It is illegal to spearfish anywhere in the american river from hazel ave to discovery
IT IS ILLEGAL TO SPEARFISH ANYWHERE IN THE AMERICAN RIVER FROM HAZEL AVE TO DISCOVERY
I kind of suspected this but didn't want to open my mouth until I'd heard it directly from CA F&W.
Because the American River Parkway is under the auspices of PARK and Sacramento County Ordinance, their regulations governing firearms in the AR PKWY actually override the jurisdiction of the CDFW regulations which provision for spearfishing in freshwater.
Plain and simple, firearms of any kind are strictly prohibited in the American River Parkway and so it is indeed illegal to use or even possess a spear gun in any of the waters therein.
9.36.060 Firearms, Air Guns, and Other Weapons.
No person other than peace officers
in the discharge of their duties sh
all use, maintain, possess, fire, or
discharge any firearm, air gun, spring gun, bow and
arrow, slingshot, or any other weapon potentially
dangerous to wildlife or human safety, except in areas, at times, and under conditions designated by the
director for such use. A violation of the provisions
of this section is a misdemeanor. (SCC 576 § 15, 1983.)
I confirmed this with long time CDFW Game Warden, Allan Weingarten today.
SO Benny, next time, you'll need to educate Cal-Tip~;")
thinking that loophole... isn't one
Quote:
except in areas, at times, and under conditions designated by the
director for such use.
This might be the part that allows spearguns. It has been designated that spearfishing is allowed on the river.
Allan confirmed with the director that the above provision has no bearing... and confirmed with me that he would indeed gift any and all spearos in the parkway with a tidy ticket and a hefty fine...
I'm awaiting a call from the Sac County supervising ranger to confirm the above.
I believe they JUST had a meeting on this and rangers were debriefed within the last 48 hours.