Ontario's Possession Limits

[Billy Bob]

Reading another thread here got me thinking about Ontario's possession limits......so here's the thing:

 

I catch my limit in say walleyes (4) and give said walleyes to say the owner of the camp (cottages,etc..) Can I now go out and catch 4 more walleyes tomorrow morning ? ? ? And if so, what if said camp owner doesn't fish and has no fishing license, can he legally accept said walleyes or would he be in violation of the law ? ? ?

 

Can I feed said walleyes to my cat and then go out and fish for more walleyes or would the cat be in violation of the law (eating fish without a fishing license) LOL..... the point is, the more I think about this law the more problems I can see with it. Like I'm out fishing for the weekend and come home with my limit of walleyes but the wife bought some walleye fillets at the fish market and now I'm over my limit. The list can go on and on.

 

BTW we have a double possession limit in NYS so that makes it a bit easier to stay legal AND there isn't a conservation officer hiding behind every bush here.

 

Bob

[smally21]

you raise some good points regarding interpretations. my understanding is the 'possession' limit is just that. fish in your cooler, livewell, back at the camp, etc. all count. it would suggest you cant fish again until you eat. i know a guy that fishes every day in the fall and spring for perch, and limits every day. freezer is just jammed! however his daily limit is in his possession before his boat hits the water you know? it gets more complicated when you read that you really cant share your catch with more that your immediate family, meaning your well meaning gift to your host is actually a violation....

im no help here of course just kind of agreeing, good news is 50 guys are gonna explain it to us hopefully.

 

ps bb smoked my first brisket today, a flat point around 3.5 lbs. just smearing the sauce over the keyboard now.

[Pikeslayer]

If you take the time to read the regulations, you'll find the answers to your questions. BTW, we don't have CO's hiding behind every bush! Nice that you have double possession limits in ny state. Guess that's why you come to Ontario to catch walleye

[timmeh]

The actual law - if you give fish away they count in your possession limit until they are consumed. If you have a limit in your freezer and go out fishing and keep any more you are poaching.

 

The reality - the law is very hard to enforce. Enforcement relies mostly on people have enough respect for the fishery and having the responsibility to follow the law. Many people do but unfortunately some people think they can do whatever they want and don't give a crap.

Edited August 10, 2010 by timmeh

[canadadude]

In fact if you catch your limit and eat the fish for shore lunch,it is illegle to go out and catch and keep more that same day.The consumed fish count as your daily limit

[bare foot wader]

uh, oh....Symon's 9 posts vs 1854...ha...pretty sure most of us know the intention of his post isn't about cleaning out our lakes of walleye, it's a good question...and the state of ON fisheries isn't all that much to brag about bud....do some homework on that...

 

possession until consumption

 

store bought fish does not count towards possession....keep your receipt until consumed to play it safe - ie bringing store brought fish to the cabin if that species is found in the lake where your cabin is

 

it's not that easy to enforce and I don't see it happening without reason....ie you're caught well over your limit, CO might ask to escort you to your cabin and inspect your freezer...we had our limit of eyes for two guys in the boat so we switched to smallies for the afternoon, backwoods lake where it's popular to camp, CO escorted us to our campsite and inspected our cooler...

[Terry]

The actual law - if you give fish away they count in your possession limit until they are consumed.

 

 

can you show me that in the regs

I always read it as it counts against the days limit

 

and if you gave it to someone you just met you would have a heck of a time knowing when he ate it

i have never seen that in the regs

and i sent some time reading the real regs not just the summary

[bigfish1965]

Gifted fish do not count against possession....only daily.

But looking for ways to keep more fish is not really good for the fishery. Our laws are tight, Billy, but they work. It only takes about 25 years to understand them. Its the only reason I went to college for Natural Resources, really.

[smally21]

not sure is this applies to the original post but the co's were stopping vehicles and searching coolers up hwy 11 last year. some dudes were confused as they had each daily limit frozen in their cooler.

4 fish a day times 5 day trip yep there is 20 walleye in that there cooler officer....

[OhioFisherman]

no limit on carp and sheep head here, a wasted resource?

