"Possession"

[Silver/MI]

This argument evolved with co-workers on possession. The state fishing guide defines possession limits as "TOTAL NUMBER OF FISH YOU ARE PERMITTED TO HAVE AT ANY TIME.." I told this guy Me and my partner would limit out on our next trip (5 in MI). He wanted to make sure we got a "legal" limit, in his terms we each get five, not one guy get 7 amd one guy get 3. The question is this. If a CO was watching a boat a hundred yards away, and one man in the boat quickly catches and keeps his limit of 5 while the other stinker catches none, then the CO sees the successful guy catch and keep another, could the CO issue a ticket, or could the guy say " I gave the first fish to my partner!" ??. I feel 2 men are allowed the 10 fish, the officer could care less who did the catching.

[Phil T.]

I'm sure a ticket could be issued, if one was seen keeping more than a daily limit. Check the proclimation. Is there a provision for group angling (party hunting)?

[Dodpound]

> The question
>is this. If a
>CO was watching a boat
>a hundred yards away, and
>one man in the boat
>quickly catches and keeps his
>limit of 5 while the
>other stinker catches none, then
>the CO sees the successful
>guy catch and keep another,
>could the CO issue a
>ticket, or could the guy
>say " I gave the
>first fish to my partner!"
> ??.
>I feel 2 men are
>allowed the 10 fish, the
>officer could care less who
>did the catching.
In PA> a Possession Limit of Six a Eye's a Day is for One person. Helping out your buddy is not looked upon kindly by Conservation Officers. It's the way they look at it here.

[Wall-nut]

Let's look at how charter captains operate. A party of three goes out on a charter trip. They're allowed two rods each. The captain, of course, throws in his two rods so, a party of three, in essence, now has eight active rods in the water. Technically, it's legal. Now, let's say everyone limits out at, let's say, five fish each. Once the trip is over and the party of three drives away from the dock they have twenty fish in the cooler. Legal or illegal?

[MR.Pike]

In Wi., Mr.Successful would get a ticket.The way around that is to only keep enough that you always have one more to go for a limit. Kinda weird but true. The group fishing point made above is really a good way to explain this answer.You never know who is watching,to me a fish is not worth a fine. <;{{{{{<<( Mr.Pike

[SUPERTROLLER]

Silver, I agree with you. I give fish away all the time to people less fortunate or learned with fishing skills/know-how. As long as you're not selling fish, you have every right to give them away. "In possession" means your immediate possession. Stringer, creel, livewell combined; at any one time. Most people don't realize that they are also only allowed two days limits in the freezer and freshly caught combined. Example: 5 walleyes frozen, 5 newly caught. If a CO comes knocking and you have any more "in possession" (frozen) than 10, it doesn't matter if you caught them in 1 trip or 11 trips, YOU'RE BUSTED!!! (does not apply when fishing Lake Erie- Limits are different there. Just not sure how many (7?)per day are allowed and don't want to pass along incorrect information.)

[jeff reed]

Any Conservation Officer with any common sense would Never Take that case to a Prosecuting Attorney for prosecution. First, you would never get a jury to believe the CO didn't have something better to do than to nitpick 2 fisherman who had not violated a 2 man possession limit. A prosecuting attorney has limited amounts of dollars for prosecuting cases and that scenario would be a waste of taxpayer dollars because of a low percentage of getting a conviction. Today's CO's are much more concerned with overlimits and sub-legal fish than wasting a prosecutor's time on high risk cases where guilty verdicts can't be reasonably obtained. Secondly, I would love to be a test case for the CO and prosecutor willing to take their best shot at me in that situation.

[jeff reed]

Busted. 3 fisherman time 5 fish equals 15 fish. Those guys need another fisherman because they are 5 fish over limit. In that case the prosecutor will take the case to court and win.

[SeaCat]

Not busted in Michigan, since the possession limit is 2 times the daily creel limit. I know this is it for the salmon/trout species and I think it applies to walleye too.

Ryan

[ibfishn]

First there is a difference between "possesion limit" and "daily bag limit" Daily bag means the number of any one species you can catch from 12 midnight to 11:59p.m. 24 hours. The possesion limit means the number of that species you can have in your cooler at the hotel, in your refigerator, or freezer at any one time. As far as the question about two people fishing on each others limits I would check your state regs. In Wisconsin and Minesota you can keep fishing and keeping as long as you have not met your total limit, think of it as a boat limit not a personal limit. You cannot however use someone elses line. By this I mean in Minn. you are allowed 2 lines per person, If one person is only using 1 line that does'nt mean the other can use 3, you are still only allowed 2. Hope this helps.

