Moral dilemma!

[Guest]

All:

Plan to have my wife and 3-year-old out with me tomorrow for part of the day.

Question - can I put out 2 more tip-ups for my son? I read the regs and see nothing that says I cannot, but clearly he is too little to actually be doing the fishing.

Suppose he was only a year old? Is it legal to give him lines? Anyone done this?

I'm going to be 100% C&R, all I want to do is up my odds of finally tying into a muskie when I'm out pike fishing. 2 more lines would be nice.

Thanks,
ak

[Guest]

Your son is an individual and can legally be considered for two angling lines and his own limits of fish for each respective species.

PCG

[Surface Tension]

When my kids were younger I wondererd the same thing. I figured if my kid was able to hang on to a rod that was good enough fo me.

[juddfish]

It is legal for your son to fish however your son would have to catch his own fish. You cannot catch your sons limit of fish. Its not party fishing like party hunting. Thats how I figure the regs anyway, I might be wrong

[SpikeRoberts]

MN 2002 Fishing Regulations page 28:

"A party is defined as a group of two or more persons...if not in a watercraft, maintaining visual and vocal contact with each other. The total number of fish possessed by the party may not exceed the combined limits of the numbers of the party."

So, yes, party fishing is legal.

If you're taking your 3 year old, you may want to replace one or more of the tip-ups with some jig set-ups to chase panfish so s/he doesn't get bored waiting for a flag to fly. Good luck and have fun

[Pig_sticka]

i heard if he can catch his own fish it is legal. if the dnr catches u and puts him to the test he might give u a ticket. good luck gettin dat muskie.

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Good luck sticking pigs this year!

[WallEYES]

Your son can fish with two lines during hard water and one in open water with a licensed angler, but unless you have a license seperate from him, you can only take your limit of desired species. A friend of mine got busted for too many fish over legal limit with kids. Now what I want to know, when did this regulation change. As a kid I use to fish all the time along the Rum River and brought home walleyes, specs, pike.....

[Guest]

I agree with Walleyes. I have a 3 year old and checked with our CO last year on this issue. I was told exactly what WallEYES posted. Scott Steil

[SpikeRoberts]

MN Fishing Regulations, page 12:

"All residents age 15 and under are allowed to take their own limit of fish."

[Guest]

Spike, I know what the rules state. I have them right here. My point was that our CO interprets them that if my son is unable to actually catch a fish then he is not entitled to a limit of fish. I am still able to set two lines for him. He likes to try!!

I am just stating what I was told last year. And to my knowlege the verbage hasn't changed. So, even though by rule we may be entitled to a limit for my son I have no need for that many fish and don't need the hassle of dealing with a CO that inbterprets the rule diffent then I do.

Again, it comes backt to, by law anyone under 15 is entitled to a limit of fish but if they can't actually catch them, that is the grey area I have chosen to avoid. Scott Steil

[Twitter]

Seems to me that if they don't specify any age requirements in the definition of a "party" that each member of said party is entitled to a legal limit of fish.
But.....to answer the original question, YES you should legally be able to place 2 tip ups for your boy to increase your odds, and if you do C&R everything, you won't have to worry about any infractions.
IMHO

I think the gray area is in each individuals inrepretation of "All residents age 15 and under are allowed to take THEIR OWN limit of fish."

Twitter

[This message has been edited by Twitter (edited 12-10-2002).]

[SpikeRoberts]

Thanks for clarifying your point Scott. I think you're right, 1 person's limit should be plenty for a meal and there's no need to risk varying interpretations. I also think your CO's intepretation is in line with the regulation in that children are allowed to TAKE THEIR OWN limit, which implies that they must be able to do so.

[Guest]

Thanks for the fast responses everyone. Since I won't be keeping any fish, I will go ahead and run those those 2 extra lines and not have to worry about the 'gray area.'

ak

PS, I'll let you know if that musky comes by...

[Twitter]

Spike.....you're just a little quicker than me (:
I agree with the fact that the "gray area" should not be abused in order to stock ones freezer !
I feed fish to my family of 6 , 2-3 times a week on less than my limit (and limited ability ) and I VERY SELDOM keep a limit of any species.

[Dave]

When my boys were 3, you bet they had their own lines. The CO was even there and just said to have fun teaching them how to fish.
I never did set two per boy thou. Just kept one each so they can call it their own line.

[mistermom]

Ok just to really muck things up (which I like to do), my son is 7 but is disabled and in a wheelchair. I have a rodholder mounted on his laptray so he can fish. He however, can in no way do any fishing/catching without somebody helping him with every aspect of fishing. If he and I are out and have seven walleyes (this is hypothetical) a gamewarden technically could bust us (me).

Anybody want to take bets on that happening?

mm

[Pig_sticka]

if they give u a ticket for keeping limits for both of u, that would be really sad. u should be just fine fishing, and keeping 2 limits.

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Good luck sticking pigs this year!

[Matt D]

I don't think I'd ever want to run into the CO that would write you up for that. That'd be the kinda guy who'd probably confiscate your son's wheelchair for being used in committing the (alleged) violation!

Seriously, even though your son can't actually "take" his fish himself, I think yours/his is a situation that would fall under special mitigating circumstances. I don't think you have a thing to worry about.

[WallEYES]

From what I understand, your kid(s) can fish but can-not take another limit unless you purchase a license for him/her. Afriend of mine got nailed for taking to many eyes (3), with his 3 year old twins and his nephew... Now if that is incorrect because I know the C.O. officer who made a big friggin stink and issued a citation and fine. I don't care for this individual anyway. Anywho's if your in a permanent shelter now they can't legally enter anyways, that don't figure either?

[Guest]

::shaking head::

When it says "any resident under the age 15" that means ANYONE. It does not say in plain english "Anyone CAPABLE" or any related matter. Now I am not saying that a grumpy CO may not try to pull the wool over an unsuspecting anglers eyes to try to get himself a raise or promotion. That's why it's good that we discuss it here.

If you KNOW THE LAWS, then abide by them per the way they are written. It is a good idea to carry the book with you, so that before they try and write up a violation you can make sure they are legitimate in there findings.

Sometimes they contradict themselves in their statements. The rules should be written more one-who-thinks-I-am-silly proof so eliminate confusion. But they don't want that, as it would mean less money and fines for them to issue based on peoples misunderstandings.

The DNR is there much like the Police and State Patrol. To serve and protect the outdoors and it's sportspeople. I am for them inforcing laws and protecting our resources...But not for them making up technicalities to bust people for unwarranted issues and using there authority to take advantage of the uneducated or intimidate people.

PCG

[mistermom]

My point was that these things tend not to be black and white and CO's have a lot of discretion. If I was out in the boat running two lines with my son but didn't involve him in any way in the fishing beyond him just being there, I would say that I'm illegally fishing two lines.

mm

[Wables]

It may be a bit off the topic, but here in Michigan one of the laws is:

"Tip-ups and similar devices used for ice fishing must show the angler's name and address."

From the people I know that have received tickets, this is the most common. I believe the penalty is $40 and the tipup is confiscated. The problem is, they give you a ticket even if the zip code is smudged! I have a friend that had this happen. Talk about anal! When they come up to a group, the C.O. has each person point out which tip-up is theirs. It gets pretty tough when there are 4+ people fishing together.

That being said, do any of you need a daycare service over the holidays? I envision 40 kids on skates, and 80 tipups!

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Wables