Hi!
I'm down south in Texas, but I have family in Massachusetts. I haven't seriously considered fishing in MA until this year, after I got my fishing Kayak. I am prepping my gear for Texas, and keeping Massachusetts regs in mind. I have steel/tungsten jigs coming, instead of lead. Now for hooks, which has me a little confused. The regulations from mass. gov state no more than 2 hooks per line, or five for ice fishing. First off, treble hooks. Are those considered one hook, or three? Second, I've got top water bass lures that have 3 trebles on them - front, middle, tail - so are those lures out of regulation, or are they considered a single hook because its all on a lure designed to catch only one fish? I have plenty of crank baits and top waters with two treble hooks on them as well.
I would rather not end up with a spot check by a ranger and them find I have tackle that I can't use. Even if I am not using them, that might mean a ticket and something I don't want to risk.
Thanks
I'm down south in Texas, but I have family in Massachusetts. I haven't seriously considered fishing in MA until this year, after I got my fishing Kayak. I am prepping my gear for Texas, and keeping Massachusetts regs in mind. I have steel/tungsten jigs coming, instead of lead. Now for hooks, which has me a little confused. The regulations from mass. gov state no more than 2 hooks per line, or five for ice fishing. First off, treble hooks. Are those considered one hook, or three? Second, I've got top water bass lures that have 3 trebles on them - front, middle, tail - so are those lures out of regulation, or are they considered a single hook because its all on a lure designed to catch only one fish? I have plenty of crank baits and top waters with two treble hooks on them as well.
I would rather not end up with a spot check by a ranger and them find I have tackle that I can't use. Even if I am not using them, that might mean a ticket and something I don't want to risk.
Thanks
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife got back to me.
Hi Shayne, It really comes down to the design of the lure - meaning if it's designed to catch one fish at a time - which all of those are - it counts as one hook. However, if you had one line with several hooks like umbrella rigs or trot lines which are designed to catch multiple fish on one line, they would count as multiple hooks.
Hi Shayne, It really comes down to the design of the lure - meaning if it's designed to catch one fish at a time - which all of those are - it counts as one hook. However, if you had one line with several hooks like umbrella rigs or trot lines which are designed to catch multiple fish on one line, they would count as multiple hooks.