[scales&tales]

I know several co's in MI. and they would ticket you (and their own mother) if they saw you catch over your limit. They say if you are by yourself you are entitled to a limit, if you are fishing with someone else you are entitled to that same limit and no more. They say it's just like shooting a deer for your buddy after you have limited out.....it's not leagal. Alot of people will go to great lengths to justify taking over their limit, saying technically they are leagal when just the opposite is true.

[KJ]

I don't mean to getting to technical here but I would like to know the answer, since I don't want to lose my license- doe's all the people in my household count toward my possesion that is my wife and two kids and myself? Means 20 fish right or wrong? I have more than that now in frezzer.
what if you keep fish for someone else? I feel the CO's make judgement calls on this per case.Be nice to know for sure. Thanx.

[eye stalk]

I spoke with the ODNR regarding a similar situation for fishing on Lake Erie. Daily bag limit is 10 walleyes on the lake. I was going to take my two sons fishing (license exempt because they are both under 16 years of age). I asked the question if the boys were entitled to two fishing rods each while fishing. The officer agreed that the boys were entitled to two fishing rods each and also are entitled to their 10 walleyes each. He emphasized that I cannot, however, catch any part of their 10 walleyes if my limit has been already met. In conclusion, I guess if a CO wants to spend the better portion of a day looking after one boat to see if all individuals are catching their legal limits, then they could fine anyone catching more than their legal limit. This means even if the boat limit has yet to be reached.

[Steve_IA]

Let's complicate things... I live in state A and it has a daily limit of 3 walleye with a possesion limit of 6. State B has a daily limit of 5 with a possesion limit of 10. I have a liscense to fish in State A and a liscense to fish in State B. How many fish am I legally allowed in my freezer?

[mossboss]

Better check the regs. One line in Minn, two when on ice.

[Joe]

I was told by a Minn CO that if you have multiple liscense you may have a limit for each state. But he said that be sure that they are tagged or can be identified which fish are for what lake or state. He also said that if you stayed overnight in a non-resident state you can keep a reciept from the hotel and that would get you by also.

[crash]

No wonder everyone's practicing catch and release, It's too complicated to try to keep em!!

[Sunshine]

I'm surprised that no one mentioned this....

Watch your Canadian limits, you're only able to keep one days limit in possession. If you have 4 fillets in the refrigerator ready for the evening meal, plus 6 fillets in the freezer ready to take home, they all count toward your groups totals. If you all bring fish back to camp for eating and freezing you could be over limit. I've had this happen where they came into cabin to check refrigerator for fish. Beware!

[AquaMan]

You are permitted to have POSSESSION LIMITS for every LICENSED fisherperson in the house. Depending on the state, kids under 16 are "licensed" and are, therefore, permitted their limit regardless of who caught the fish.

If your total fish count in the freezer exceeds that then you are illegal. Furthermore, you cannot legally continue to fish until your possession limit drops to allow for an additional daily limit.

Here in MN, freezer checks are very rare, unless tipped off or a water offence was observed, you will likely "get away" with that illegal limit.

I would suggest that you eat some of those fish before you return to the water.

If you intend on giving them away to a NON-licensed individual, according to MN law, YOUR license number must be on the package and WILL count towards YOUR LIMIT (A licensed person simply adds, not exceeding, them to his/her limit). Most people do not adhere to this and the CO's here have neither the time not funds to peruse those minor infractions. Rather, they go after the idiots that have 600 fillets in the freezer and keep fishing. Like the guy from ND last fall. He was only caught after a T.I.P. call.

Moraly you should feel obligated to regulate your possession to comply with the regulations of your state. What you actually do is at your risk. Is it worth it?

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[AquaMan]

10.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[night_eyes]

Your allowed 2 lines while ice fishing...not open water fishing. Certain exceptions....some border waters allow 2 lines.

[drizz]

In MN the possession limit and daily limit are the same also.

[Airwave(OH)]

10 !!!!

[bob oh]

The posession limit for Lake Erie in Ohio is 10 per day fished. So if you are fishing Lake Erie and your license is 5 days old you may have 50 walleyes in your home freezer. That's why everyone in Ohio keeps their old license and buys a new one March 1. 365 days times 10 = :-)

Bob

[AquaMan]

Is this really true????? Seems that maybe you have an over-liberal Conservation group over there. 10 fish per DAY fished???? or 10 fish per LICENSE???

There is no doubt that , if what you are saying is true, you will soon over fish that lake. I realize that not all guys would do this, but according to your post, each license is entitled to KEEP and FREEZE 3650 fish in possession. That's insane!

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Chad]

Depends on what the posession limit is in the State they caught the fish.

