Flossing for Kokanee

I'd say a hook in the mouth is not snagging... I'm not CPW though...

Rual,
Keep it on the down low, would ya?

I dont understand how using a fly and hooking it in the fish's mouth is not just regular "catching". Even when I fish with my spinning rod and a fly, isnt that just fishing.

I’d genuinely recommend reaching out to a park ranger, specifically someone who might be assigned to the South Park area. With that said, there are plenty of other flies those Kokanee will take.

You can fish pegged beads, some would say that is flossing, others say it’s a safer way to fish an egg pattern to prevent the fish from swallowing the hook.

Catching in the mouth is called angling. Snagging anywhere else is called foul hooking and the fish must be returned immediately. In the South Platte between 11Mile and Spinney where all fish must be returned what's the difference?

I watched a guy floss/snag 10-20 kokanee out of a pool on the Dreamstream with a fly rod. A game warden was watching with binocs from the parking lot. Since the guy was releasing all the fish, the game warden never confronted him about it.

The fish know your motives so be careful hooking them in the mouth next time----------will ya? Lol..........

So, much ado about nothing. Hook in the mouth is not snagging.

Right?

I watched a Fishful Thinker yesterday, Chad was using stickbaits in Kansas, brought many to the boat, released all. Just about every fish was hooked in the body, not mouth. I think the fish attempted to eat the bait but circumstances caused the hooks to impale the body and pull out of the mouth.

Could the warden with binoculars determine that those fish had been illegally snagged if kept ?

Walleye guy- it might depend on how the guy was releasing them. If he was carless and DID snag one or more of them in the body and was taking them out of the water enough for the warden to SEE that with their binocs, then ya I would imagine he might get a visit from the warden. If you're snagging multiple in the body then that's still illegal if I understand the regs correctly. Even if you're releasing them.

I believe traditional flossing involves swinging yarn to fish holding in the current to catch yarn on teeth and then have hook will end in mouth. This is just a different way to snag fish IMO. There are a lot of rules that officers interpret differently so I imagine it all depends on the officers thoughts that day.

I personally would not choose this method. I struggle with even traditional fly fishing techniques that require repeated drifts to annoy the fish into biting (or bass bed fishing for that mater). I am not judging and have done it myself, but not my cup a tea.

That unethical individual was snagging more than "flossing". I watched him do it repeatedly from 50 feet away. Over half the fish were tail or body hooked. When I went back to my car I mentioned to the officer what was going on. His comment was, "well he's not keeping them is he?". I said no, and he shrugged, and got in his vehicle and left.

Spikey, that’s unfortunate, legitimately. I don’t really understand the point of snagging if you’re NOT gonna keep them…

OK, I am seriously confused by the original post. Flossing is using a fly, & "snagging" the fish in the mouth?? Agree with others, that is called "angling".

Seriously asking, are they hitting the fly, but the hook is "hooking" the fish on the outside of the jaw or mouth?? And, it's not an illegal form of angling, because no fish were kept. (by an illegal form of angling, "snagging")

We have caught many walleyes this year on a Metro lake using blade baits, where both trebles are outside the mouth. Is this "flossing or snagging"?

flossing is trying to snag a salmon in the mouth in moving water.

fishing is when a fish eats your hook thinking its food or a threat.

a foul hook is when you miss a set and hook somewhere other than the mouth, or a fish hooks itself trying to eat your hook

a trout or dolly eats a pegged bead as food and sucks it down its throat, you set the hook dangling 2" below the bead and hook in the lip

god i'm ready to go fish.....

Per the 2023 CPW fishing brochure. page 5.. under 'fishing terms glossary'.

"Snagging - is the taking of fish by snatching with hooks, gang hooks, artificial flies or lures, or similar devices where the fish is hooked in a part of the body other than the mouth."

So per CPW, flossing (as described here) is not considered snagging.

Flossing generally results in hooking the fish on the outside of the mouth instead of "in" the mouth. Similarly, with a pegged egg rig, fish takes the egg in the mouth, then the hook 2'' below gets pulled into the outside of the fish's mouth.

Interesting.

My father told me that when he was young, he and his brothers caught Northern Pike and Walleye in Minnesota using nothing but small sections of red yarn tied to a fishing line.
Apparently, the yarn got snagged in the fishes teeth when they snapped at the yarn.
Don't know why such a practice wouldn't work today, and you would never have a gut-hooked fish.

CPW really ought to collect eggs there, not sure why they don't?

Just watched a video on it. Lots of weight in fast moving water. The idea is that the line will go into the fish's mouth. When you feel resistance, set the hook like you mean it. Line will go through the fish's mouth until the hook hits it in the outside of the mouth.

By the letter of the law in CO, legal, I guess. How do you tell if the line is in the fish's mouth or running across its back?

I know you used to be able to snag kokanee in many of the waters in Colorado. Places like Carter, Lake, Cheesman Reservoir and the Blue River allowed snagging in the fall when Kokes were trying to spawn. Not sure what the rules are now.

If you are not setting a hook from a bite it's snagging