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Year-Round Fishing Season Approved
by Michael Le Gueliec, excerpted from Mt. Shasta News
www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2004/06/30/news/01year-roundfish.txt
Submitted by Betty Rentz and Cecilia Stipes
Year-Round Fishing Season Approved
by Michael Le Gueliec, excerpted from Mt. Shasta News
www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2004/06/30/news/01year-roundfish.txt
Submitted by Betty Rentz and Cecilia Stipes
The upper Sacramento River will now be open to fishing year-around. The state Fish and Game Commission agreed unanimously on Friday to adopt the City of Dunsmuir's proposal for new regulations along the entire stretch of the upper Sacramento River.
The new regulations will allow catch-and-release, zero-bag limits, throughout the winter months, which are typically the off-season months of California's general trout season. From November 15th through the last Saturday of April, the upper Sacramento River, from Box Canyon Dam to Shasta Lake, will be open for fishing, restricted to the use of barbless hooks and artificial lures.
Mike Dean, wild trout biologist for the Department of Fish and Game studied the potential impact of the regulations for the DFG and said, "The new regulations don't appear to affect the general trout population, but adds new fishing opportunity for upper Sacramento River anglers." Dean said he took into account the fishing pressure on the watershed using high limit numbers to establish a worse-case scenario. Assuming that the winter season receives half the angling pressure of the summer months, winter angling hours would be 225 hours per day, resulting in approximately 20,000 fish caught and released by anglers during the entire winter season. "That's assuming the river is fishable all winter season, 162 days per year," said Dean.
The regulation will be in affect for a three-year period, during which the DFG will monitor the fishery of the river and neighboring tributaries for potential problems. Dean said, "It's a chance to give back to the community," but he warns, "The wardens will be out there, so poachers beware. Expect the department to run special details to monitor the upper Sacramento River."