Poll question: Should snagging fish in saltwater be illegal?

I voted yes, but I would make an exception for Mullet which are plentiful in some areas and, being plankton eaters, won't take a lure or bait conventionally.
Of course how to effectively allow this while enforcing a law against snagging is beyond me. Just my $.02.

Tight lines,
Wade

I hate it when I see those snaggers bring up those big fat female corbina.
Anthony

Fish and game regulation section 28.65 states no fin fish to be taken
in such a manner that the fish does not take the hook voluntarily in its mouth. It also states (No person shall take fin fish from any boat or other floating device in oceans waters without having a landing net in possissinon.)Tubers and yakers take note. The Net size shall be not less than 18 inches.in diameter.

I learned my lesson about snagging when, one day, in a fit of genious, I whacked the side of a large mola with a jig. Not only is messing with a mola bad karma, but I had a 9' jig stick and a big load of very angry mola steaking straight down at mach 2. Lesson learned, I had to repent to the fish gods for some time for that stupid trick, as well as sporting a nice sore back! DON'T SNAG ANY FISH!!! If you can't hook them proper, you don't deserve to be involved with the fish.

The first regulation is for freshwater, not saltwater, I don't know what the difference is though.

Adam

And definitely should be made illegal! That takes all of the challenge out of the sport! Also, for every big corbina that is snagged, I wonder how many undersized and/or other species have been snagged and injured/killed while trying to get that "lunker"!?

Not to throw oil on the fire, but keep in mind that catching baitfish, ie. perch, smelt, brownbaits, sardines and chovies is often done by a 'snag-rig'.

Many people do not buy bait, or have the option of buying bait, and catch bait for fishing off small craft. Keep this in mind when you start looking at restricting methods of catch.

Before jumping to start closing down things, we need to establish if A. the species can support the current pressure
B. the method of take in proportion to the other methods of take (ie. 10% via snag rigs, 40% via bait, 50% via flies/lures)

Keep in mind that we have many, many different agencies trying to shut everything we do down, so I think that we need to be careful when proposing closures.

Marco Farrell
Santa Barbara, CA

PS I am all for conservation of species at optimal take levels, and not for promoting non-sportive methods of take.

PPS, I do not snag corbina, I used to try, but was never successful as a kid growing up fishing on the piers.

Marco

It shouldnt be illegal beacause u hooked the fish, u need a hook to fish and if a fish gets snaged it should be illegal to keep it. it happins rarely anyways there shouldnt be a law for it.<--thats my opinion.

Now that this post has been up for a while I'll put in my $.02

This issue has been the topic of many message boards many times. My personal opinion is that it is a pitiful excuse for fishing, un-sporting, un-fair, and dangerous. Here are a few negatives I've come up with.

Negatives:

Most of the time these people are using heavy rods, heavy line along with multiple large weighted treble hooks. Swinging hard to try and connect with fish from the shore or pier. I have seen these people numerous times fishing in the "No Fishing" area of Stearn's Wharf trying to snag corbina and halibut (how do I know - I've asked). Maybe it's me but six large weighted treble hooks flying all over the place while tourists are walking by is probably not the best idea. I have heard one story that a tuber down south got snagged in the thumb by one of these morons (can you say lawsuit).

It is very easy to mortally wound a fish when purposely trying to snag it. There are many fish with minimum size requirements. It is impossible to tell the size of a fish from the surf or from the deck of a pier and it is impossible to effectively catch and release snagged fish.

More times than not while trying to snag fish you connect with many more than you actually hook. Anyone who has tried to snag fish know about this. How many fish that "get away" are mortally wounded or are left with huge gaping slashes?

I'm sure just these three negatives outweigh any positives and if I thought about it I could come up with more negatives. Not to mention the true corbina fisherman out there who spend hours trying to catch those beautiful wary fish while some other idiot runs down to the pier and with no skill whatsoever snags a corbina of a lifetime. It's just plain wrong.

Here's an interesting quote from another message board about snagging and the hooks:

"I also metal detect & have about six of their hooks, which I've found in the sand. They are wicked, large treble hooks with lead in the middle for casting."

Just one more thing. In the summer some corbina snaggers accidently hook large leopards from shore in the santa monica areas. It's so dangerous, those leopards aren't coming in without a fight and you have a bunch of treble hooks hanging going up and down the beach with swimmers in the area. They probably don't even have a license.
Anthony

Thanks, I didn't even think about a large fish running all over the place with the hooks dragging. One more thing to add to the list.