Trout Beads |
A dropper is a very common and very productive practice in fly fishing, and has been for a very long time. However, when beads came into play as droppers, there was some controversy that developed. These beads can be rigged several different ways. The bead can either be rigged with a tooth pick inserted into the bead, or once the leader is put through the bead it can be doubled back through, this way the angler can move the bead up and down the leader. The idea is that the bead will be placed just a couple inches above a bare hook, and when the fish grabs the bead it slides down the leader and the fish is hooked in the corner of the mouth. There are couple different schools of thought on this, one being that using a plastic bead is not a fly but actually a lure. Two that sliding the bead up the line above a bare hook and then hooking fish in the side of the mouth is considered snagging. Third, is that it’s just another good old fly fishing tactic, so who cares.
I see where all three thoughts come from, and I hate every meat headed snagging poacher as much as the next guy, but I have a hard time viewing the bead as a snagging tool. Washington State Rules and regulations state, “It is unlawful to possess a fish taken from freshwater that was not hooked inside the mouth or on the head. The head is defined as any portion forward of the rear margin of the gill plate.” (pg. 16, Washington Sport Fishing Rules effective May 1, 2013 – April 30, 2014). This makes hooking a fish in the face with the bead method perfectly legal in the state of Washington. However, cross the Columbia River and go into Oregon and you better leave your beads at home. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife defines snagging as “Taking or attempting to take a fish with a hook and line in a way or manner where the fish is not enticed to voluntarily take the hook(s) in its mouth. Game fish which are hooked other than inside of its mouth must be released immediately unharmed.” (pg. 12 2013 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations). So hook that hatchery brat in the side of the face in the state of Oregon, and you gotta let it go.
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