[Pikeslayer]

uh, oh....Symon's 9 posts vs 1854...ha...pretty sure most of us know the intention of his post isn't about cleaning out our lakes of walleye, it's a good question...and the state of ON fisheries isn't all that much to brag about bud....do some homework on that..

 

@BFW,

There are less than 300 COs in the province of Ontario. That would make it somewhat less than possible for them to collectively hide behind every bush. As for my statement regarding the regulations, they are what they are. Take the time to read them and you will find the answers to the questions posted. No hidden agenda here.

[timmeh]

Yes, Terry you are right, I was a little mixed up by Billy B question. Fish given away only count against that days limit not overall possession.

 

In the question about feeding fish to someone, or a cat, then going back out that day, that would be illegal.

Edited August 11, 2010 by timmeh

[smally21]

could one of you clarify the regs regarding giving away fish? you are allowed to share your catch provided it counts against your limit? can you just give this fish away to anyone?

 

also - the post 'reply from kevin lavers' gives a real life example of the possession law at work. (sorry kl its just coincidence)

Edited August 10, 2010 by smally21

[Terry]

could one of you clarify the regs regarding giving away fish? you are allowed to share your catch provided it counts against your limit? can you just give this fish away to anyone?

 

also - the post 'reply from kevin lavers' gives a real life example of the possession law at work. (sorry kl its just coincidence)

 

yes you can give, not sell not trade your catch to anyone you want they do not have to have a license but it counts as part or all of their limit till they eat it

and part or all of your limit till the next day....

 

if you give it to your wife and it's in your fridge. chances are they will still call it your limit

[Billy Bob]

Gifted fish do not count against possession....only daily.

But looking for ways to keep more fish is not really good for the fishery. Our laws are tight, Billy, but they work. It only takes about 25 years to understand them. Its the only reason I went to college for Natural Resources, really.

 

The post I made was NOT for the purpose of looking for ways to keep more fish...I hardly keep many fish and never over my limit....BTW you can call me Bob.

 

It was for discussion purposes only.....isn't that what this forum is all about? I was just reading another thread here on someone who got in trouble with the game laws and pondered how someone can get confused and make a mistake in Ontario or anywhere else you might hunt or fish.

 

INTERPRETATION of the law is sometimes much more important than understanding them if you get my "drift"....

 

Bob

[Billy Bob]

If you take the time to read the regulations, you'll find the answers to your questions. BTW, we don't have CO's hiding behind every bush! Nice that you have double possession limits in ny state. Guess that's why you come to Ontario to catch walleye

 

OK, from what I have read then it must be every other bush because it seems like a lot of fines are given out....but that's neither here or there.

 

I come to Ontario for more reasons than just catch a few walleyes...if that was the only reason I would stay home as we have some GREAT fishing here in NYS including walleyes.

 

Bob

[bare foot wader]

uh, oh....Symon's 9 posts vs 1854...ha...pretty sure most of us know the intention of his post isn't about cleaning out our lakes of walleye, it's a good question...and the state of ON fisheries isn't all that much to brag about bud....do some homework on that..

 

@BFW,There are less than 300 COs in the province of Ontario. That would make it somewhat less than possible for them to collectively hide behind every bush. As for my statement regarding the regulations, they are what they are. Take the time to read them and you will find the answers to the questions posted. No hidden agenda here.

 

 

my comment was in regards to this:

 

Guess that's why you come to Ontario to catch walleye

 

how many stops does the walleye tour have in Canada? I was just saying that you can catch plenty of walleyes, quantity and trophies, outside of ON...as great as northern ON is, I wouldn't be bragging about the state of walleye/any fisheries elsewhere in ON

 

and IMO the regs are far from clear cut and easy to understand for most people...I think it's been proven and argued too many times to start again here...just saying I thought buddy brought up a legit question...you'd rather somebody ask a good question proactively or just go out and catch and keep whatever they want...

[cram]

Here`s one i`ve often wondered about --- its illegal to let a fish go to waste if it dies (or looks like it won`t survive), but what if the fish isn`t a legal size (in the slot, too small, whatever)?

 

You catch a walleye in the slot, it's gut-hooked, and you let it go knowing its almost for sure going to die.

