The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Maybe someone can help me. The locals in this area have always known we are not allowed to use nets to land fish, which always seemed strange to me. Seems like it would be more harmful to the fish not to use a landing net. So i looked it up and found this in the current reg. booklet.

2.09. Possession of Illegal Gear.
Except as otherwise provided, no person shall
use or possess, except in his or her home,
any landing gear, any nets, except standard
landing-type dip nets not exceeding 36 inches
in greatest dimension, excluding handle, gaffs spears or weighted multiple hooks as defined in
Chapter 2, Section 2.10 within 100 yards of any
river, stream, lake or reservoir. Non-electronic
underwater viewing devices may not be used
for taking fish except

Does this mean landing nets are permitted and have we had it wrong all along?

I'm new to the area so I may be missing something but I don't see anything in the reg's that prohibit the use of landing nets. There is this:

During closures to the take of adult salmon, anglers shall not remove
any adult Chinook salmon from the water by any means, such
as by dragging the fish on shore or using a net.

If your concerned I would check with a local warden.

MarcP

Yeah i've been trying to reach the warden, but no calls returned yet. sheesh.. I'm starting to think we've been wrong this whole time. Using a landing net seems sooo much better for the fish.

I have always had the same issue. I fished there for years before I had someone tell me about the net thing and it just got me confused. I've even talked to the DFG with a net hanging off my back and he did not say anything. This has happened a number of times.

I wonder if it some Santa Cruz joke?

I'm startin to think the joke is on santa cruz. One of our local forums had a heated argument last season about this.