Section 5 AAC 75.020 - Sport fishing gear(a) Unless otherwise provided in 5 AAC 47 - 5 AAC 75, sport fishing may only be conducted by the use of a closely attended single line having attached to it not more than (3) one spinner or series of spinners;(4) two artificial flies; or(b) An attractor, including a bead, when used with an artificial fly, lure, or bare hook, must be either fixed within two inches of the bare hook, fly, or lure, or be free sliding on the line or leader. For the purposes of this subsection, a bead not attached to the hook is an attractor, not an artificial fly.(c) A person who gaffs a fish must retain that fish as part of that person's bag and possession limit. A person may not gaff a fish for which the fishing season is closed, that is not of legal size, or that is to be released.(d) A power-assisted fishing reel may only be used to sport fish if the (1) power-assisted fishing reel is mounted on a fishing rod by means of a reel seat;(2) power-assisted fishing reel assembly, motor, gearbox, fishing line, reel-mounted battery, or other reel-mounted attachments weigh no more than 15 pounds in total when detached from the fishing rod.(e) In this section, (1) "fishing rod" means a tapered, flexible rod typically used for sport fishing, equipped with a hand grip and a line guide system that guides the line from the reel to the tip of the rod, and upon which is mounted a fishing reel used to deploy and retrieve the sport fishing line;(2) "gaff" means to puncture any part of a fish with a hook, other than a hook attached to an angler's fishing line;(3) "power-assisted fishing reel" means a reel used to deploy and retrieve the sport fishing line that is operated or assisted by any electronic, hydraulic, or other mechanical power source other than by hand-cranking a handle attached to the reel;(4) "reel seat" means an attachment mechanism that holds the fishing reel to the rod using locking, threaded rings, sliding bands, or other attachment devices and is designed to allow the reel to be readily detached from the fishing rod.(f) Beginning January 1, 2020, a person sport fishing from a vessel when releasing a rockfish shall immediately use a deep water release mechanism to return the fish to the depth it was hooked or to a depth of at least 100 feet. A vessel must have at least one functional deep water release mechanism on board and readily available for use when sport fishing activities are taking place. Upon request, a person sport fishing from a vessel and the operator of the vessel must present a deep water release mechanism to a local representafive of the department, peace officer of the state, or federal law enforcement officer charged with enforcing fish and game laws. A In this subsection, "deep water release mechanism" means a device designed to return a rockfish to near the bottom where it was hooked, or to a specified depth, and to assist the fish in recompression and to improve the fish's chance of survival.In effect before 1988; am 3/13/2004, Register 169; am 6/10/2010, Register 194; am 6/26/2016, Register 218, July 2016; am 6/28/2019, Register 230, May 2019