Fish Thief at Lake Waubay

[Guest]

Lets go for the humorous side shall we???
From www.md.lp.org/weird_laws.html

The weird law's list comes this

South Dakota

It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory.

Movies that show police officers being struck, beaten, or treated in an offensive manner are forbidden.

In hotels in Sioux Falls, every room is required to have twin beds. And the beds must always be a minimum of two feet apart when a couple rents a room for only one night. And it's illegal to make love on the floor between the beds!

Minnesota

Women may face up to 30 days in jail if they impersonate Santa Claus.

In Minneapolis, double-parkers can be put on a chain gang.

Every man in Brainerd is required by law to grow a beard.

It's illegal to tease skunks.

In Alexandria, no man is allowed to make love to his wife with the smell of garlic, onions, or sardines on his breath. If his wife so requests, law mandates that he must brush his teeth.

Take the law in Montana? (Not on this list)www.dumblaws.com/
It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of a pick-up w/o a chaperon. That is one of my all time favorites!

It Proves that all laws, though they don't make sense are made for a reason whatever it is. Let's all get over the ugly debate in this topic and go get some fish! Any of you S.D. FM members coming to The Lake of the Woods? It's gonna be a good time and the last hooo haaa. I really hope the ice holds out till then.

------------------
en kala
(I fish)

[This message has been edited by frozenminnow (edited 02-26-2004).]

[pegleg]

Hey frozenminnow, thanks for checking with the CO on this issue. It sure didn't make sense that you could transport 2 limits of uncleaned fish in your vehicle whether you were on the lake or off. Now the question I would ask the CO is if you can have one limit of cleaned fish and one limit of uncleaned fish in your fish house at any given time?

[Guest]

Pegleg:
From what I am told, No you can only have 1 days limit on the ice this includes any fish that were caught on other lakes.

------------------
en kala
(I fish)

[JAPMaster]

Frz. Minnow

I am unable to find anywhere in the rules that indicates it is illegal to transport uncleaned fish. Also i am unable to locate anywhere in the rules that it is illegal to transport an uncleaned possesion limit.

Furthermore, isnt it easier to identify your possesion if they are uncleaned?

Please provide a page number to the rule book that identifies what kevfish did was illegal. If you can provide this, than the issue is closed. Not trying to be smart however, many of us do this.

[This message has been edited by JAPMaster (edited 02-26-2004).]

[kevfish]

I hope that this is my final post on this issue-then i would agree with an earlier post-lets drop it and go fish.
After reading frozenminnow's post in reference to what he had been told on a phone call to the sd wildlife offices, I felt kinda bad and wondering if I had misread the law book and also misinterpreted what I had been told by a sd conservation officer. I then made a phone call to the Webster fish and wildlife office. phone# 1-605-345-3381. He gave me his name and siad that i could post it here but I am going to choose to not use it as if the situation was reversed I would not want my name posted on some internet sight.
I explained a scenerio to him where we come to waubay and sleep over night in our fishhouse. I told him where we fish and where we access the lake and he knew exactly where I was talking about. I also learned while talking with him that he was the same warden that I had talked to a few weaks back on the ice- he could remember me by the conversation that we had. I told him about the theft incident.
This was the wardens reply- what you did was perfectly legal and exactly what the law states- If 2 people came out to waubay for five days and you caught a limit every day- you could take the limit to shore every day and place them where we placed them-uncleaned- the next day another limit and so onuntil the possession limit is met-all uncleaned fish-you could then put them in your vehicle and drive home-with all uncleaned fish-he does recomend but not require that you would put them in a bucket and not a cooler because that may prevent a theft. another option would be to put them in another vehicle that you may have on shore.
I do not intend to bash your post hear frozen minnow but i got completly different answeres than what you put in your post. Also the lawbook does not contain the laws that you got or posted.
I did give the Warden this websight and he stated he will try and visit it in the near future. TO the warden that I spoke with if you read this post I would like to thank you for your time that you took to talk with me about this subject- I hope that I have not mis-stated anything that you have told me. I will fax that note to you in the morning.
I have spent way too much time on this websight. May god bless you all and lets go fishing and have a good time

[Guest]

Maybe someone should call a film producer, I see a movie in the making here.

[JAPMaster]

Kevfish,

Just as i thought. Dont know how this got away from the subject of a fish thief. Perhaps people just need to thouroughly go through the rule book. I think it is crystal clear.

[This message has been edited by JAPMaster (edited 02-26-2004).]

[sloughshark]

I'll star as the thief!

[walk on water]

Ill play jesus walking on water and taking fish to feed the hungry. HaHaHa. You got any more fish to spare Kev.

