Pickled fish -- how does the DNR count these??

[Hammer Handle]

My father loves pickled northern and makes some for other members of the family.

When they are pickled, they are skinned and sliced...so how would the DNR count these for a limit??

Thanks for any input.

[Ebiz]

I asked this question earlier this year the link to the thread is below. As you can see, there are some differing opinions - consensus being that you should eat them up first.

Prepared Fish - Posession Limit

[charliepete2]

I'm pretty sure they still count towards your limit even when cooked. My buddy's dad ended up eating 12 duck sandwiches crossing the border from Minnesota to Canada one year under a similar mind set. Luckily the border guard had a nasty sense of humor as the fine would not have been fun.

[bwtrout]

It seems that a lot of these grey area issues are in fact up to the C.O. to make a decision, and then it's either pay the ticket or show up for court in the county you were ticketed in and plead your case.

I still love reading the discussions on here none the less

[The_Duckslayer]

Do you really think that it matters? Are you living so close to the edge that you suspect the DNR may come to your house and check your freezer? I am not one to have hundreds of fish or packages of game in the freezer, well except for venison, but jeez I can think of better things to worry about. Just my .02 on that one. When you fillet crappie and sunfush do you leave any skin on them in case the CO comes by? Not trying to be a wise guy here either... Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././jimbo

[B420]

Duckslayer,

You took the words out of my mouth!

[GatorBait]

Yeah, pickled fish doesn't last to long once you start eating it up so the consumption time is usually a matter of days. If you are a faithful fisherman and abide by the laws, you really shouldn't have run in's with the C/O's, so they won't have any need to come knocking.

TightLines,

GatorBait

[Hammer Handle]

Well, the Game Warden's in Douglas County checked many homes freezers last year and fined a lot of people...most for over 20 sunfish. So, I am going to be more careful. These were very everday and honest people that ended up getting busted with a little too much fish. So yes, I am being more careful. My uncle got busted with 40 sunfish with no "skin left on" and the fine and hastle is not worth it.

I never thought the freezer would be checked...but don't kid yourself. If the word gets out that you are fishing more than once a week and catching fish, you could get a visitor.

[GatorBait]

Well, were these home checks random or cause searches?? I've never heard of warden's coming to your house to check your possession just cause you've been fishing alot. The warden for my county is a friend of the family and I've never been griefed by him or any of his partners, even though I meet them many times on the waters. I usually eat the fish I catch right away seeing I like them fresh, but your information is interesting and will keep people on their toes.

[Hammer Handle]

Actually, my uncle had more than his limit for he was giving fish to some elderly people who can't make it out to fish. Some ended up at a fish fry where people didn't have a license...and his name was given out (along with others)...so his freezer was checked. I know of one other person last year that was checked for the game warden saw him on the lake several days in a row.

And yes, I want to follow the law. I know our CO too, but that doesn't mean I won't be checked.

[SJU70]

The (Contact Us Please) in me would probably end up asking for a warrant to search my fridge. Don't they need one to come into the house? I just can't seem to understand why the state regulates this. Maybe its so folks don't end up raping the lake, but somehow, 45 sunnies doesn't seem that it would add up to much.

Seems to me that they should have better things to do, like confiscate the Mag Lite and .22 that some folks have been takeing to the local deer populations.

[GatorBait]

A bad way to go down for your uncle. Atleast his mind set with giving to the elderly who can't fish was a very kind gesture. Oh yeah, knowing the wardens personally doesn't make you special, that's for sure. There more likely to give you a ticket, seeing it's more of a sign of disrespect as they think that you are taking advantage of them due to your relationship. All in all, your question is good and I will have to ask about this myself as I do pickle northern myself. Don't need this scenario to take place.

[B420]

Hammer Handle

Was this case in Douglas County where the local sportsmans club was WAY over the limit for their fish fry? If so, I can see why he got checked!!!

[Hammer Handle]

I think it was something like that for the fish fry. Many fisherman donated to a fish and the fish fry was checked...and got a list of a lot of the people that donated. I don't know the whole story, but there was a lot of people at the fish fry...but not all had licenses. My uncle gave some fish (he claims only 20) to a person that brought his and others to the fish fry.

Some people were caught with hundreds of sunnies in their freezer, I believe.

