Ontario's Possession Limits

[Terry]

yes but you can not have more then you daily limit in you possession at any time.....which means you must have one under the limit to keep culling

which is what has been say here

[MJL]

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?

 

I've been wondering exactly the same thing.

 

 

As far as limits, possession and catch and retain go go, I’ve always been told by the COs over the years that catch and retain limits are just that…You catch a fish and then stick it on a stringer, dump it into a cooler, put them in a livewell, dump them on shore (obviously for pick up). Once you’ve decided to harvest that fish and hold the fish using one of those means, then it counts towards your limit.

 

In most instances (unless stated otherwise), your possession limit is the same as your daily catch and retain limit. If you catch 2 walleye and stick them on the stringer (assuming the walleye limit is 2), you CAN continue fishing for walleye. You just CANNOT keep any. Similarly, if you have 2 walleye in your freezer, you CAN fish for walleye the next day…You just CAN’T keep any till you have eaten 1 from your freezer or given 1 away. Catch and retain and possession DO NOT include unhooking, taking photos and then releasing. If it did, guys sporting Conservation Licenses wouldn’t be able to fish for muskies (where in most instances the limit is 0) – But they can.

 

From an ethics standpoint, should you continue to fish for that species after you’ve caught your limit? Or one where the limit is 0? Probably not considering that not all fish that you catch & release will survive even if they swim away (i.e. they may have been mortally hooked).

 

Here’s a couple responses from the MNR

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Enforcement/2ColumnSubPage/198397.html

 

Question Re: Daily Catch

 

If I went fishing for bass yesterday and kept my limit can I keep the bass that I catch today?

 

Answer:

How many fish a person may keep depends on how many fish of that species they already have in their possession. Keep in mind that fish limits, both daily limits and possession limits, can be either about species (like yellow perch or northern pike) or a combination of species (like largemouth and smallmouth bass together or walleye and sauger together).

 

Possession limits are the number of fish a person can have in their possession in any location whether the fish are live in a live-well or in a refrigerator freezer at home or at a fishing lodge.

 

If all of the bass that were caught yesterday (a limit) are still in your possession today you may not catch and retain any more bass. You may practice catch and release fishing for bass as long as you immediately return any bass you catch to the water you caught them from.

 

From Ask a CO website

http://www.outdoorontario.net/AskMNR/mnrfaqfish.html

 

Question 17:

 

After one has caught & kept a limit of fish, is it legal to continue fishing for that species of fish?

 

Asked on October1/99

 

Answer from the MNR:

 

As long as you do not 'catch and retain' over the legal limit for each species of fish you may continue fishing.

 

 

 

As far as catching your limit and giving it to someone else (a friend, mother, anybody), it sounds like (as Rick mentioned) possession ceases when you hand over the fish - Not when they eat it (So long as their freezer is not in your own house)

 

Response from the MNR - Ask a CO

From same link as above

 

Question 38:

 

Does a person need a fishing liscence if they have fish (ie. salmon) in their possession (freezer) even if the fish was given to them? Can i legally give a fish i caught to someone who doesn't have a liscence or might they be in violation of the act?

 

Asked on November 15/99

 

Answer from the MNR:

 

There is absolutely no problem with you giving fish to a friend or anyone else and they do not need a fishing licence. The same goes for game and is widely used by hunters who have participated in the OFAH food for the need y project.

 

That being said, there are a couple of points to remember.

 

A. Those fish still are part of your daily limit. In other words you cannot take your girlfriend out fishing with you even though she does not fish, but ‘give’ her a limit, so that you can catch a second limit on the same day. The actual wording is “catch and retain in one day or possess”. You could, however, catch a limit of walleyes today, take them home and give them to your mother-in-law (hey, this is hypothetical!) then go out the next day and catch a limit for yourself. Remember that fish in your freezer are part of your limit, so you cannot have six, ten, or twenty limits of walleye in your freezer at home, even though you only took them six per day.

 

B. Possession limits apply to the receiving individual as well.

[Gerry]

I think that what is being misunderstood here is that a fish on your line counts towards your possession limit. It is for this very reason that tournaments have the 1 under possession limit. You can continue fishing and catch another fish without being over limit. I know this a technical point but those are the rules.

[Roy]

It's not nuclear physics, folks. What I find interesting about these threads is that for years, people here have been extolling the virtues of catch and release to the point of even berating others who would post fishing reports showing perfectly legal fish limits. Now we have threads that go on seemingly forever, searching and even manipulating the regulations looking for that extra fish to keep on the stringer or in the livewell. What gives?

