year.