Possession limits and gifting fish

[Troller]

Agreed!

[jerkbait]

Maverick, did you actually read Catinski's posts? He points out what seems to be an obvious (albeit overlooked) contradiction.

How is catching all 12 of you and your buddy's party limit for walleyes while fishing together any different than going out by yourself in the morning, catching your limit, bringing them to the same buddy's cabin at midday, and then going back out by yourself again and catching another daily limit in the evening.

You're giving your fish to your buddy either way.....the only differnce is the distance traveled to give them. In the first scenario, you're reaching across the boat. In the second, your driving the boat to shore.

One is legal and one is definitely not. How is this not a contradiction?

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that party fishing seems to be very much legal (as described in the regs), AS IT SHOULD BE. But I'm just saying that the DNR needs to do something to eliminate this contradiction.

To me I don't see the contradiction. The regs say that when party fishing the party may not posses more then there combined limits. Meaning to me that when you are party fishing you no longer have an individual limit, now you have a party limit. Make sense? It does not matter who caught how many, but rather how many the group(party) caught.

[cvikes80]

So say me and 9 other buds are out camping/fishing and we all have a possesion limit and the Game Warden comes over to check our coolers as we sit by the campfire. Everything checks out but right as we are to wrap it up with the Warden....We all "gift" our fish to 1 of our unlucky buddies.....Is he totally scewed? lol sounds like a good prank as long as the game warden plays along....

[Comit 2]

Just remember this is not true with trout! There is no party fishing with Trout. If you gift Trout to someone it is your possition...

[Maverick]

I couldn't find anything in the regulations about this. Could you direct us to the part that does not allow party fishing for trout as well as not allowing the gifting of trout.

[Ed Carlson]

Just remember this is not true with trout! There is no party fishing with Trout. If you gift Trout to someone it is your possition...

As I understand it, All kept fish will count against your daily limit and possession limit, no matter what species it is.

[Maverick]

I agree, Ed. If you gift any fish they are no longer in your possession and you can take more except on the day you caught them then the daily limit applies.

The comment about trout is interesting. I am sure the poster has some sort of background as to why he thinks this is the case. However, this is exactly why we hear so much contradiction regarding regulations. It usually turns out that someone heard something from someone that got pinched by the CO for something. I don't have a direct pipeline to any CO, but my experience has been that they are not inclined to re-interpret the game laws. My advice to everyone is to study the regulations, follow them to the best of your ability and don't try to make them more complicated than they are. If you are in doubt about something err on the side of caution until you have enough information to make a good decision.

[Troller]

And where in the regs does it say this???

Just remember this is not true with trout! There is no party fishing with Trout. If you gift Trout to someone it is your possition...

[RiverFish]

If I have ever had a question about regulations in MN or WI I will email the DNR offices and get an answer. Then save that email for possible future reference/need.

[Steve Foss]

Just remember this is not true with trout! There is no party fishing with Trout. If you gift Trout to someone it is your possition...

I fish for lake trout all the time, and on occasion have gifted some of those trout to others who were fishing with me in my boat. I've never found anything in the Minnesota fishing regs that makes trout an exception to the party fishing and/or gifting policy. If such an exception exists, I'd sure like to know where that's written.

[itchmesir]

I agree, Ed. If you gift any fish they are no longer in your possession and you can take more except on the day you caught them then the daily limit applies.

The comment about trout is interesting. I am sure the poster has some sort of background as to why he thinks this is the case. However, this is exactly why we hear so much contradiction regarding regulations. It usually turns out that someone heard something from someone that got pinched by the CO for something. I don't have a direct pipeline to any CO, but my experience has been that they are not inclined to re-interpret the game laws. My advice to everyone is to study the regulations, follow them to the best of your ability and don't try to make them more complicated than they are. If you are in doubt about something err on the side of caution until you have enough information to make a good decision.

One numerous occasions i have contacted the two fisheries in my area for a variety of info.. and they have always been more than happy to help.. if you ever have any questions give your local fisheries dept a call

[Comit 2]

Well I looked and I guess I'm wrong! I'm sure I saw it somewhere 2-3 years ago.

So why would someone want to keep fish just to give them away? It's just funnie, taking perfectly good fresh fish and making frozen fish with them. I can get that at a store and with fuel prices the way they are, cheeper!

I guess ethics should come to mind. I have caught my limit of fish many, many, many times and never have I had a limit in my livewell. I just find that they just don't stay as fresh in my freezer as they do in the lake. ROOKIES!!

[Steve Foss]

So why would someone want to keep fish just to give them away? It's just funnie, taking perfectly good fresh fish and making frozen fish with them. I can get that at a store and with fuel prices the way they are, cheeper!

I guess ethics should come to mind. I have caught my limit of fish many, many, many times and never have I had a limit in my livewell. I just find that they just don't stay as fresh in my freezer as they do in the lake. ROOKIES!!

