Any restrictions for rivers not listed in Regs?

xApprchsNfnty

xApprchsNfnty

Freshly Spawned
Am I to assume that if a river/creek/etc. (or section of a river/creek/etc.) is not listed in the regs, that it's open to general rules rather than being closed waters? For example, deception creek off of HW2 isn't listed in the regs nor is boulder river upstream of the falls. Not sure if there are fish in either of them, but I just don't want to break the rules to find out.

Thanks.
 
fakename said:
Am I to assume that if a river/creek/etc. (or section of a river/creek/etc.) is not listed in the regs, that it's open to general rules rather than being closed waters? For example, deception creek off of HW2 isn't listed in the regs nor is boulder river upstream of the falls. Not sure if there are fish in either of them, but I just don't want to break the rules to find out.

Thanks.
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I think if a stream is permanently closed waters, it's in the special regs. But emergency closures for normally open waters are not.
It was easy to search for and find both streams in the Fish Washington app that shows any current emergency regs.
1659329547531.png

1659329649101.png
 
Oh, I don't have that app, but I'll get it now! Thanks!

Does that mean then that from the Boulder falls and beyond, there are no regs other than the statewide minimum since it only mentions from the mouth to the falls?
 
It was easy peasy to search for Boulder River, and I selected "from falls upstream".
Normal season, no selective gear regs - bait is allowed
Screenshot_20220801-080832_Fish Washington.jpg
 
I don't think there is any private property in the National forests. Deception Creek falls in a series of falls from the mountains on the left side of Highway 2 into the Tye river. I don't believe there are any fish in the pools of that creek. If you are going to attempt to drive up to the top of Deception Creek . You can get there off the Foss River road. Forest service road 6830. But you better have a good map as there are twists and turns in the mountains. Good luck and give a report if you can get up there.

Here's a hint. You would be better off fishing the Tye River up that high. A little birdy told me about that area.
 
xApprchsNfnty said:
Am I to assume that if a river/creek/etc. (or section of a river/creek/etc.) is not listed in the regs, that it's open to general rules rather than being closed waters? For example, deception creek off of HW2 isn't listed in the regs nor is boulder river upstream of the falls. Not sure if there are fish in either of them, but I just don't want to break the rules to find out.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That used to be true. Now if it's not listed in the book is closed. Which I personally think sucks as I lost a stream that I fished regularly to not being listed. I may be wrong but this was my understanding after a conversation with the department.
 
Dustin Chromers said:
That used to be true. Now if it's not listed in the book is closed. Which I personally think sucks as I lost a stream that I fished regularly to not being listed. I may be wrong but this was my understanding after a conversation with the department.
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This statement is wrong. All fresh waters that are not listed in the regs fall under the State wide rules. I just read this in the fresh water regs.
 
Old Man said:
I don't think there is any private property in the National forests. Deception Creek falls in a series of falls from the mountains on the left side of Highway 2 into the Tye river. I don't believe there are any fish in the pools of that creek. If you are going to attempt to drive up to the top of Deception Creek . You can get there off the Foss River road. Forest service road 6830. But you better have a good map as there are twists and turns in the mountains. Good luck and give a report if you can get up there.

Here's a hint. You would be better off fishing the Tye River up that high. A little birdy told me about that area.
Click to expand...
Thanks for confirming this. The Tye is actually my main reason for going there, I've only fished it closer to where it meets the Foss so I want to keep going upstream. I just saw that it has some smaller creeks and sometimes they make it easier to get further from civilization.
 
Old Man said:
This statement is wrong. All fresh waters that are not listed in the regs fall under the State wide rules. I just read this in the fresh water regs.
Click to expand...

I'm actually very happy to hear this. It wouldn't be the first time I got bad info from the department.
 
Dustin Chromers said:
That used to be true. Now if it's not listed in the book is closed. Which I personally think sucks as I lost a stream that I fished regularly to not being listed. I may be wrong but this was my understanding after a conversation with the department.
Click to expand...
Old Man said:
This statement is wrong. All fresh waters that are not listed in the regs fall under the State wide rules. I just read this in the fresh water regs.
Click to expand...
This is one of those things that has changed back and forth. used to be "not listed = statewide rules" then it was "not listed is closed" and now, as @Old Man correctly notes, it's back to "not listed = statewide rules" again (thankfully).

www.eregulations.com

Washington Statewide Freshwater Regulations

View Washington statewide freshwater fishing regulations, seasons, and limits. Learn more to plan your trip and fish legally on eRegulations.
www.eregulations.com www.eregulations.com

Screen Shot 2022-08-01 at 2.31.59 PM.png
 
Josh said:
This is one of those things that has changed back and forth. used to be "not listed = statewide rules" then it was "not listed is closed" and now, as @Old Man correctly notes, it's back to "not listed = statewide rules" again (thankfully).

www.eregulations.com

Washington Statewide Freshwater Regulations

View Washington statewide freshwater fishing regulations, seasons, and limits. Learn more to plan your trip and fish legally on eRegulations.
www.eregulations.com www.eregulations.com

View attachment 25589
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I'm not computer smart or else I would of posted this same page. It sucks to be so dumb.
 
Josh said:
I remember hating that rule so much...
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I agree with you 100%!

I also hated it when they changed the listing of river from alphabetical to by drainage. I also did not realize that elsewhere in the pamphlet they did list the rivers alphabetically and the page to go to to see its regs.
 
Bruce Baker said:
That rule change was in 2010 and they reversed it the next year.

2010-11 pamphlet page 11
View attachment 25610

2011-12 pamphlet page 13
View attachment 25609
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Wow! I would’ve sworn it was longer than one year that Puget Sound tributaries were closed unless listed as open. My memory has been proven faulty before. But that clip for 2011-2012 doesn’t exactly say that everything is open unless closed, just that 7500 lakes reservoirs and ponds are (were) open year round.
 
Matt B said:
Wow! I would’ve sworn it was longer than one year that Puget Sound tributaries were closed unless listed as open.
Click to expand...
I feel like it was longer than one year as well. But I also wouldn't trust my memory.
 
Matt B said:
Wow! I would’ve sworn it was longer than one year that Puget Sound tributaries were closed unless listed as open. My memory has been proven faulty before. But that clip for 2011-2012 doesn’t exactly say that everything is open unless closed, just that 7500 lakes reservoirs and ponds are (were) open year round.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I was sure it was more than one year as well. I just re-read the attachment for the 2011-12 year. Looks like it was just referring to lakes, ponds, and reservoirs and excluding streams. So maybe it took longer for streams. I will take another look at the regs pamphlets and see if I can clear up. In the meantime, my apologies for adding to the confusion @Josh and @Matt B.
 
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