Fishing with your limit

[Dave B]

Exception for smallies? Ummmm.....we dont know that.

[juggs]

Straight from the CO's mouth last October--once you reach a limit the next fish caught is considered in your posession and therefore illegal.

[onemorelastcast]

I know many states, including ND as late as the mid-1980s, had laws that said once you caught the fish that filled your limit, you could not fish for them anymore.

My how far we've come in mandated conservation.

[nofishfisherman]

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I have an email from the MN DNR that states you can continue to fish for the same species as long as you do not "sort". I have it saved somewhere(not going to look for it now)but if I or anybody gets busted for over the limit you can be sure I will bring it to court with me!

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This is funny becuase I emailed the DNR when this first was posted and I got the complete opposite answer. Their email said you must stop fishing for that species once you reach your limit. I accidentyl deleted it or I would have posted it.

I really think the regulations need to be rewritten if this is truly illegal since nowhere in the regs does it even mention this being illegal. It needs to be clearly defined for all of us. Anyways if someone is ticketed for it it would be a very easy case to take to court and defend yourself.

Moral of the story is if you have 6 walleye in the boat and you catch a 7th make sure you claim you are fishing for perch and it was an accidental catch, since I don't see how they can ticket you for accidently catching the wrong species of fish.

[double_dog]

All right,

Now I was listening to a Outdoor Talk show last Saturday and they specifically addressed this issue. The DNR officer clearly stated that it was against the law to fish for walleye when you already have your possession limit. He stated that if you caught one, you would have one fish over your limit immediately. This seems to contradict what our DNR Information Consultant friend is telling us. Does anyone have something directly from the DNR in writing addressing this??????

[wayne123]

It appears to me that you can continue fishing but the question is why not stop keeping the fish at one under your limit? It will not hurt anybody to keep five instead of six walleyes.

[nofishfisherman]

I emailed the DNR and was told that you must stop when you reach your limit. But, someone else said that they also emailed the DNR and were told you did not need to stop, that catch and release after that point is fine.

Frankly, its not clearly stated any where in any regulations that I have read. So its going to be up to each individual CO I think. Since nothing is stated in the regs about it being illegal anyone ticketed for it would have a very good case to fight the ticket. Just keep a regs book with you on the boat and if a CO questions you for doing this start reading the regs and ask him to point it out to you in the book where it states this to be illegal. Make sure you do it politely and act like you just want to make sure you understand the rules for the future. I am pretty sure the CO won't find that rule in the book anywhere.

Now after saying all that, I don't really see the harm in just stop keeping fish at #5 until you are ready to go home for the day. One more fish left in the lake isn't going to hurt anything. Better safe then sorry.

[LMITOUT]

I have a hard time believing that you are over your limit immediately after you catch that 7th walleye. I thought possession was defined as when the fish is placed in a bucket, livewell, cooler, or stringer. THEN it would be over the limit. I think that may have been an error on their part the way it was said.

[slipperybob]

When has C&R been fish in possession? If that were the case then everything I've ever caught at the end of my line would've been in my possesion...Now give me the World Record Crappie! 26 lbs...36 inches...Yeah, I caught it.

Then it's like this...It's better to be on the sure side, one under. Any CO would say, you're good...but when you've limit out, then any CO that day can tell me, you get a citation...$$$ if you accept. Now I don't want to go somewhere to appeal my case, when I could be fishing...

[JP Z]

Fish in Hand is Fish in Possession when it comes to the DNR. Simple as that, head in or chase a different species. And I would recommend a different tactic so that you don't hit anymore of the species you're full on.

[nofishfisherman]

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Fish in Hand is Fish in Possession when it comes to the DNR. Simple as that,

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Well that mean I broke the law every single year since I started fishing. Because I apparently have had bass, walleye, and northern in possession before the season started. By that I mean I caught one while fishing for gills but did have the fish in my hand after catching it.

Oh well I guess I am just a common criminal now.

I think the DNR needs to make this rule clear to everyone since there has been so much debate about it over the years. I don't really care if it is a law or not since I rarely keep a limit but I atleast want all the rules that i am expected to follow clearly laid out for me in the regulations book.

The DNR might need to start putting a disclaimer on the front cover of the regs books in the future.

"This regulations book contains MOST of the laws pertaining to fishing in Minnesota. We reserve the right to keep a few laws secret and or vague in order to help increase revenue by allowing us to give you all tickets for breaking laws that we either don't tell you about or that are written so poorly that we ourselves can't agree upon what they mean."

[BobT]

It seems to me that if catching a 7th walleye even if unintentional makes one illegal then it is also required that we stop fishing period when a limit of any type of fish is in the boat. I have a hard time believing it would stand up in a court of law.

Bob

[JP Z]

Trust me, by the same degree I would be a common criminal as well. Because I have caught bass while crappie fishing. I think, it really depends on the CO. For instance the example of hitting the double on Eyes with their limit already in the well. I guess I should restate that if you are fishing for that species, then a fish in hand is a fish in possession.