I most often fish for lakers on a lake that's not a designated trout lake. That means folks who are with me don't need a trout stamp to catch lake trout. They do, however, need a trout stamp to keep lake trout.

Unless I, as one who has a trout stamp, make a gift of a trout to them. Then they can legally have and eat it. The vast majority of lakers I/we catch are CPR, but every once in awhile it's nice to have the option of gifting someone a fresh lake trout. If I exercise that option, am I unethical, in your opinion?

[pushbutton]

I guess i am a rookie also. Just last night i gave some fresh fish to an older couple who are no longer able to get out anymore. You should have seen the smile on their face. Did end up having to stay too long because they wanted to talk. Sure does suck to be nice to people

[Maverick]

Well I looked and I guess I'm wrong! I'm sure I saw it somewhere 2-3 years ago.

So why would someone want to keep fish just to give them away? It's just funnie, taking perfectly good fresh fish and making frozen fish with them. I can get that at a store and with fuel prices the way they are, cheeper!

I guess ethics should come to mind. I have caught my limit of fish many, many, many times and never have I had a limit in my livewell. I just find that they just don't stay as fresh in my freezer as they do in the lake. ROOKIES!!

Keep them, don't keep them. Eat them fresh or freeze them if you want. Give some away or keep them all for yourself. Fish or don't fish. Just CPR. Run naked through the neighborhood. All of these are legal activities except for the last one and have absolutely nothing to do with ethics. Every fish, duck, goose and deer that I harvest gets consumed in one way or another. Nothing edible goes to waste. Sometimes I get lucky and can give my old man a fish or a few goose breasts and he really enjoys it. After a successful deer hunt my relatives in Chicago get to enjoy a nice meal of venison chops. The fact is that sharing (or gifting if you wish) has been going on since we whacked wild animals with clubs. To refer to those of us that are willing to share our luck with others as rookies is, at the very least, misguided. Gifting in any case or situation should be considered honorable. If all of this make me a rookie I will gadly accept the title.

[TooTallTom]

Chalk up another rookie. Gleefully unreformed.

[itchmesir]

+3 for Rookies... and +??? for all the other people i have either received fish from or know that give fish to other people..

[reinhard1]

you said it all. great post. good luck.

[Comit 2]

When I was in the U,S,A,F in Fla, one day I was walking in to a small store, on one side of the door there were some Shrimp on ice and a sign that said fresh. On the other side of the door was the same but the sign said bait. I looked them over and could not tell the differance. I went into the store and asked. I was told the bait came in on the boat yesterday!

[Steve Foss]

When I was in the U,S,A,F in Fla, one day I was walking in to a small store, on one side of the door there were some Shrimp on ice and a sign that said fresh. On the other side of the door was the same but the sign said bait. I looked them over and could not tell the differance. I went into the store and asked. I was told the bait came in on the boat yesterday!

That's a very nice story. Thanks for sharing it. Perhaps we could generously call it a "fresh" perspective.

Me? I'm happy to eat shrimp or fish caught yesterday if they've been properly chilled. One man's bait is another man's banquet.

Ya got any other pithy stories ya wanna drop on us?

[Comit 2]

I guess I just feel there are a lot of people who spend good money on fishing gear and that taking more fish then I need and giving it away is just not right. I also have no need to have the feeling that I'm a great provider.

I would rather teach them how the fish.

[Steve Foss]

I guess I just feel there are a lot of people who spend good money on fishing gear and that taking more fish then I need and giving it away is just not right. I also have no need to have the feeling that I'm a great provider.

I would rather teach them how the fish.

Thanks for clarifying. Now I know where you're coming from. I didn't understand until you made this last post.

[reinhard1]

there is nothing wrong with what you said in your post. teaching one anything is a good thing if it is for the good and produtive. however there are some who cant get out and fish or hunt [elderly for example] and would love a gift of fresh fish cought from a lake or river. Mavericks post explains the giving more also. but i commend you for teaching someone to fish, that is needed and very important. good luck.

[timjones]

Reinhard1 brought up a good example with the elderly. My mom used to love to fish and loved eating them even more. Once she got into her middle 80's the arthritis in her hands was so bad it was to difficult for her to hold a rod and reel in a fish. I didn't live too far from her in the cities at that time, so when ever I could I would bring her a few fish.

[Comit 2]

I'm from Mn too. So All the sea food I've had here has been "bait" so i bought some bait put some on my hook and made a cast. I then made a fire, put a can of water on the fire with some shrimp in it and ate all my bait waiting for a fish to bite. Yum!

No luck needed with the teaching how to fish. I have done a gettogether on how to catch Carp and I've done a seminar on trolling for Walleyes in south central Mn (spoonpluging).

Bass opener in two days. Should I keep 6 smallmouths and give them away? Not!