I don't know the full scoop, but my dad is just concerned as he pickles northerns he spears. Last year he had two gallons of picked northerns that we ate over Christmas, and he knows there was over three Northerns (not all were caught by him). Now, not many more as we usually save the largest ones for pickling. He (and I) just want to do what is right and legal. I eft my license at home...so I am sure we were legal.

When my dad was a kid and his family was poor, he used to go to the lake in the springtime with a wheelbarrow and a pitchfork...and fill it up with northerns and bring them home for pickling. They got checked one year, but heard about the people coming to check them ahead of time from "someone". They sunk the jars in the lake with rope on them. The whole house was checked, including the haystacks and surrounding yard (dogs were even brought out). Nothing was found. This was pre WWII and was the big start for harsher fines and better regulations. His family relied on lots of wildlife caught for food. Just an FYI and interesting story. I am glad things are better now for most people (and the fish!).

[waskawood]

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My uncle got busted with 40 sunfish with no "skin left on" and the fine and hastle is not worth it.

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I thought you only needed to leave a patch of skin if you were transporting them.

[john.wells]

it spells it out pretty clearly in the fishing regulation book. If there is any question in law interpretation, you can call the DNR info line. Most of the time they know the answer, or can refer you to someone who will. The subject of pickled fish is a good one. The lawyers could have a good time with this. One thing you could do is document how many northerns were used in the pickling. Just thought of something else-maybe go to the store and buy a bunch of raw/frozen fish and do a batch and then save the reciept for future batches?

[Big Tom]

Pickled fish -- how does the DNR count these?? If they are any good, with a fork.

[harvey lee]

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The (Contact Us Please) in me would probably end up asking for a warrant to search my fridge. Don't they need one to come into the house? I just can't seem to understand why the state regulates this. Maybe its so folks don't end up raping the lake, but somehow, 45 sunnies doesn't seem that it would add up to much.

Seems to me that they should have better things to do, like confiscate the Mag Lite and .22 that some folks have been takeing to the local deer populations.

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45 sunnies does not seem like much to one person but if everyone did it then how many sunnies would you have left.

As far as the 22 goes, if they could catch them all they would. I personally do not see any difference between a deer or extra sunnies as one has broken a game law.

I do not keep any fish in my freezer so I never have a worry. I eat them fresh and some older friends get a meal now and then.

If there were no game laws I would hate to think what might happen to our resource.

Hammer Handle

As far as the pickled fish goes I would guess that I would just be very careful as it might come down to how the C.O. sees it. If you question you might be pushing the limits then I would be careful. Probably not a good way to count pickled fish.

I guess what it might come down to is you do know how many you have pickled and if you think it could become a problem then one might want to cut back some.

[BigWadeS]

I understand the fact that it should count towards your possession limit, however; how can they tell what kind of fish is pickled?

[DEADhead]

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how can they tell what kind of fish is pickled?

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there is a DNR pathology lab with a pathologist on staff that can run a DNA sample on your fish to determine species. Don't think this would be the first time the lab was busy running samples for a game violation...

[83walleye]

Now wait a minute - skin on the fillets is only required while the fish is being transported. They can be skinless when they go in your freezer. If this isn't the case, tell me where it says so in the MN fishing synopsis.

C'mon, you can't be serious about the pickled northerns creating an issue...what about deer or goose jerky...shoot, I can go buy that stuff at a store...

[DEADhead]

if you look at the bottom of page 12 in the regs book, under Storage, it states that frozen fish should be packaged in a way that they can be counted and identified.

[aczr2k]

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how can they tell what kind of fish is pickled?

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there is a DNR pathology lab with a pathologist on staff that can run a DNA sample on your fish to determine species. Don't think this would be the first time the lab was busy running samples for a game violation...

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Now thats our tax dollars at work!

[Black_Bay]

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how can they tell what kind of fish is pickled?

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there is a DNR pathology lab with a pathologist on staff that can run a DNA sample on your fish to determine species. Don't think this would be the first time the lab was busy running samples for a game violation...

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Now thats our tax dollars at work!

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I doubt that DNA can be extracted after a fish has been pickled.

[JP Z]

Just had a buddy who is a CO in Longville swing into the office. I asked him about what their take is on pickled fish. He said generally once the fish is processed. It isn't part of the limit as a rule of thumb most CO's don't worry on this side. So after it's been pickled, smoked, fried, etc. It is no longer part of your limit.