[Sunshine]

AquaMan,

Read for yourself and see if you still feel the same way.

NIAGARA ON THE LAKE, ON Fishery managers from Michigan, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Ontario have agreed to reduce the harvest level of Lake
Erie walleye for the second year in a row. The Lake Erie Committee, acting
on a report from its Walleye Task Group that pointed out the lake wide
abundance of walleye is predicted to be lower in 2000, agreed to set the
total allowable catch (TAC) at 7.7 million fish, down 12 % from the 1999 TAC
of 9 million fish. The committee also recommended the yellow perch TAC
remain at a level similar to the 1999 TAC of 6.5 million pounds. Fishery
managers are concerned that the harvest of perch needs to be reduced in both
the western and eastern basins, but also recognized that perch stocks are
particularly strong in the central basin of the take.

In response to their continuing concern for both walleye and yellow perch,
the committee decided to pursue coordinated, long term strategies to protect
and rebuild these stocks. As an initial step, this year the LEC will
reinstitute the interagency lake wide walleye tagging study designed to
examine walleye population dynamics and stock structure. Over the next year
the committee will develop more comprehensive strategies designed to sustain
walleye and yellow perch populations at desirable levels. The LEC will
announce further details at their 2001 annual meeting.

The abundance of two years old and older walleye is estimated to be 50
million fish in 2000, down 14 % from the 57 million fish estimated to be in
the lake in 1999. The fishery will rely heavily on the strong 1996 year
class for the third straight year due to weak 1997 and 1998 year classes.

The 1999 harvest of walleye was estimated at 4.8 million fish, a 29 %
decline from the 6.8 million fish
harvested in 1998. The commercial harvest of walleye dropped 16 % to 3.5
million fish, while the sport harvest suffered a substantial drop of 49 % to
13 million, the lowest level since 1976 when walleye fishing was reinstated
in Lake Erie.

The yellow perch TAC was set at 6.57 million lbs., similar to the 1999 TAC
of 6.5 million lbs. but down from the 1998 TAC of 7.44 million lbs. The
sustained recovery of yellow perch stocks in all areas of the lake depends
on the contribution of the moderate to strong 1996 and 1998 year classes.
The 1997 year class entering the fishery this year is weak.

The 1999 harvest of yellow perch was estimated to be 5.7 million lbs., a 3%
decline from the 1998 harvest. The commercial harvest was 4 million lbs. and
the sport harvest was 1.6 million lbs.

Reprinted with permission from the Great Lakes Sportfishing Council,
publishers of the Great Lakes Basin Report.

[fishsniffer]

i agree that a partner can help his party fill alimit ;like in huntin in mn if u bag your big game u are allowed to help your huntin party fill there tags.

[fordnut]

Now i`m really confused!

[fordnut]

Now i`m really confused!

[Ness]

I can't believe they actually check refrigerators!!! In all the years I've been fishing I've never even had whether I had a license questioned. However, I did get stopped
once by a DEC officer because I paused rather than
stopped at a STOP Sign :-) (Me bad :-( )

[Dave G]

When trolling, I run the motor and my partner reels in all the fish. I guess this is illegal because my partner could have over his limit while I have none.

[dodgeman]

During the recent Bas tourny in Sturgeon Bay Wi the DNR got picky.Daily limit was 5 bass per person or 10 per boat. With 9 fish In the livewell someone had there limit and 2 people could not fish. They were fineing teams for it.In Wi it is illegal to catch and realease after you have your limit.

[jeff reed]

Two lines for ice fishing but only 1 line for open water fishing in Minnesota. That is the most ridiculous fishing law I have ever heard. Can somebody explain the utterly stupid logic to me??????????? or is the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Rec just jerking fishermen around and getting away with it????????

[jeff reed]

You live and reside in State A. While in State A You will abide by the LAWS of STATE A. SIX fish in possession is all you can legally keep due to the laws of STATE A. What you do or did in STATE B has no relevance in State A. Sorry Aquaman and Airwave(OH) you both are wrong. Thats called States rights and rules and regulations change from state to state. Here's an example. One buys legal fireworks in Tenn. and brings them back to Michigan were they are illegal. Michigan laws rule since you are in Michigan. You are busted for fireworks in Michigan no matter if they were legal in Tenn. This goes for fishing regulations too.

[jeff reed]

HEY Pal. THAT IS WRONG AND AGAINST THE LAW. 3650 WALLEYES, TELL YOUR LOGIC TO A JUDGE AND SEE IF HE SIDES WITH YOU. YOU ARE WRONG IN YOUR ASSESSMENT AND INTERPRETATION OF OHIO FISHING REGULATIONS.

