Can you legally cull walleyes once you have your boat limit? I looked quickly in the rule book but didn't see it. I know it is accepted in bass tournaments, but are you allowed to upgrade for harvesting fish? Obviously it would be tough to know if fish being released were truly healthy enough to survive. Just curious?
I would argue that a good live well is the best way to resuscitate fish....We have one we use on salmon and lake trout in that is about 100 gallons...All the fish recover much better after reviving in the live well as opposed to throwing back in lake immediately after being caught. I have seen alot of studies that say any fish brought up from over 30 ft to the surface to quickly will die ...We have seen that they make full recoveries in the live well after coming up from deep water
I totally agree with you! After a 2.5 hr drive home I believe a few of my fish would have been totally fine being released. I just wondered if it was legal in Michigan to do that?
I never cull fish. I only use my live well to bleed out fish then straight onto the ice. Walleye that are smaller than 15", or larger than 19", go right back into the water.
my tourney is 5 fish....3 guys CAn keep 24....I guess we cull out of our 24 to get 5,?....These threads usually bring out the trolls...Go fishing catch what you want within your legal limit and what you will eat. Don't over analyze it
Sorry guys! The last thing I wanted to do is open a can of worms. I was curious and looked it up, and noticed the gray area. I also know that a lot of guys think people are breaking the law when they continue to fish when they have a limit. That is not the case! Good Fish'n everyone!
In any tourney I have fished,a two man team weighs 5 fish so culling is not an issue. I'm lead to believe that fishing past your legal limit is not legal. I won't take that chance,I guess maybe a l.e.o would have the final say.
It would be an issue, because as soon as you put that 10th or 16th fish in the box, you no longer could keep fishing for that kicker fish. I say you legally can, and should be able to keep that big kicker fish as long as you have healthy fish in the live well to replace for your daily possession. I would just like to read it or hear a CO say that. It has to be legal because all the big time tournaments allow it...I don't believe they would get special legal wavers on that?
I'm waiting on a email from dnr on this subject, kinda peaked my curiosity. Like I said I was under belief that once you put your limit in possession you were to cease fishing,I will let you all know what I hear.
The rule book is very clear that you can continue CIR once your daily possession limit has been reached...I copied/paste right from the rule book in previous post. What is not clear is if you have a perfectly live fish in the well...can you replace it with another fish? I'm NOT bashing on tournaments...I love them!!! Like Walleye Mike said...it doesn't say you can't, so I assume you can. I would love to hear a CO's take on this.
On another forum I post in a DNR officer said you can continue to catch and release after your limit. I don't know if you can swap fish in your box though.
CO told me during a check you can catch and release. However you need to keep yourself one shy of limit because when you net the extra fish they don't know your intentions. As an example when I'm alone I keep 7 in live well and sort from there. He also said you can sort as long as fish are healthy and alive.
I asked a CO on the Saginaw about this and his response was "once you have a legal limit of fish you must stop targeting that species.You may continue to fish for any other species you like."
be safe. stop one fish shy of your boat limit and do what you want...with the exception of tossing back fish that wont make it... that's just not right!
There are many states that you may not cull if you put it in live well its yours and cannot be released
As someone said this time of year most culled fish will make it,when water gets to warm I don't think it's a great idea.
As I recall, Michigan's law is about "Possession". As long as you don't reduce a fish to your possession, meaning put it in your cooler, or livewell, you may release it and keep fishing. It's about how many you keep, not how many you go through in a day......
The problem with that is, 8 in your box and you have #9 on the hook and in your net, it's in your possession. Having 7 in your box keeps you from passing your limit when you net number 8.
Great point dare droptine,when I jig no matter whare we fash Saginaw , D-river etc when we limmit we are done,could take 45 minutes may take long time.might not happen on that day lol.but those early morning quick limmits are what I live for,love the look on the crews face like we're done what now.i say breakfast,clean fash den happyhour time lol
Years ago Pop's and Eye were fishing Freeland tourney, We had 10 in the box, and upgrading, C.O. pulls up counted our fish, He said you have your limit, Put the rods up and hit the launch, Before I give you both a ticket, Take it for what its worth.
Stopping 13" short of an 8 fish limit should not be a concern IMO... its not even worth worrying about the CO's interpretation. Just hold 7 and keep tossing them back til you want to leave. If you're short 1 fish, just don't report it on MS lol
GoLions I found the CIR you are referring about was in the common terms section of the fishing rules but the only place I could find that it was used in the rule book was under the bass section.
Asked a CO years ago about trolling when it was five per limit. My scenario to him was if 2 fisherman have 9 walleyes in the box how many poles could you be legally trolling with at the time it was only 2 per angler, he said that's all you better be trolling with is 2 when you get checked because one fisherman had their limit and was done for the day. I know pretty much everyone has did it to finish their limit so I guess if you get checked hopefully he or she is in a good mood.
JMO I think you should try it maybe you'll end up on the wardens on the outdoor channel and get some air time. LOL
As others have mentioned.....the best way to eliminate any difference of opinion or interpretation is to keep one short of limit in the boat. Cull with one short and you're never over-limit. Just be sure you're returning live fish to the water. No sense in killing fish needlessly.
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