Sportfishing Rule Proposals & Comments
View proposals and comments on proposals that were submitted by the public and WDFW staff.
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Rule Change Recommendation Short Title
• See comments Rules Category
Puget Sound Region Freshwater Type of Rule Change Proposal
Recreational County or Location Information
Snohomish County Short Description
Change to statewide freshwater general rules and remove from the Westside Lakes special rules section of the regulation pamphlet.
Explanation
Historically, Ebey Lake was managed as a quality fly fishing destination lake. DFW last stocked the lake in 1999 with 2000 cutthroat fry. There are two separate private properties that anglers must cross to access this lake. The entire shoreline of the lake is privately owned. Angler access to the lake was permitted historically by an agreement between WDFW and the shoreline owner for “use limited to fishermen only & only in season” but the agreement expired in 1962 according to WDFW records. The road that accesses Ebey Lake crosses private property and has been gated by the landowners. Including Ebey Lake under the Westside lakes special rules section of the pamphlet gives anglers a false impression that this is an accessible, quality fly fishing lake. Anglers interested in fishing Ebey Lake contact DFW and/or DNR only to discover there is no legal access to the lake. There have been confrontations between landowners and fishermen attempting to access the lake.
Original Rule Proposal Number(s)
DFW566319
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCE, WASHINGTON STATE DNR September 28, 2012
SEDRO-WOOLLEY, WA
Comments:
The WA DNR is supportive of this change, as there is no legal access to Ebey Lake and we have received numerous calls and complaints regarding access to this Lake. We explain that we cannot legally grant access across the private property to the DNR property to gain access to the Lake - and the Lake is in fact surrounded by Private Property - again giving the false impression that the Lake is open to public access. There is no legal access across DNR to the Lake - removing this Lake from the pamphlet is supported by the Department of Natural Resources and would hopefully clear up confusion or misunderstanding by the recreating community. Thank you. CARVER SR, RUSSELL L November 29, 2012
LAKETAPPS, WA
Comments:
Please pass rule change #42. TOWNSELL, JR., JOHN V December 11, 2012
EVERETT, WA
Comments:
To: WDFW
You requested input for changes in the rules for enhanced fishing.
The suggestions in items DFW616241 and DFW809852 proposed making Lake Sixteen (Skagit County) a selective gear rules lake.
The WDFW response was that the old rules should stay in effect, i.e. allow this lake to be an "opening day" lake.
Washington sportsmen are losing a “fly fishing only” lake, Ebey Lake, under the proposed rule changes. Most lakes in this area are “opening day” lakes and very few have selective gear rules. The change in the rules for Lake Sixteen would provide some compensation to Washington sportsmen for the loss of Ebey Lake. Lake Sixteen is capable of growing large fish and should be managed as a “catch and release” fishery.
I belong to several fishing and fly fishing clubs in this area. These clubs want this change and would work to ensure the success of Lake Sixteen which would provide a quality exper WESTOVER, NEIL W January 22, 2013
MARYSVILLE, WA
Comments:
I support this change.
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