Culling Fish From Livewell

[Skeeter2000T]

After reading the Minnesota rules and a discussion with my buddies last night, I am still not clear on this.The rule book says culling or sorting is illegal once a daily or possesion limit is is possesed. so my take on it is if I am fishing for Walleye if I have 5 fish in the livewell, catch my sixth, can you through a smaller one out of the livewell put the bigger one in the livewell , since you still know only have five fish. The same scenario if I had five in the box caught my 6th put it in the box, now I would say I am done since i have reduced the fish to possesion, this is how i read the rule it is grey to me.

[terryt]

from the way i understand it is if you have a five in the livewell and catch your sixth you would be done fishing cuz the sixth one is in your posession thats why many bass tournaments are only a 5 fish limit.

[shizzy]

as I read it out of the regulation book. any fish placed in a container and not immediatly returned to the water is considered "reduced to possesion"

I cant find but remember somewhere it saying no culling. Culling would be pulling a smaller fish out of the livewell and replacing it with a larger.

the way I see it, once it goes in your basket or livewell it stays there.

[Skeeter2000T]

Ok so what if I have 1 in the box catch a bigger one, replace the smaller one in the box can I still catch five more. I woudnt be even close to my limit at that point.

[Skeeter2000T]

The rule book says culling or sorting is illegal once a limit is reduced to possesion. so the way it reads in my opinion at some time you can cull but to what point.

[Nate McVey]

Skeeter, I used the search function (because I remembered this being talked about last year) and found this discussion. If you want the quick answer, go to page 5 and read Dtro's post. If you want to see just how hard this law is to comprehend for some of the best fisherman around, read the whole thing, you are not alone in the confusion.

Culling

[slurpie]

I guess the easy way to think about it is this. The longer a fish is in the live well the more likely it is to die. And whats the diffrence in a couple inches of fish. You must have not thought it was a small fish if you put it in the livewell in the first place. I think culling is a bad practice and should not be practiced.

[shizzy]

I guess the easy way to think about it is this. The longer a fish is in the live well the more likely it is to die. And whats the diffrence in a couple inches of fish. You must have not thought it was a small fish if you put it in the livewell in the first place. I think culling is a bad practice and should not be practiced.

tats exactly how I see it. I dont have a live well, but it does make me think a little harder about each fish I put in the basket since once its in there it stays. I feel I let more fish go with this thinking.

[harvey lee]

If you have 5 in the box and catch your sixth, you have your possession limit.

If one did not intend to keep a fish, why would one throw it in the box?

[Skeeter2000T]

Slurpie and Harvey,

You need to chill a little if you read my post it was a discussion between myself and some buddies, only a discussion. The reason it got brought up is we were talking about a Walleye tournament that allows you to cull fish, and this is what spurred the discussion.

[walleyemaniac]

Once a daily or possession limit of fish has been reached, no culling or live

well sorting is allowed.

Thats the way it reads. Looks (by law) you can do what you want till you reach your limit.

I guess for me, it boils down to ethics, If we're not eating it, it's not going in my livewell!!! Heck, I have a hard time keeping them out of the water long enough for someone who's trying to dig out a camera. If we're not ready to take a picture sometimes that doesn't even happen.

I'm +3 with that culling thing don't believe in it! (tournaments it might have it's place)

Anyhoo, if you catch a bigger one take a picture, it'll last longer.

[tv4fish]

As many of you may know - up in Canada (at least the Lac Suel area) - You have to decide immediately if you're going to keep a fish or not. No live well is allowed to be used. IMO - we here in Minnesota are not far from that being institued here also.

[Daze Off]

Every bass tournament angler in the state will catch his 5 fish tournament limit and continue fishing hoping to upgrade the fish in the well. If a fish that is better than the smallest one in the well is caught, the small fish goes back to the lake and the new fish goes in the well. That process continues until time runs out for the event. It must be legal or the DNR would have crushed the practice a long, long time ago.

I would take that to mean that a fish is not reduced to possession until it is in the livewell. The 6th fish cannot go in the livewell until one of the 5 already there comes out.

[Flip]

I guess the easy way to think about it is this. The longer a fish is in the live well the more likely it is to die. And whats the diffrence in a couple inches of fish. You must have not thought it was a small fish if you put it in the livewell in the first place. I think culling is a bad practice and should not be practiced.

This is the way it should be in my opinion.

[mojoputter]

I'm with Daze Off on this one...If I'm catching big bass the little ones go back in the lake.

[LightningBG]

I've always thought it was illegal. Looks like it might be legal, but either way, I think its poor etiquette and would never do it. If its in my livewell, stringer, or basket, its coming home with me.

[slurpie]

I'm not excited or mad just saying it's probally not in the fish best interest to do culling. I can see in a tournament format thats the whole purpose. But in normal everyday fishing i would think fish mortality would sky rocket from it.

[JP Z]

In normal fishing looking for a limit I'm not a fan of culling as those fish are in there for a reason and that reason is a meal. but when tournament fishing I'm all for culling as that is just how you do things. Of course you need to be certain you are treating the fish well so that when they are released everything will be okay with them.

[Northlander]

If you have 5 in the box and catch your sixth, you have your possession limit.

If one did not intend to keep a fish, why would one throw it in the box?

Exactly Harvey! If you arent going to keep it dont put it in the livewell or on a stringer. Pretty simple to me. People need to think about the resource more than the size of their keepers. Heck 6 walleyes around 15" are a nice meal if ya ask me.

[Northlander]

Slurpie and Harvey,

You need to chill a little if you read my post it was a discussion between myself and some buddies, only a discussion. The reason it got brought up is we were talking about a Walleye tournament that allows you to cull fish, and this is what spurred the discussion.

I dont think they were getting excited enough to chill man. Just giving answers from what I read. Dont read to much into it or get defensive over it. You ask questions you will get all types of answers and opinions. You have to be ready for that. No biggy from what I see. Good fishin.

[Hot_tamale]

why would anyone in their right mind even bother fishing for bass? How can you call it fishing? They bite anything and can be caught almost anywhere. there is no real test of skills to catch a bass.

Therefore, dont bother culling bass..Keep em all. take double or triple out of each and every lake right along with the carp and other useless fish.

I am just kidding of course. I just cant stand bass fishing. good fight on the smallies i agree, but if you dont eat em, why bother catchin' em?

[Traxxx]

It's the willingness of bass to bite and fight good, that makes them fun to fish for. Sure, the small bass can be easy to catch at times but to consistently catch 3-5 lb'rs it takes quite a bit of skill.

The only need I see for culling is in tournaments. Almost all tournaments now days are live release. What may not be fun for some may be a blast for others. All fish are part of our future, kids future, economy and should be taken care of as best as possible.

[traveler]

well said Traxxx....

but i still hold to the same opinion as Hot Tamale:)

[Skeeter2000T]

Northlander,

Re read the post the question is not if it is ethical is it legal, everyone has their opinion on the ethics of the subject, I just am wondering if it is legal.

[Ed Carlson]

It's straight forward by the intent of the law, once you hit the courts, "culling" is illegal.

Once you take a fish into your possession, you established intent to possess if not immediately released....no matter if it is in the livewell, stinger, pail, cooler, back pocket...ect, it is yours...no upgrading/culling.

How diligently it is enforced in every state, that is another case all together to argue. Especially in tournaments situations.

Although some tournaments are permitted to do so by some states under very special charters and exclusions.

In that case commonly there are added tournament fee's paid to the state by the competitors to compensate for perceived impact due to stress loss of fish.