?? for boehr

[JasonTheOutdoorsMan]

i would like to know if it is legal to keep a laker in the St.Joe river this time of the year. i was wouldering this b/c in the trout and salmon guide it has the st.Joe listed as a class 3 and it is legal to keep them if over 24 inches but i thought the laker season was over on labor day. just wanted to know. thanks Jason

[Erik]

You might want to post this question over on the deer hunting page. Boehr moderates there and would more likely see it there, than here. I believe you'll find that lake trout season is closed for the entire state though.


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my rod and my bow, they comfort me!

[Shoeman]

The way I read it, you can keep lakers in all class 3 rivers. Au Sable, St. Joe ect.
It only closes on the Great Lakes and other rivers ( class 1 and 2 )
I think it's a relatively new law. I remember years ago we had to release them. The only drawback, a 24 inch lake trout is a large fish with quite a bit of fat. Even in the lake, I try not to eat one over 20 inches. Most guys hate lakers and call them fatties and greasers, but they are great on the grill.
Enjoy, the Shoeman

[boehr]

Sorry about that, did catch the question on the General Hunting.

In Lake Michigan, which includes off the piers on the St. Joe River, anything beyond the shoreline, lake trout does close Labor Day. On the St. Joe River, from the shoreline, upstream, as you stated, lake trout can be taken but have to be 24 inches.
Remember two important things. The shoreline is where Lake Michigan starts and the St. Joe River stops and only a total of 3 out of the 5 fish limit may be over 15 inches.

Although possible, it's not real likely to catch lake trout that are 24 or more inches in the river, most are caught off the piers and it's closed season off the piers, Lake Michigan.



[This message has been edited by boehr (edited 01-02-2001).]

[Erik]

Wow, that sounds like a hard one to inforce. I mean, where does the river end and the lake begin? Is it, at the end of the peir, or where the peir begins and the land ends?

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my rod and my bow, they comfort me!

[JasonTheOutdoorsMan]

thanks for the info i was just woundering. it has never happened to me but i know people that have caught big lakers in the st.joe fising for salmon. about 16lbs. and they didnt know what to do with it and didnt know the laws so they let it go. just to be safe. thanks again for the help

Jason

[boehr]

Originally posted by Erik:
Wow, that sounds like a hard one to inforce. I mean, where does the river end and the lake begin? Is it, at the end of the peir, or where the peir begins and the land ends?



Easy to enforce. Draw a line from the shoreline on one pier to the shoreline of the other pier. Forget about the piers, think about the shoreline. One side is the lake, other is the river. Same as the 12 yard line on a football field. :)



[This message has been edited by boehr (edited 01-03-2001).]