[Michael_Brown]

 

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

 

The walleye tour is an american series. I would assume they have very few Canadian events unless they want some really good action. You may not be bragging about any of your fisheries (BC?) but besides the fantastic walleye fishing in northern Ontario, we have the Bay of Quinte, you may have heard of it? Possibly the best big walleye fishery in North America. Of course you could make the arguement that Lake Erie is the best, oh yah, that is Ontario as well. Do the 50 fish days at Rice Lake count?

Let's see maybe you were talking about another Ontario?

 

I'm quite willing to brag that I live in some of the best walleye water in the world.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Michael Brown

[Harrison]

I'm quite willing to brag that I live in some of the best walleye water in the world.

 

We do, I guided quite a few avid walleye gents from the states on Quinte. Big Boys from Wis, SD, Ill and Minn, they are beyond jealous we have this fishery here, especially B of Q. One asked if my Sis was single, he'd like to relocate.

 

I know a few other gents that guide out there that will echo the above.

[Guest gbfisher]

Lots of ambiguities in the Regs which can leave you open to a fine. The fact that you might have to defend yourself in court because of such ambiguities is just wrong. We all should be able to know our rights. What we can and what we cannot do. The way the regs are written...knowing your rights in not possible.

So take your chances and hope for the best. From one MNR officer to the next, a reg will be interpreted differently and can get you a court date like it or not.

 

 

I guess you could just pay the fine....

[Dave Bailey]

Generally speaking culled fish count towards your daily limit.

 

Having trouble getting my head around that. Do you mean that if I catch six fish in one day I have to stop? To me possession means possession, if I haven't got more than six at any one time then to hell with how many I have had during the day. If that is truly what the law means then, to quote Dickens, "the law is a ass." (Oliver Twist, chapter 51, p. 489)

[bigfish1965]

Okay...I will see if this makes things a little less muddy.

 

Culling... Yes you can cull certain species. Tournaments use a five fish limit because the act of measuring or weighing a fish to see if it a keeper or not can be viewed as placing in possession since it is not an immediate release. It has nothing to do with it being on your line. Once returned to the water, it is now no longer part of possession. This is a new law.

 

Slot fish... Fish that are not legal to possess must be returned no matter what. Since it is not possible to know whether or not you can keep it without measuring it, that leeway is given...but if it is within the slot..back it goes. This law supersedes the possession laws.

 

Possession limits apply to all people whether they are licenced or not. If they are angler-caught, they are part of possession.

[Billy Bob]

 

Possession limits apply to all people whether they are licenced or not. If they are angler-caught, they are part of possession.

 

OK then, as someone else mentioned then.....if I give 3 walleye to a conservation licensed fellow he is now violating the law but if I give the same 3 fish to a non licensed fellow he's not in violation of the law ?

 

You can see how some of these regs are not written very well.

[bigfish1965]

OK then, as someone else mentioned then.....if I give 3 walleye to a conservation licensed fellow he is now violating the law but if I give the same 3 fish to a non licensed fellow he's not in violation of the law ?

 

You can see how some of these regs are not written very well.

 

Agreed..which is one reason why many want to do away with the Conservation License.

[bare foot wader]

The walleye tour is an american series. I would assume they have very few Canadian events unless they want some really good action. You may not be bragging about any of your fisheries (BC?) but besides the fantastic walleye fishing in northern Ontario, we have the Bay of Quinte, you may have heard of it? Possibly the best big walleye fishery in North America. Of course you could make the arguement that Lake Erie is the best, oh yah, that is Ontario as well. Do the 50 fish days at Rice Lake count? Let's see maybe you were talking about another Ontario? I'm quite willing to brag that I live in some of the best walleye water in the world.

 

I'm ON born and raised, fished all the waters you've mentioned, been in BC a year (and YES, things are a bit different out here, rivers are devoid of garbage, 99% of anglers respect the regs and there's certainly not many arguments how to keep a few extra fish by manipulating the regs)....and I seem to recall just a few yrs ago everybody whining about the state of the walleye fishery in kawartha lakes, where I lived for 4 yrs....MNR underfunded, over harvesting, crappies are eating the walleye fry, pike introduced, etc, etc...

 

I love ON fishing, don't get me wrong....my original post was in regards to bashing a US angler and implying that he needed to come to ON to catch walleye, they don't need to....perhaps my post could be creatively perceived as bashing ON, not my intentions....just saying I certainly wouldn't be bashing a US angler for fishing ON waters...last time I checked kawartha tourism would be pretty happy to keep the US dollars coming their way

[wallyboss]

And here is the big problem I have.

 

According to this explanation, if I catch my limit of walleye (4) and give it to my mother who does not have a licence it is ok.

 

BUT if I catch a limit of walleye, and my mother has her conservation tag, I can only give her 2 fish, as to not put her over her possession limit.

 

 

Actually you don't need a license to possess fish. The Conservation tag lower limit is only the Daily catch limit not for the possession limit.

