What Would YOU Do?

[Hory]

The other day I was out on a smaller(200 acre) WI lake back home targeting some panfish with my younger brother. Everyone fishes a relatively deep hole near a bridge and the immediate area near by where it reaches depths of 20 feet. As I was walking out to one of my usual spots on the lake, I ran into an elderly man fishing the deep hole. He asked me if I had ever fished the lake and I told him yes...but the key was to try and hit the weedbeds for bluegills and perch with some sightfishing in a shack if you wanted to catch fish quickly. After about 2 hours, I had caught maybe 20 bluegills and 15 perch sightfishing weeds (all catch and release), when the man approached and said how thankful he was for the information, and that he had his limit of 25 pannies for the frying pan. However, around a year ago the lake had switched to a 10 fish limit on pannies. Seeing as he had the fish frozen from laying on the ice...I told him of the limit change and went no further. He claimed to not know of the limit change although it was posted by the parking area. Should I have turned him in? I had never really run into a situation like this before... What would you have done?

[jwmiller33]

it is the fisherman's responsibility to know the special rules and regulations of the body of water they are fishing... with that said, most people DONT know the special rules and regs for the lakes they fish, as sad as that is.

how did the guy react when you told him about the limit being 10? did he legitimately act surprised? i'm sure it was probably an accident and he didnt intentionally keep 15 fish over his limit...

personally, i would not have called the DNR on him but i would have made sure to beat into his brain that the limit is only 10. we all make mistakes, and we need to make sure we learn from them and not repeat them. with that said, i have nothing against the guy who does call him in

[hamms-scooter]

Told him where it was posted in parking area and then i would of said to him to go give some fish to others and never do that again!!!! I know this isn't ok because he was still over the limit to begin with but at least this way he wouldn't be busted somewhere for it. I have seen guys catch their limit of 10 crappies and go home and an hour later come back and keep more. This is why lakes become fished out and unhealthy populations. I told the guy it was going to be reported if he didn't release the fish. He did and left. At least that lake!

[croixflats]

Honestly it sounds like a mistake on his part, after all he volunteered his info. Sometimes you gotta trust your gut and hope the guy is honest. I know its hard to do this day and age. What good would it do to turn an honest mistake into a nightmare. Wiscosin lakes and their lake to lake county to county rules get a bit confusing.

Short answer; I would have done exactly as you did.

Oh! and that was realy nice of you help the guy get on fish.

[Beast26]

I would have informed him of the limit for the lake and left it at that. I would not have turned him in. It was probably an honest mistake.

[Tom7227]

Is there any place in the area where that would have been a legal limit? Seems like a lot of fish to keep to me.

[GatorBait]

Wisconsin has a 25 panfish limit which consist of Bluegill, Crappie, and Perch. There are separate bodies of water that have an adjusted limit such as that area for specific species.

[Zoob]

What with the guy walking up to you and thanking you - gives me the impression that he was an honest person. I wouldn't have turned him in. Would've done just what you did - inform him of the special regulation for the lake and leave it at that.

Seems like an honest mistake to me.

[carp master]

do you think he would have told you if he broke the law? honest mistake.

[Chef]

Honest mistake. Good Move to inform him and just let it go.

[andrew chadwick]

wait? when was the limit of pannies ever 25?

[GatorBait]

Chadwick,

If you are referring to the Wisconsin limit, it plainly states in the WI DNR Fishing Regulations on page 11.

Panfish (bluegill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch,

white and black crappie)

25 in total

Yeah, it appears that he wasn't aware of the seperate rule restriction. You did your part as well as you could. Not a lot of people think about the posted signs at the landing, but everyone should be more aware of it, as pertinent information is usually posted there.

[Surface Tension]

Honest mistake. As long as we learn from them and not repeat them then it is all good in my book.

[gregg52]

ya an extra 10-15 sunfish isnt going to hurt nothing

and ya i know your going to say its the law and what if every

one did it but they dont

he didnt do it on purpose

[DuckBlind]

Depends on what his response was...if he felt bad about it and didnt know I would just let it go. If he blew you off and seemed like he would do it again and again, then maybe make a call. If he is doing this time and time again and the DNR knows about it he will probably get caught.

[MidCoast]

Im sure it was only a honest mistake.

[andrew chadwick]

Chadwick,

If you are referring to the Wisconsin limit, it plainly states in the WI DNR Fishing Regulations on page 11.

Panfish (bluegill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch,

white and black crappie)

25 in total

Yeah, it appears that he wasn't aware of the seperate rule restriction. You did your part as well as you could. Not a lot of people think about the posted signs at the landing, but everyone should be more aware of it, as pertinent information is usually posted there.

oops, I missed the being in wisconsin part.Thought he was refering to mn.

[GatorBait]