Chico Creek Bremerton, WA

[navycracker]

I am fairly new to Washington, but I love to fish. I found out that there is an area where I might be able to catch some Chums about 5 minutes from my house. I went down to Chico Creek the other day and found an access trail to the estuary where there were several people fishing and catching fish. When I asked some of them how far up I could fish, they told me that I had to get permission from the land owner first. My question is (after reading the article about Chico) is this true? How can some one regulate the fishing on what seems to be public land? Also, how far can I fish up the river? I am not really smart on how far an estuary is considered. As I stated before, I read the article about the No Trespassing signs, but they are still there. I went on the day after Thanksgiving to check it out. There were about 10 people fishing, and I watched 3 people hook into some fish in about 10 minutes. Lots of fish there, but now I want to go catch some, just need some help. Thanks for the help in advance and I am looking forward to enjoying this site along with you.

[J Castwell]

Good luck. Every year this goes on. Last year a guy from the State was there, said the county maps clearly show that it is county property and was going to make sure it never happened again. So much for that. Maybe next year.

[LadyFisher]

You really can't fish in the creek itself. The law says you may fish up to the high water mark, which is the grass visible on the banks. There were supposed to be signs showing where 'out of bounds' is, but someone probably removed them.

Try and hit it at high tide, use Castwell's Chum fly in the Fly of the Week Archives. Have fun and good luck!