[pegleg]

I sell Thermos coolers so I will provide the coolers free for the movie. Hopefully, it is not filmed on Mille Lacs where there are 5,000 fish houses and everybody brings their cooler to shore every day. We will have coolers lined up along the highway from Garrison to Isle...

[AstoundedAngler]

Ok Folks,
I have watched with interest this conversation about the fish thief. Having been in Law Enforcement for 13 years there is one thing I have learned for sure. If it does not say it in the law you cannot enforce it!! I have just finished reading the SD Fishing regulations on the Fish and Game web site. Here is the paragraph from the regs on transportation:

Transportation and Storage
TRANSPORTATION
No person may transport dressed fish from
the waters of this state to their residence unless
those fish can be readily counted. Fish
cannot be processed, canned, or steaked before
being taken to a residence. Mobile recreational
vehicles, trailers, or tents do not qualify
as residences.
Any dressed fish transported or placed in
public storage, if frozen, must be packaged
individually. TWO FILLETS WILL BE
COUNTED AS ONE FISH.

Now for those who may be confused a dressed fish is in fact rather undressed in that the skin, head and entrails are removed.

Nowhere does the regulation state that a fish must be dressed (cleaned) once on shore. Daily limits and Possession limits are two different things.
Daily-- How many can you have in the boat or on the ice. Possession limit--- How many can you have in possession while on shore.

In the case of this lake 10 perch and 2 walleye are the Daily Limit.
Possession limit is state wide and is 50 Perch and 8 Walleye.

At the end of the regulation book all Conservation Officers are listed. Mr. Fourney's name is not listed. He may be a new hire for the department however. It would nice for all if a definitive explaination could be supplied by the FGD. The bottom line is that a conservation officer will have to make a decision at the scene. The law is clear what you cannot do. No where is it stated the the fish must be cleaned, but does state they can be stored on shore. This is exactly what KEVFISH has done.

What really bothers me is the sentiment that since KEVFISH did not lock up and post a guard over his fish that he deserves to be the victim of a theft. If I were to show up to a burglary scene and tell the victim that it's just too bad and that they deserved to be victimized I doubt the vicims would be real happy. Then maybe I could laugh at them. How long would I be employed??

Frozen Minnow and others who have jumped on his band wagon should take the time and read the regs for themselves. It matters not what I, you, or anyone THINKS it just matters what the law says.

Ok I can go rig my poles up for next weekend now

[deadminnowcatcher]

MR. Angler, I think you have summed it up the best. I to have been following these conversations and have recently read the South Dakota Fishing rule Book. I would agree with you that kevfish has done nothing that is even close to poaching anything.
What I find to be puzzeling is , how could this John Forney state what he did in frozenminnows reply. I was able to determine that he is a Game/Fish/Parks Information Specialist. Obviously not a conservation enforcer who would be trained and better informed on the laws as that is there job.
I noticed that kevfish had called the Webster SD Office and spoke with a conservation Officer. My advice to Frozenminnow would be to read the lawbook for himself and then call the Webster SD office and Talk with An enforcement official himself.
I know that the law is clear on this and not a grey area. kevfish can transport a possession limit of fish cleaned or uncleaned, he just cannot have more than a daily limit on the ice or water. He cannot take more than one daily limit to shore in one day. As it turned out he would not have even had one days limit when he left the lake the 2nd day as the fish did not cooperate. If they had and his group caught there limit the 2nd day he would have been fine to pick his fish up where he was storing them on land and drive home . This seams so crystal clear- Frozenminnow-You need to just read the rule book. If you do not understand it, call an Enforcement Official.
Kevfish, please do not let this deter you from comming back to our great stat of SD

[walk on water]

This isn't rocket science folks. The rule book I think is pretty clear as dead minnow stated. You minnesotans just make it more difficult than it has to be. Maybe if the possession limits and daily limits were the same, you guys wouldn't have to go to college to figure this stuff out.

[Guest]

Kevfish: Not to keep this debate going any longer than it has to, and I hope this settles it and is my last post on the subject.
Here is what I was told, I copied and pasted the e-mail received from the SD fish and Game office. I also included the name of the officer e-mailing me.

Tim,

That is untrue. A daily limit of fish goes from midnight to 11:59 of the
next day. This law states that if an angler is fishing overnight on the
water or ice and has a limit of fish from the prior day, they must take
those fish to shore to clean and store them before they can return to the
water/ice for another days angling. One cannot have a prior-days limit of
fish with them on the water nor can they take two limits in one day.
Thank you for your question.

John Forney
South Dakota Division of Wildlife
Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks
www.state.sd.us/gfp/






-----Original Message-----
From: frozenminnow
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 1:54 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: possession limits



I read a post that it is ok to catch a limit take it to shore bury it uncleaned in the
snow and go back out the next day for another limit? This person said that he was told
this by a SD Game Warden.
I don't understand how you can tell an angler that has been out for 2 days
and has 2 days limit from another that was out for the day and has 2x the
limit.
Please refer the following posts
http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum62/HTML/000356.html
<http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum62/HTML/000356.html>

Any insight on this would be most appreciated

Xxx "Frozenminnow" Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxx, Minn.


