I was reading Islanders Lone Lake Report Yesterday and it got me reminiscing about the days before I started fly fishing which was also before Lone Lake became a Selective Gear Rules Lake. I used to fish that Lake back in the mid - early nineties. We would sit out there and catch fish from sun up to sun down. I have not fished any still water since I started fly fishing in '95. I figured I'd give 'er a go so I went down to Lone today.
So there I was standing on the boat launch talking to a dad who was fishing with his thre sons. Him and his older two were fishing legal but his youngest one wasn't. I informed him that this was a "selective gear rules" lake and he looked at me like I had two heads and asked what that meant. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So I gave him Washington States definition of that and informed him that he could find that in a little booklet called the fishing regulations.
So this guy points to two other boys fishing to the right of the boat launch who obviously didn't know the rules either. These kids were around 11 years old. So I walked over and asked the first kid what he was using and he said he was using worms because he ran out of power bait. So I gave him Washington States definition of Selective Gear Rules also. As I finished that statement the other boy walked up. As he was baiting his three hooks he had attached to his fishing line I informed him that he was breaking the law. He looked at me with a big "FU" look and casted his line out into the water and then turned around and looked at me defiantly. As I was swallowing my sundden urged to choke the shit out of that little bass turd I noticed an Island County Sherriff had pulled up to the boat launch.
The Sherriff informed the father of the three boys that his youngest kid was breaking the law. He gave him a good lecture and walked over to me and asked if the two young boys were with me. I looked at him and said "if they were they wouldn't be breaking the law." Right about then the defiant little shits pole went wild. He reeled in a nice 15-16 inch Rainbow. He dragged the fish up on shore like he was a river gear salmon fishermen. The Police officer asks the kid why he was fishing with worms and the kid says "because I ran out of power bait." I ran over and tried to cut the fish loose with my pocket knife because he swallowed the hook. I knew it wasn't going to make it because it was bleeding from it's gills. I tried my best to get that fish to not belly up but it didn't work. The policeman asked the kids how many fish they had. The younger grabs the now dead trout out of the lake and says "this one makes six." The Officer informs them that they are only allowed 1 a piece that had to be at least 18 inches long if they were fisjhing with legal gear. The Officer then told the boys that none of their fish were of the legal length. So apparently these two boys dads were fishing out on the lake in a boat and left their kids on shore to fend for themselves. So the two dads must have seen the comotion between the Deputy and their sons and started rowing ashore.
I walked into the bath room to suit up into my waders; man I need a boat. As I was putting my rod together and selecting the flies I was going to use the Deputy walked up and we had a nice conversation. He is from the Langley area and fishes Lone Lake quite regularly. He said the two dads were from the Ukraine and didn't speak a lick of English so the older boy had to translate. He said he was going to suggest that the state post the regs at the lake. I asked if he really thought that people would read them? He then joked about how fast the dad and three sons lit out of there. I asked for his business card and the number to the Game Warden in case I came across anything like this again. He gave me his business card and told me to call the Island County Sherriff's dispatcher number and they would take care of it. Here's the number (360) 321-4400
Sorry about the length of the thread but I had to share this with you guys. I didn't ask if he wrote them a ticket or not. I figured that was none of my business.
So there I was standing on the boat launch talking to a dad who was fishing with his thre sons. Him and his older two were fishing legal but his youngest one wasn't. I informed him that this was a "selective gear rules" lake and he looked at me like I had two heads and asked what that meant. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So I gave him Washington States definition of that and informed him that he could find that in a little booklet called the fishing regulations.
So this guy points to two other boys fishing to the right of the boat launch who obviously didn't know the rules either. These kids were around 11 years old. So I walked over and asked the first kid what he was using and he said he was using worms because he ran out of power bait. So I gave him Washington States definition of Selective Gear Rules also. As I finished that statement the other boy walked up. As he was baiting his three hooks he had attached to his fishing line I informed him that he was breaking the law. He looked at me with a big "FU" look and casted his line out into the water and then turned around and looked at me defiantly. As I was swallowing my sundden urged to choke the shit out of that little bass turd I noticed an Island County Sherriff had pulled up to the boat launch.
The Sherriff informed the father of the three boys that his youngest kid was breaking the law. He gave him a good lecture and walked over to me and asked if the two young boys were with me. I looked at him and said "if they were they wouldn't be breaking the law." Right about then the defiant little shits pole went wild. He reeled in a nice 15-16 inch Rainbow. He dragged the fish up on shore like he was a river gear salmon fishermen. The Police officer asks the kid why he was fishing with worms and the kid says "because I ran out of power bait." I ran over and tried to cut the fish loose with my pocket knife because he swallowed the hook. I knew it wasn't going to make it because it was bleeding from it's gills. I tried my best to get that fish to not belly up but it didn't work. The policeman asked the kids how many fish they had. The younger grabs the now dead trout out of the lake and says "this one makes six." The Officer informs them that they are only allowed 1 a piece that had to be at least 18 inches long if they were fisjhing with legal gear. The Officer then told the boys that none of their fish were of the legal length. So apparently these two boys dads were fishing out on the lake in a boat and left their kids on shore to fend for themselves. So the two dads must have seen the comotion between the Deputy and their sons and started rowing ashore.
I walked into the bath room to suit up into my waders; man I need a boat. As I was putting my rod together and selecting the flies I was going to use the Deputy walked up and we had a nice conversation. He is from the Langley area and fishes Lone Lake quite regularly. He said the two dads were from the Ukraine and didn't speak a lick of English so the older boy had to translate. He said he was going to suggest that the state post the regs at the lake. I asked if he really thought that people would read them? He then joked about how fast the dad and three sons lit out of there. I asked for his business card and the number to the Game Warden in case I came across anything like this again. He gave me his business card and told me to call the Island County Sherriff's dispatcher number and they would take care of it. Here's the number (360) 321-4400
Sorry about the length of the thread but I had to share this with you guys. I didn't ask if he wrote them a ticket or not. I figured that was none of my business.
