acres | contests per day | boats per contest day |
Less than 300 | 1 | 15 | |
301 - 3,000 | 1 | 35 | |
3,001 - 6,000 | 2 | 75 | |
6,001 - 10,000 | 2 | 120 | |
More than 10,000 | 3 | 250 | |
* | No more than four weekend days per month nor more than two weekends per month may be scheduled on any water when contestants fish at the same time, and are allowed to fish from boats. |
(f) It is unlawful for the fishing contest permittee or any of the contest participants to fail to comply with the conditions of the fishing contest permit, or of general fishing rules not specifically exempted by this permit. Failure of the permittee or any of the contestants to comply with all provisions of the contest permit or of other fishing regulations during a contest may lead to revocation of the permit and result in denial of fishing contest permits to the permittee and related organizations or individuals sponsoring contests for two years.
(6) Special regulations, bass and walleye contests:
(a) In any contest targeting either bass or walleye, all live bass or walleye must be released alive into the water from which they were caught after being weighed and/or measured. At the end of each day's competition, if the mortality of target fish caught that day exceeds 10%, the contest will be suspended. Suspended contests may be continued (within assigned permit dates) only if the cause of the high mortality can be positively identified, and the cause of the mortality (high waves, equipment deficiency, etc.) ceases or is corrected by contest officials.
(b) During bass and walleye contests only, participants may continue to fish while holding up to five fish in possession, as long as one fish is released immediately upon catching a fish which would make the angler in excess of five fish if kept. The fish released may come either from the one just caught, or from the livewell, but at no time may the angler have more than five fish in the livewell.
(c) During bass contests, contestants may not use live bait.
(d) During bass and walleye contests participants may retain up to five bass and walleye of any size to be weighed in. A tournament angler may not be in possession of more than five bass or walleye from the water being fished, except as authorized under (6)(e) below.
(e) The contest director or director designee may exceed possession limits for bass or walleye for the purpose of transporting fish from a weigh-in site to an open-water area. During transportation, the transport boat must not leave the water the fish were caught from and a copy of the contest permit must be on board during actual fish transport.
(f) Boat identification: All boats used for fishing in bass and walleye contests must be clearly identified according to criteria established by the department.
(7) Aquatic invasive species decontamination. Prior to launching into any Washington state body of water:
(a) All contest participants are required to sign an aquatic invasive species decontamination statement that their boats and/or boat trailers have or have not been in physical contact with any waters outside of Washington state for thirty days immediately preceding the contest and, if the boat and/or trailer has been in contact with such waters, the participant must complete an aquatic invasive species decontamination report indicating that the following actions have been taken:
(i) A physical inspection has been made of the hull, motor, trailer, livewell and bilge by the contest director or designee, according to criteria established by the department; and
(ii) Any aquatic invasive species, if found, have been disposed of in a garbage container; and
(iii) The hull, motor, trailer, livewell, and bilge have been decontaminated according to criteria established by the department.
(b) The aquatic invasive species decontamination statement and decontamination report shall be submitted to the department as part of the fishing contest report.
[Statutory Authority: RCW
77.04.012,
77.04.013,
77.04.020,
77.04.055, and
77.12.047. WSR 17-05-112 (Order 17-04), recodified as § 220-220-220, filed 2/15/17, effective 3/18/17. Statutory Authority: RCW
77.08.045,
77.12.170,
77.12.177,
77.32.050,
77.32.240,
77.32.350,
77.32.370,
77.32.430,
77.32.450,
77.32.460,
77.32.470,
77.32.520,
77.32.580,
77.65.020,
77.65.090,
77.65.110,
77.65.150,
77.65.160,
77.65.170,
77.65.190,
77.65.200,
77.65.210,
77.65.220,
77.65.280,
77.65.340,
77.65.390,
77.65.440,
77.65.450,
77.65.480,
77.65.510,
77.70.080,
77.70.190,
77.70.220,
77.70.260,
77.70.490,
77.115.040, and
43.84.092. WSR 11-22-002 (Order 11-282), § 232-12-168, filed 10/19/11, effective 11/19/11. Statutory Authority: RCW
77.12.047. WSR 09-06-042 (Order 09-27), § 232-12-168, filed 2/25/09, effective 5/1/09; WSR 08-07-003, § 232-12-168, filed 3/5/08, effective 4/5/08; WSR 06-05-085 (Order 06-23), § 232-12-168, filed 2/14/06, effective 5/1/06; WSR 04-07-009 (Order 04-39), § 232-12-168, filed 3/4/04, effective 5/1/04; WSR 02-08-048 (Order 02-53), § 232-12-168, filed 3/29/02, effective 5/1/02. Statutory Authority: RCW
75.08.080,
77.12.040. WSR 00-08-038 (Order 00-29), § 232-12-168, filed 3/29/00, effective 5/1/00. Statutory Authority: RCW
77.12.020 and
77.12.040. WSR 96-15-096 (Order 96-80), § 232-12-168, filed 7/19/96, effective 8/19/96. Statutory Authority: RCW
77.12.040. WSR 96-11-079, § 232-12-168, filed 5/13/96, effective 7/1/96; WSR 94-06-014 (Order 629), § 232-12-168, filed 2/18/94, effective 3/21/94; WSR 92-22-015 (Order 577), § 232-12-168, filed 10/21/92, effective 11/21/92. Statutory Authority: RCW
77.12.040 and
77.04.055. WSR 90-22-057 (Order 464), § 232-12-168, filed 11/5/90, effective 12/6/90. Statutory Authority: RCW
77.12.040 and
77.16.010. WSR 86-21-017 (Order 280), § 232-12-168, filed 10/6/86.]