Did anyone read the part about cleaning them and storing?

Kevfish:
What the law book says is you cannot transport dressed fish from the "ice or water" to your residence, I think what it means you can't clean them in the boat or fishouse but it also means that when you hit shore they have to be dressed and stored before going back out and before transporting them if you have more than a days limit. That law is a major brain twister I think they need to define a little better.
Now can we all just be friends and go fishing?

------------------
en kala
(I fish)

[Muskeez]

At least Mr. Frozen Minnow has been half- way decent about his responses, but this Mr. Walk on Water sure seems to have a smart alleck answer for everything. Mr. Water Walker, I sure hope you don't ever expect to leave "your" great state of SD to hunt or fish anywhere else in this beautiful, free country of ours. If you do, remember your words to your neighbors and ask yourself if you should be pursuing any of "Their" game.

I thought this topic was dead but the posts on page 5 have been the best and most thought out logical responses yet. I'm sure this whole topic has cleared some things up for most of the people who will slow down to think logically without getting hostile. Thanks to all the great posts from the calm people, it's been interesting..

[walk on water]

Mr Muskeez,
I never have to leave my great state to hunt or fish as it has everything I can ever hope for and more. That is why I choose to live here and pay my taxes and support my local economy 365 days a year. Don't get me totally wrong, I am not 100% against out of state revenue as it stokes the local economy and provides better fishing and hunting opportunities. But I feel the state could provide a little more discretion in the numbers of people that flock to this great state in pursuit of game and fish. It is discouraging to go to some of your favorite spots to see out of state license plates out number locals. I can go to waubay or Chamberlain any day of the week especially in the spring when other states seasons are closed and see more out of state people that in state. I bet you can't say the same is true on any of your local lakes. So as sad as Kevfish's story is not to mention wrong, any time I see one less person from across the border fishing or hunting I am not too depressed.

[ido26.2]

Ran into a guy from MN who fished Sat Am with a group of 6, said they caught there limit in the holes I was in and was back Sat afternoon. I said if you caught your limit why are you back out here?

He said they ate the fish therefore they were coming to catch more.

When I pressed him on the rules and regs he acted confused like that was suppose to excuse his behavior.

No wonder residents get upset when out of staters decide to pillage a lake

[walk on water]

Ate a 6 man limit of perch from sat morning to sat afternoon, I doubt it!! It sounds like double dipping to me. Should have called the CO right away and let him do the detective work on that bunch. That kind of behavior is exactly the stuff that really [PoorWordUsage]es a guy off. More so when out of state violators are involved.

[HoleHopper]

What about those in state...... 'violators', and 'theives' or are they comitting less of a crime?

"Got tarter sauce"?

[This message has been edited by HoleHopper (edited 03-01-2004).]

[walk on water]

poachers in general should be shot, in-state or out-state. It's just the ultimate f* YOU when its out-state violators. Peoples greediness or lack of respect for resources is what makes lakes like Waubay, Chamberlain, Oahe, Thompson, the list goes on and on boom or bust fisheries.

Got Beer?

[JAPMaster]

Mr. Muskeez,

Your last post seems to be extremely accurate after reviewing some of the recent posts.

[ido26.2]

I should clarify, the limit the guy was referring to was Walleye, or that is what he said when he came back to me after he went back to visit with the people he was fishing with.
This was after I pressed him and asked him why the group was back out here if they already caught there daily limit.

With that being said, it's possible they may have eaten the 6 walleye for lunch. I am not aware of a rule that says you can catch your limit, eat that limit of fish and go catch another limit the same day. The rule reads the number of fish a person may take from midnight to midnight

I also agree with Walk on Waters prevoius post, In-or Out of Staters lack of respect and greed will kill the resource.

By the way the guy I was fishing with took down the plate of the vehicle and called the CO and the CO said once you catch the daily limit, you are done regardless if you eat them or not. The CO said its tough to enforce and you really have to relie on ethics but once they are aware of a person they will do what they can to watch and monitor

[ifishsd]

They can catch more walleyes. The just can't keep anymore walleyes. Doesn't say in the rule book you have to stop fishing once you keep a limit of fish.

[Tritt22]

Take it from someone who has lived in both South Dakota (22 years) and Minnesota, and has MANY relatives who are farmers and ranchers in SD:

Without out-of-state revenue from hunting and fishing, South Dakota would be nearly impoverished. The revenue from out-of-state sportsmen has literally saved hundreds of small, family farms and towns.