[jeff reed]

The Wisconsin DNR need's to "get a life" or buy a Nazi flag. To me, thats called GOVERMENTAL PICKPOCKETING and harrassement. Politicians in Michigan get voted out of office for less than that. Is JOE McCarthy still alive in Wisconsin dressed up as a CO????????

[jeff reed]

It isnt possession till the next day, they are over a CREEL LIMIT.

[ErieAngler]

Aqua Man
As insane as it sounds it is true. Keep in mind that even if you had the time to fish every day there are huge lengths of time that the lake is unfishable i.e. ice formation and break up and all those heavy duty blows that keeps the boats at the docks. If I remember correctly (don't mark my words) the walleye catch rate in Ohio waters of Lake Erie is under 1 fish per angler hour (please correct me if I am way off). Even the most avid, non-chartering fishermen and women take less than 300 fish per year from their boats. Divide that by say 3 persons per boat and that's 100 walleyes per year per person. Charter boats take much more but also have 6 customers per trip and my guess is the fish per angler (clients) number is closer to 4 or 5 per year. Now toss in the tons upon tons of walleyes taken by Canadian gill netters (by the way a boat got busted 300 yds into Ohio waters the other day) and you can see there is a tremendous harvest takes place anually. Regardless, with all this pressure on Lake Erie she still keeps cranking them out by the millions. It may seem insane by inland lake standards but in reality it is par for the giant walleye machine Lake Erie is.

[ErieAngler]

I forgot to emphasize the fact that you are allowed 10 fish PER DAY FISHED. You have to fish all 365 days and limit out every day to get to the 3650 fish posession limit legally. I have to agree with Jeff that if you tried to claim you did that, any sensible judge would be more than generous in giving you 25% of the year's worth of days as fishable let alone limiting out. Point is even with those liberal limits there are still bunches of fish in the lake.

[KJ]

Thanx aquaman, just wanted to know. I also like to eat my fish fresh and have nothing to gain by "storing frozen walleye". I have been releasing more walleye than ever and it actually makes me feel better than braging rights at the dock. Thanx.

[Sven]

No good Capt. would keep his limit , too, on top of limits for the clients. That would be nuts...and hard on the resource. Way we always done it in Mn. was as soon as enough fish were caught so that every client would have a limit....fishing was over. The clients took their limit,the capt. took none,and eveyone was legal and not pounding on the resource.

[Sven]

No good Capt. would keep his limit , too, on top of limits for the clients. That would be nuts...and hard on the resource. Way we always done it in Mn. was as soon as enough fish were caught so that every client would have a limit....fishing was over. The clients took their limit,the capt. took none,and eveyone was legal and not pounding on the resource.

[IaCraig]

There are a lot of guesses posted on this topic, some of which I know to be incorrect if applied to my home state of Iowa. If you really are concerned, call a local CO where you will be fishing.
Just my opinion is that I wouldn't normally do it unless directed to do so by my fishing partner(s). (sometimes a dad will tell his kids to catch his limit too because he gets more enjoyment from watching them than doing it himself) And in those cases if everyone in the boat is okay with it and agrees to deny it if asked, how can a CO argue even if he is in a bad mood.

Happy Fishing
IaCraig

[AquaMan]

I beg to differ Jeff. I can go to Iowa, North & South Dakota, Wisconsin or Canada and LEGALLY bring home those state's/country's limits of fish, duck, deer, pheasant, goose, bear, moose, grouse, etc. Been that way for a LONG time.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Gray Ghost]

They would need a search warrant to check your fridge, unless it's outside on your porch. And to get a search warrant they would need to show a judge probable cause that you had exceeded your possession limit. IMHO just because you may have been caught exceeding your bag limit, that's not probable cause that you have exceeded your possession limit.

GG

[Gray Ghost]

My guess would be you would need to comply with the possession limit of the state you possess the fish in. So if in state A the possession limit is 6, you better not have more than 6 fish on you when you are in state A. If you live in state B and the possession limit is 10, you should not have more than 10 fish in your possession in state B.

If you have freezers in two states then that is another question entirely.

GG

[curt quesnell]

yep aquaman..you are correct sir....(i can speak
only for minnesota)
curt quesnell

[Frank]

The MNR in Ontario can check any hunt or fish camp or vehicle or boat ect without a warrant. Check the Ontario regs. In NW Ontario where I live the catch and possession limit is the same at four. If you catch four fish and pack them away, say yesterday,you legally cannot fish today. It is important also to understand that if you catch four fish today in the morning and eat them,you legally can't go fishing untill tomorrow. There is also no party fishing.