 

Or you catch and unfortunately lose a small musky (i would never eat a musky regardless of size, but just another example)?

 

Aren't you theoretically guilty either way?

[Dave Bailey]

In my opinion we have to keep in mind that there is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. For instance, you have a tournament in which there is a six bass limit. You have six in your live well, the smallest is a two pounder. You catch three pounder, so technically you are now in possession of seven fish, plainly illegal. But since you immediately cull the two pounder you are now back in possession of your limit. For a couple of minutes at most you were in contravention of the letter of the law, but let's face it, the law was not intended to prevent that, it is intended to prevent people from loading up a freezer and taking off with a hundred fish. The spirit of the law was not broken. In my admittedly limited experience with the legal system the spirit of the law is often what is ruled upon.

 

I would be interested to know the opinions of the members on this subject. I run the Gals 'n' Pals tournament, and we currently allow a six-fish limit. I have been seriously thinking of dropping it to five to stay in strict compliance with the regulations, but some feedback would be nice.

[John Bacon]

In my opinion we have to keep in mind that there is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. For instance, you have a tournament in which there is a six bass limit. You have six in your live well, the smallest is a two pounder. You catch three pounder, so technically you are now in possession of seven fish, plainly illegal. But since you immediately cull the two pounder you are now back in possession of your limit. For a couple of minutes at most you were in contravention of the letter of the law, but let's face it, the law was not intended to prevent that, it is intended to prevent people from loading up a freezer and taking off with a hundred fish. The spirit of the law was not broken. In my admittedly limited experience with the legal system the spirit of the law is often what is ruled upon.

 

I would be interested to know the opinions of the members on this subject. I run the Gals 'n' Pals tournament, and we currently allow a six-fish limit. I have been seriously thinking of dropping it to five to stay in strict compliance with the regulations, but some feedback would be nice.

 

I believe that is why most tournaments have a five fish limit instead of six.

 

Generally speaking culled fish count towards your daily limit. I.e. any fish that is put in your livewell any released later in the day would count towards your daily limit. The MNR recently added an exception to this rule for live release tournaments. I am not sure if the exception applied to all tournaments or if there is some sort of approval process to be eligible for the exemption.

[Gerry]

In answer to Dave, your tournament of 6 fish would also need to have a no-cull rule because, as you say, the 7th fish puts you in violation of the law. The law is clear, you now possess 1 fish over limit even if its for a few seconds. This is why all major bass tournaments have a 5 fish limit, the 6th fish caught and culled doesn't put you in violation.

[Billy Bob]

In answer to Dave, your tournament of 6 fish would also need to have a no-cull rule because, as you say, the 7th fish puts you in violation of the law. The law is clear, you now possess 1 fish over limit even if its for a few seconds. This is why all major bass tournaments have a 5 fish limit, the 6th fish caught and culled doesn't put you in violation.

 

SO in a non tournament situation let say you are anchored and fishing for whatever is biting......you start catching a few nice big perch and during this time you limit out on bass but you continue to fish for and catch more and more perch. But then you catch another bass. Now what ? Go directly to jail without passing GO right after you released that extra bass or can you continue to fish for more big perch ?

[Fisherman]

SO in a non tournament situation let say you are anchored and fishing for whatever is biting......you start catching a few nice big perch and during this time you limit out on bass but you continue to fish for and catch more and more perch. But then you catch another bass. Now what ? Go directly to jail without passing GO right after you released that extra bass or can you continue to fish for more big perch ?

Dump the bass you caught and continue fishing for perch.

[Terry]

if you down size your baits for perch or if you are catching far more perch than bass you are ok, but if the CO believes you are really there for the bass you will be charged and the courts decide who was right

[Gerry]

Terry has it right...its your responsibility to correct the situation. I all practicality, this wouldn't happen as bass and perch don't co-exist...bass are the predators and perch are the meals, unless you have a suicidal perch. But walleye and perch do co-exist and so you would have to make sure you discontinue whaterver method is attracting the over limit species....or go home. Ontario is different than New York in this aspect because in New York you can have your limit and still continue to fish for bigger fish. Confusing, huh?