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Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

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Banks Lake Report
Grant County, WA

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07/04/2015
96° - 100°
Trolling
Walleye
Worms
Sunny
Other
All Day
71° - 75°
07/08/2015
5
2366

We(Evie and I) fished Banks from 7-3 thru 7-6 every chance we could between wind events and 100 plus degree heat. We stayed at Coulee City park(what a zoo on a holiday weekend), with the wind blowing from the north east most of the time we had white caps on the Coulee city end of the lake most mornings. We had fished this lake two weeks earlier and knew that with the new lowered size limit on walleye that limits would be easy picking so we only fished when the wind would die down and until the heat became uncomfortable. It would only take about an hour to get our two limits in the livewell then we would cull out the smaller fish as we caught larger ones. We end up with 1 at 28 1/2 inch, 7 in the 24 to 22 inch range and he rest of our 4 day limit ranged from 14 to 20 1/2 inches. We each had to release two walleye over 22 inch because we already had our one over 22inch for the day. In my opinion Fish and Game did the right thing by lowering the size limit to get some of the smaller walleye out of this lake. Now if they would do some thing to thin out the Bass then the one million Kokanee they release each year might have a chance, until then they are just wasting money raising Bass and Walleye food. Right now this would be a great place to bring kids for fast easy limits. We trolled Slow Death hook rigged several different ways and every thing caught fish.


Comments

hlindsay
7/8/2015 1:32:00 PM
In the new regs did they change it to a 4 day limit from a 2 day possession limit?
hewesbob
7/8/2015 2:08:00 PM
No the regs didn't change. I guess what I need to find out is, since our motorhome is our primary residence, what classifies as being in the field? We clean, vacuum seal and freeze fish every day that we fish. I truly never meant to break any laws and I don't think I am now but thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Larry3215
7/8/2015 3:15:00 PM
I am fairly sure a motor home counts as a residence as far as possession limits. Cant remember where I read that though...
G-Man
7/8/2015 3:15:00 PM
It's not the State's fault that people are releasing bass that they catch. The limit was raised to 10 smallmouth per day several years ago, with the one fish over 14" left in place. In theory, you could bring home 10 smallies and 5 largies if you so choose. Smallmouth are great eating fish, most all I catch come home with me for dinner.
hewesbob
7/8/2015 7:44:00 PM
I just posted in the forums about the possession limits, please chime in. This is a matter that never occurred to me and really bothers me, if I am doing some thing wrong I need to change things, but we have meet hundreds of folks in the last two years that we have been traveling months at a time in our motorhomes that do the same as we do and this has never come up before. And GMAN you are perfectly right smallmouth are great table fare. I just wish more people did not have the idea that every Bass caught MUST to be C/R. Thanks to everybody for reading my posts
hewesfisher
7/9/2015 10:14:00 AM
Hewesbob, good discussion on the forum and I'm sure you got your answer there. I've been down this road myself until spending some quality time with the reg pamphlet in great detail. It's a good thing you brought it up here, maybe more people will learn what the rules are. ;-)

For anyone who reads this instead of the forum discussion, the answers can be found in the definition section of the pamphlet under "In the Field or In Transit", "Ordinary Residence", "Possession Limit", "Processed", and the yellow highlighted text at the top of pg 17. I think it's an ABSOLUTE SHAME the way the pamphlet is written, so convoluted instead of simple English. No ine should not have to read 4 or 5 definitions to get an answer. :-/
hewesbob
7/9/2015 5:24:00 PM
I have learned a lot since yesterday about this topic but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. I talked with four different game agents today. One here in Spokane, one in Olympia, and two in Tumwater and none of them could tell me what the law is to my question, all them just offered their opinion. I just emailed Dave Graybill asking what it would take to change some of this stuff in the regs booklet. Dave recently took Rollie Schmittens position on the Fish and Game board. From reading your reports(and I read all of them) I take it that you have place up around Seven Bays I think it is, so maybe I can ask you the same question that the game agents couldn't answer. I'm not sure if you have a house or mobile home but lets assume it's not an RV, say you go fishing every day for a week and limit every day, you clean your fish and freeze them each night. Have you broken any laws? Now say I just bought the lot next to you and pull in and set up my 38 ft diesel pusher motor home then I go fishing every day for the next week and limit each day. I clean and freeze my fish each night. Have I broken any laws? Of course I have because I am in a motorhome. Now say we both head back to Spokane with our week catch, are we breaking any laws? Of course we are you can only transport two daily limits. My question to the game agent was "Why are the law different if your second home is a cabin by the lake or a motor home". I understand the law may have been made thinking about folks who use their motorhome 3 or 4 times a year but we spend over nine months a year in ours traveling fishing. It just seems to me that for a law to be imposed it has to treat every body the same weather in a cabin or a motorhome. Well I guess thats my two cents worth. What do you think? I always enjoy reading your comments. Thanks Bob
buc
7/10/2015 4:26:00 PM
your not doing anything wrong ? catch em. eat em go out next day do it again you shouldn't have to drive home just to put em inn the freezer. ????
hewesfisher
7/10/2015 4:43:00 PM
I'm with you Bob, we're on the same page. Will have to think about it over the weekend as we're off to Seven Bays shortly for tomorrow's annual HOA meeting and BoD elections if we have a quorum, if not, we repeat on Sunday. :-/
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709