Pull Lines In?

[beerun]

Scenerio:

3 guys trolling for walleye in the Saginaw Bay with 2 lines each and we boat our 13th walleye, does 1 person have to pull their 2 lines in seeing as that 13th walleye puts 1 guy at his limit? (5 fish limit)

Or.... can we keep all lines in... reason being the guy with his limit can either release the fish or switch it with 1 thats in the boat considering it is still alive and releasable.

TYVM

[boehr]

No law that forces the third angler with a limit to pull his/her lines in. But under my scenerio, I'm out there in an unmarked boat, acting like another angler and when that third guy catches the 14th walleye and I pull up, identify myself and start checking...what is that third guy that I seen catch an keep the 24 inch walleye say then.:) And I have caught anglers catching overlimits working undercover on Saginaw Bay, especially between Charity Islands and outside Wildfowl Bay down towards Sebewaing and Bay City. Yep its sometimes fun to see the looks on faces and hear the excuses. :lol:

[beerun]

Thanks. I was just wondering about that 'cause sometimes we have 5 people out there planer boardin' with 10 lines. And from what you're saying is that once each guy limits out as long as they don't catch and keep any more fish - then by the time we have 24 fish in the boat (lol I wish) in all reality we can legally have 10 lines in the water trying to catch that 1 last fish by the guy who isn't limited out.

[kdogger]

I'm a bit confused here...

With a 5 fish limit, and you have 3 guys fishing, you are allowed to have 15 fish in the boat, right? Why would Beohr be making a boat of guys freak out with 14 fish? They are still under the limit. Or am I missing something here?

[Ed Michrina]

even If you guys had your limit of Eyes in the cooler. I'd keep fishing, there is always a chance of hitting some nice perch, fun bass or a wild musky or pike.

[Adam Waszak]

14 walleye in the boat? Its time for a beer and a shore lunch IMO :lol:

AW

[beerun]

That's what I was thinking Ed. Keep all lines in 'till you leave because you never know what kind of fish you're gonna hook into. Moreover, even if all persons have their limit of walleye and you keep catching walleye you can either release each one as you catch it or switch it out for a larger or smaller fish depending on what you consider to be a better eating size.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/uploads/12460/DSC00044b.jpg

[kdogger]

Now what would happen if you were doing the "switch a fish" deal?


You had 5 walleye, now you have 6 while you are comparing them.

Sounds like a violation to me....

[Big K]

I can't wait until the day comes that I have to worry about such a problem! :D

[Ed Michrina]

To me it Sounds like you are putting a tape to see how big the fish is and letting it go to me. I wouldn't worry a whole bunch about that. keep the limit only and if you trade a fish make sure its going to live to catch again. Lets not get silly about this. fishing is legal (I think)

Ok what if you get a nice big walleye and one hook is in the mouth and th other is in it's snout. the one in the snout did most of the pulling should you throw it back cuz it foul hooked. plz. Enjoy your fishing keep only your limit and don't worry.

[Beave]

Am I reading this right? I've asked this question of a CO before and I was told that we have posession limits in Michigan, not catch limits. Meaning I can give a fish I catch to someone else to help fill their limit without affecting the number of fish I can keep. If that's not legal I guess I've been breaking the law, as have most charter boats. I always looked at it as 3 guys in the boat means you have a community limit of 3 times the individual limit. For big lake fishing that's 15 fish, no more than 9 of any one species. As long as everyone takes home one limit who cares who boated the fish?

I can't count the number of times I've been fishing with a newbie or a few kids in the boat when we just kept handing rods to the kids until their arms won't crank a reel anymore.

Please clarify Boehr. I may have to change my fishing habits.

[beerun]

I don't know if the rules & reg's are the same on the pro bass tours but.... seems to me that after they catch their limits they keep right onna fishin' switching out smaller fish for bigger ones right up untill the time to weigh in, then they tear right through the middle of all the guy's planer boardin'... (lol j/k)

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/uploads/12460/buckbrawl.jpg

[solasylum]

Beave,

Catching a fish and giving it away is counted towards your possession. Seen a guy ticketed on the pier last year who had 2 on the stringer and admitted to the DNR officer of giving two fish away. To the truck he went and came back with the piece of paper to show it. :yikes:

Scott

[FishTales]

I'm a bit confused here...

With a 5 fish limit, and you have 3 guys fishing, you are allowed to have 15 fish in the boat, right? Why would Beohr be making a boat of guys freak out with 14 fish? They are still under the limit. Or am I missing something here?
IF you have 3 guys fishing (Tom,Dick,Harry) and they have 4 fish each that is equal to 12 fish, when they have the 13th fish on board, technically one of the 3 has 5 fish.
Now you have 3 guys with 4+4+5, Tom=4, Dick=4 Harry=5, now Harry catches another fish (#14) and puts it in the livewell, Ruh Oh, Harry now has 6 fish in the livewell. :yikes: :lol:

[beerun]

FishTales -- Yes I agree wholly with you on that.

But my origal post was on the subject of if you have 3 guy's in the boat (6 lines) and 2 of them have their walleye limits, is it legal to keep all 6 lines in the water soley for the last guy to try to catch his last fish. You know... better odds with 6 lines vs. only 2.

Heck I think it's still legal to keep all lines in even if all 3 guy's have their (walleye) limits because you don't know what you're gonna catch on that next "release". And if it happens to be a walleye... well you better release it or switch it with another releasable fish that you have in the boat.

Also lol... what if you're alone pike fishing and all you're catching is walleye, so you keep 5 (because they're soooo tasty) but you have your heart set on some pike so you keep fishing and it so happens that you keep catching walleye (and releasing them). Legal?

Kinda like catching a species out of season.... oops... just release it.. never know what you're gonna catch sometimes. That's all...

[kdogger]

"Kinda like catching a species out of season.... oops... just release it.. never know what you're gonna catch sometimes. That's all..."

How is this different than "targeting" fish out of season? Tickets go out for that....

(I havent' figured out how to use that neat quote function.)

[FishTales]

Beerun,
Let's not confuse hyothetical, legality or theoretical.
First off, My reply was an attempt to explain Boehr's answer to Kdogger, since he apparently didn't undestand the reasoning behind Boehr's answer.
His reply was in the most extreme condition, and he was giving you reality, technicality and legal answer.

In reply to your question, Yes you can still legally keep all the lines in the water, with hopes of catching something different, but not with the intent to finish filling a limit for the third party, if it happens, oh well. Not saying this isn't done.

This would be similar to the idea of trolling for salmon with 3 lines out, you catch a walleye, are you legal ? Yes, since your "target" fish are salmon and not walleye.

[FishTales]

(I havent' figured out how to use that neat quote function.)
Kdogger, there is a "quote" button on the lower right, click on that and the post appears in the reply window. You can remove some of the writing to just leave what you want to refer to, like I just did for this answer.

[boehr]

Now you see why I do not like scenerio/hypothetical questions. One must read the first post then read my answer. It thread seemed to digress to have a lot of discussion about things that really don't pertain to the post asked.

As for the statement about catch limits, possession limits etc. We do have catch limits which is referred to by "daily limits" of fish you can take. Possession limit is how many fish you may have in your possession. Not just your possession while out in your boat but your possession period, all the fish you have, in your boat, in your freezer at home, everywhere you have fish that belong to you.

It is best not to attempt to find loopholes in laws because hunting and fishing is not how it was 100 years ago, hunting and fishing is recreational opportunity. If you attempt to use loopholes then ask yourself, are you a good stewart of the resources or what exactly is your purpose? Only you can answer.

I believe this thread has ran it's course.