On page 17 of the Washington state fishing regulations is the following In lakes, ponds, and reservoirs: No min. size. Daily limit 5. When fishing with bait, all TROUT (except STEELHEAD) equal to or greater than the minimum size are counted as part of the daily limit whether kept or released. Boating 42 fish and releasing all but your limit is illegal. As a guide you surely know this!

Dear Bassfishertom...The gentleman indicated that he was fishing with flies and an artificial minnow lure, with no mention of "bait". If C&R is perfectly legal when fishing with artificials, you might extend an apology to YJ Guide Service. If the mistake here is mine, I extend an apology to you.
mw

cielowalker38 is correct. No bait used means it's legal to catch and release. Having fished with Craig, I know he handled the released fish with care and would have kept any that were obviously injured.

Yep, flies and Rip'n Minnows are UNSCENTED, FLAVORLESS artificial lures unless bait, as defined in the regs, is added by the angler.

Bassfishertom - See pg 10 of the regs pamphlet: "Bait - Anything that attracts fish or shellfish by scent and/or flavor. This includes any device
made of feathers, hair, fiber, wood, metal, glass, cork, leather, rubber, or plastic, WHICH USES SCENT AND/OR FLAVORING to attract fish or wildlife."

Catch and release IS perfectly legal when using unscented artificial flies and lures. Never "assume" someone is baiting artificial lures unless they say so. Craig knows the regs better than you do and YOU owe him an apology.

I moved up here 24 yrs. ago and now that I'm retired it's time to get back to some fishing. I've bought an old boat and started searching the internet to figure out how ya'll fish up here. I moved from the South (GA. AL. LA.). Mostly for Bass, Catfish and Bream. I found this web site a mo. a go and its been great to see the postings and comments. I must say the Wa. regs. and limits can be confusing. Who wants to keep Large Mouth Bass 12" and under ??? Please keep up with the postings, its good to see how and were the fish a being caught . Maybe it will even help some of us from making mistakes that the F&G. might frown on. I'm sure it happens to all of us , even though we don't like to admit it.

Trust me I know this, this is my home waters. Don't need to scent an rippin minnow or thunder sticks. I was running flys unscented like we do most of the time. I run worm harness's as well every now and then and those fish become part of the retention limit no matter what. Thanks

Thanks guys for the support. Easy for people to make an assumption without knowing the facts.

jpack, welcome. I can't speak to other states, but yes, WA has quite the thick regs pamphlet. We get reg questions popping up on a regular basis so you'll learn some of the pitfalls as this post shows.
Craig, I remember those Lake Roosevelt trout as being the best trout I've ever eaten flavor-wise!

...and that's not disrespectfully beating up on Basserfishertom over a "human error" or misunderstanding. The fact is that we can present through inquiry,...or at least in a non-confrontational manner. It's a good site! It came across as such most likely because he cares about the fish. No blood - no foul!
mw

No problem with his comment really. Anyone that knows us or has fished with us know we are out to protect the fisheries and bodies of water we fish. We are not into trying to destroy or exploit fisheries. We were one of the biggest voices in trying to protect the pike fishery and unfortunately we paid the price for being that voice. This site is one of the best sites for gathering information on specific areas and species you might be wanting to fish. People need to realize people don't post every specific detail in their posts. Its fishing

It's been great to piece to gather the bits of information on fishing technique , the photos of catches , and info on some of the regs. Thanks' Ya'll , and Good Fishing !!!

Mike that's the same thing I'm told over and over and over with regard to Roosevelt rainbow table quality, fresh or smoked. :-) Hmm, maybe you and Aaron should do a video with a guide at Roosevelt??? ;-)

The Trout in Roosevelt are like eating salmon, same orange color meat from eating the shrimp. They are yummy...

I use bait, but my bait just happens to be unscented and unflavored combo of things I have learned about from a lot of fishermen in Montana and Washington. Just because I call it bait doesn't mean it's live bait or scented or flavored. I still get asked every time about using "illegal" bait. People should realize that most of the people that post on here repeatedly usually know the regs pretty well, always keep injured fish as limit counting fish, and that sometimes we keep some things to ourselves. I try to share all of the details I can, but if I have small tweak my uncle and dad learned from their dad, and that I use, I may not share it because it is fun to see how it works and just remember my family while using it. Seth Burrill uses some of the same stuff and I use his ideas too. They are pretty similar to my families "bait" that I use. Watch his videos. That guy has a lot if trucks and tips to use, and he is always extremely legal.

Seth is a wealth of knowledge on our local fisheries. Has been several years ago now, think it was '07 or '08, I was fortunate enough to attend the Angler's Academy he held in ID. Miss his shows, they were awesome.

I was stopping by his shop out by Cabelas, but I think he moved again. He has been putting all of his shows and videos on YouTube. You can watch almost anything he's ever done on there, as well as new stuff.