[riverrat56]

We should get a petition started that would inject some common sence into the rule book. i.e.

You can do this, this, this, this,

Can't do that, that, that, that.

On this issue, I guess you can just stop at 5 and its a non issue, but what if I want to keep 6, then try to catch some crappies and accidently catch another eye, is it illegal to even bring it in the boat? If it is that might be the dumbest thing I've ever heard, I mean the fish just won't leave me alone, I can't help if they bite

Also, whats everyones opinions on how the DNR can judge what you are fishing for? I personally think there are some things that imply 1 species but alot that can cross over, like a jig.

[gators06]

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Fish in Hand is Fish in Possession when it comes to the DNR.

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I would say living fish in livewell, stringer, etc. or dead fish in livewell, stringer, cooler, freezer, etc. is having possession. Just by catching a pre-season bass or walleye while fishing crappies shouldn't make you guilty! If this were the case, we'd need the same year round season for every species.

[Fish Head]

Catching a bass while fishing for crappies before the bass season opens is NOT against the law. It's just illegal to target bass. As long as you're not targeting something out of season, that is not against the law.

Regarding the 7th walleye in hand- I think the odds are fairly slim that you are going to catch one while the CO is counting your fish. That fish would be back in the water in seconds. Even if it was technically against the law (and I'm not conceding that it is), they would have a very difficult time arguing it was against the spirit of the law. The law is in place to stop you from KEEPING too many fish.

[LOTWSvirgin]

What about tournaments such as the classic and flw and any other big televised tournaments. They catch there limits and cull fish the rest of the day. If it were illegal I am sure they wouldnt be doing it. Tournaments are not above the law so why can they do it then. Because there is no law on it. Just my .02

[Eric Wettschreck]

The tournament I just fished was very strict on this. We were told once our limit is reached we're done fishing. If we wanted to cull we had to be one fish under the limit.

[papabear]

I thought culling was illegal in Mn period. once you keep a fish you have to keep it. And it doesnt have to be in the live well to be kept.

[MuleShack]

That would be the entire reason that it should be illegal to keep fishing. If the boat already has 6 walleye, and they get a nice 19 1/2" fish....more than likely they will throw the 15" back to keep the bigger prize.

Personally i fish for the challenge and the excitement and cleaning is not high on my agenda...but i'm sure there are people like that out there.

[united jigsticker]

I was on the phone with 2 DNR reps over this issue.

It gets tricky, because an "accidental" fish does NOT count as possesion when immediate release is eminent.

However, a "targeted" fish DOES count as possesion when a limit is obtained.

Culling is LEGAL when you do not POSSESS a legal limit, however, when targeting a species, the 10th fish in HAND says you POSSESS your limit at that moment.

At that time, you must decide to keep the fish in hand and leave, release the fish, or target a different species.

However, if you decide to keep #10 that is in hand, you can NOT cull your fish in the livewell at that point.

You would have to choose to cull your fish with 8 in the box and one in hand to legally cull under Minnesota State Laws regarding Possesion, Limits, and Culling.

Summary:

1. Non-targeted fish are considered an accidental catch.

2. You have your limit once the limit holding fish is CAUGHT.

3. If you choose to cull, it must be done 2 fish before obtaining your limit (with the 2nd to last being one that was just caught)

Furthermore, it was explained in detail that determining the "intended" species is under the sole descretion of the CO, as is all other laws and enforcement there of.

So being nice is key.

You may have very well been fishing for a Crappie with a 3/8oz spinner bait 2 weeks ago, but it really ends up in the CO's hands as to if you get cited, and ultimately, a judge is that so be the case.

I've met some really nice ones that informed me that I was uninformed on a fish in my livewell that fell in the protected slot.

The fish went overboard, and the CO said "thank you sir, have a nice day".

[The_Duckslayer]

I can not beleive that there are 45 responses to this. IF you want to cull and keep the bigger fish do it with #9! If you just want to get 10 fish then do it! Why play stupid games and take a chance on getting a citation and fined! It's like keeping two limits because you have your kid with you who has no intrest in fishing but is allowed to have a limit of fish. To me it is just not worth taking the chance! I did not think that sportsmen and women pushed the law right out to the fuzzy limits! I don't know... Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[Desperado]

I think it could be easily demonstrated that the concept of "holding the fish just to remove the hook consitutes possesion" is absurd.

Hmm, what if the first or second walleye I catch on Mille Lacs is 25 inches? It's not legal to possess that fish because of the slot limit; now what's a guy supposed to do?

[Slyster]

Or to REALLY not worry about it.. I don't keep any fish.

[riverrat56]

Duckslayer, do you drive 55? Thats the speed limit, you should only be going 54 to avoid any chance of a ticket though.