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Regulation changes in works By MARK FREEMAN Proposed changes in bass limits on Applegate Lake, a plan allowing bank anglers to use a second fishing rod and a removal of laws that ban anglers from tossing the guts of cleaned fish back into the water highlight a list of possible changes to sport-fishing regulations in 2001. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will take public comment in hearings next week on these and 232 other proposed changes to fishing regulations. This is the first large-scale revision in Oregon's sport-fishing rules since 1996, when a major effort was launched to streamline and simplify the regulations booklet. About half the proposals have been generated by ODFW biologists and state fish and wildlife enforcement officers, and the remaining half come from the general public. Based on averages from previous exercises, anywhere from one third to one half of the regulation proposals likely will become fishing law beginning next New Year's Day, says Charlie Corrarino, who is coordinating the effort for the ODFW. One such proposed change comes from Corrarino himself and is designed to keep average anglers from becoming environmental offenders virtually any time they go fishing. State statute bans the disposing of dead fish carcasses, or their parts, into Oregon waters. But anglers traditionally clean their fish and either toss the guts back into the stream or lake or pitch them into a nearby garbage can. Yet many anglers have pointed out that this is inconsistent with ODFW programs in which excess hatchery salmon are actually placed in streams to help improve the streams' natural nutrients. "We're not consistent," Corrarino says. "What we need to do is educate anglers not to leave a pile of guts at the boat landing." The rule is in the sport-fishing regulations, but it is actually a state Department of Environmental Quality statute that has been applied to sport-anglers, Corrarino says. Corrarino says he believes the DEQ rule was intended for the dumping of domestic animal carcasses and large-scale seafood-processing plants, not sport-anglers. He has asked the Oregon attorney general's office for an opinion and has sought to remove the law from the sport-fishing regulation synopsis, he says. If the attorney general's opinion states that sport-anglers are not intended to be caught in the DEQ web, then he will seek the law's removal from the angling regulations booklet, Corrarino says. "If it's not in the book, the state police couldn't come along and give you a ticket," Corrarino says. Some of the proposed regulations, such as those setting aside more waters for fly-fishing and creating a special tag to fish these waters, have virtually no chance of getting adopted, Corrarino says. Others, like a proposal to let bank anglers fish with two rods instead of one, have some merit but face an uphill battle because of perceived problems with over-crowding and enforcement, Corrarino says. Yet some proposals, like allowing some trout harvest on coastal streams where trout fishing is currently allowed, have a chance at passing but likely will hinge upon how public comment shakes out, he says. "We want to hear what anglers have to say about these new proposed regulations," Corrarino says. "There's room for negotiations and some changes to the proposals." After public comment, ODFW biologists will list proposals recommended for approval by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, which will set the new rules in September. Here are some more proposals of local interest. A full list can be viewed by checking the ODFW's Web page at: www.dfw.state.or.us A public proposal to restrict angling to use of barbless hooks in all rivers. A public proposal to change the rules on who must tag a fish. Currently, anglers can hook a fish and pass the rod to another fisherman who would land it and keep it as part of his legal limit. The proposal would make the person who hooks the fish tag the fish. At Applegate Lake, a change in bass regulations to allow the keeping of five bass per day but none between 12 and 15 inches long and just one over 15 inches. The current five-bass daily limit allows no more than three fish over 15 inches. On the upper Rogue River, a public proposal to restrict fishing from Gold Ray Dam to the Cole Rivers Hatchery deadline to barbless artificial flies and conventional fly-angling equipment only, year-round. On the upper Rogue, a public proposal to ban all bait fishing from Gold Ray Dam to the hatchery deadline year-round. On the upper Rogue, a public proposal to require single-point flies and lures only year-round and catch-and-release fishing only for salmon, trout and steelhead upstream of the mouth of Elk Creek. On the Applegate River, a public proposal to allow only fly-fishing with barbless hooks year-round. On the Chetco, a public proposal to allow anglers to keep five native steelhead per year. Currently, all native steelhead must be released unharmed. On the Chetco, a public proposal to change the bag limit to one native steelhead a day, three per year. At Fish Lake, a public proposal to change the trout limit from five fish at least 8 inches long per day, with no more than one fish over 20 inches, to just one trout per day. On Jenny Creek and its tributaries, a proposal to limit fishing to artificial flies and lures only. In the ocean, a public proposal to drop the aggregate any-species daily limit from 25 fish to 15 fish (except tuna). In the ocean, a public proposal to drop surfperch from the 25-fish daily aggregate list and allow just 10 surfperch a day. How to comment Want to comment on these or any other proposed change to Oregon's sport-fishing rules for 2001 and beyond? Here's how. ATTEND A MEETING -- Public meetings will be held across Oregon in the next two weeks to gather comments. On Wednesday, anglers will meet in Klamath Falls at the Oregon State University Extension Building, 3328 Vandenberg Road. On May 11, a meeting is planned at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Office, 4192 N. Umpqua Highway, in Roseburg. The meetings run 7 to 10 p.m. WRITE A LETTER -- ODFW Angling Regulations, P.O. Box 59, Portland, OR 97207. SEND AN E-MAIL -- Cyber-anglers can send their comments to: [email protected] Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Mail Tribune � 2000 -- Medford, Oregon USA