Edited August 11, 2010 by wallyboss

[northshore]

Agreed..which is one reason why many want to do away with the Conservation License.

 

I think the point of a conservation license is that you are a conservation minded angler, who only wants to keep 2 fish and not kill a full limit. Yes a non-licensed person can keep more, but maybe they aren't interested in conservation or fishing, just eating. But of course most of us probably just buy conservation licenses for our girlfriends or wifes who only fish once a year to save us a few bucks, and forget that it's real purpose is for conservation minded anglers. In my defence, my girlfriend only fishes once a year (if i'm lucky) and is conservation minded - since when she catches a fish, she usually says "Ewwwwwwwww! throw that slimey thing back, and no i don't want to touch it or hold it for a picture! ewwwww... "

[John Bacon]

OK then, as someone else mentioned then.....if I give 3 walleye to a conservation licensed fellow he is now violating the law but if I give the same 3 fish to a non licensed fellow he's not in violation of the law ?

 

You can see how some of these regs are not written very well.

 

And if you forget to bring your license with you on a fishing trip you have to pay a bigger fine than a guy who doesn't even have a license to begin with. Go figure.

[Guest gbfisher]

And if you forget to bring your license with you on a fishing trip you have to pay a bigger fine than a guy who doesn't even have a license to begin with. Go figure.

 

 

Not anymore. They changed that as well...

Lots of changes over the passed few years.

[Dave Bailey]

WHOA! Wait a minute... Don't the possession limits apply to each angler, not the boat? So technically a tournament with two-person teams could have a limit of 11 bass per team, right? I'm now officially more confused than ever.

[spincast]

Every charter captain I have been with asks at the limit less 1 - tell me if the next one is a keeper or release BEFORE we boat it. Cause once we boat the next one, we dont fish (or fish for that species) any more. They all seem to have some pretty good experience with how the CO's interpret the rules.......

- all this debate is an interesting intellectual excercise - so long as that is all it is for. Really - what does a family of four need with 20 walleyes in the freezer?

I have never kept my limit and used to have a conservation license until I went on charters cause I release almost everything. That's my choice. I dont expect anyone else to do so if they choose not to. If I'm out fishing for a day, enough for tonight's supper / this afternoons lunch as the case may be is enough. If I am on a Charter (it was because of these I upgraded to a sport license) and dropping a few hundred dollars I may keep a few more - but then I generally give them away to friends and only keep 1 or 2 for myself.

Leave them in the water - if we all do they will be there when we go looking for them. Can't catch a fish again once it bagged and frozen.

My $0.02.

[John Bacon]

WHOA! Wait a minute... Don't the possession limits apply to each angler, not the boat? So technically a tournament with two-person teams could have a limit of 11 bass per team, right? I'm now officially more confused than ever.

 

There isn't one limit for the boat. Each member of the team would have a seperate limit. Each angler can possess six bass, but if they want to cull they can only keep five in the well. A touranment could allow each angler on the boat keep a limit of five; they would have to be able to identify which angler each bass belongs to.

 

It would not be legal for one angler to keep seven and the other three. But when there is money on the line and it is difficult to prove it's going to happen. I think it's best if they keep the boat limit to five so there is no worry about who caught which fish.

[Guest gbfisher]

There isn't one limit for the boat. Each member of the team would have a seperate limit. Each angler can possess six bass, but if they want to cull they can only keep five in the well. A touranment could allow each angler on the boat keep a limit of five; they would have to be able to identify which angler each bass belongs to.

 

It would not be legal for one angler to keep seven and the other three. But when there is money on the line and it is difficult to prove it's going to happen. I think it's best if they keep the boat limit to five so there is no worry about who caught which fish.

 

 

New regs have changed in regard to Bass anglers. They now say you can cull after you reach your limit if you have a live well with air.

Same goes for Georgian Bay pickerel. You are allowed 2 under the slot "or" one over and one under the slot.

If you catch 2 under the slot(which by the way will not feed any family...lol)You can keep them in a live well and cull with one over the slot.

 

Ya gotta love new regs.....

 

 

Generally, daily catch limits include all fish that are retained for any period of time and not immediately released.

Anglers fishing from a boat may now catch, hold, and selectively live release, more walleye, northern pike, largemouth or smallmouth bass than the daily limit, provided:

(a) the fish are held in a livewell with a mechanical aerator operating at all times, (see Anglers Guide, p. 8, for livewell requirements)

( the fish comply with any applicable size limits,

© the Sport or Conservation Fishing Licence daily catch and retain limits for walleye or northern pike are not exceeded at any one time,

(d) no more than six largemouth or smallmouth bass (or any combination) caught under a Sport Fishing Licence are retained at any one time, and

(e) the Conservation Fishing Licence catch and retain limits for largemouth and smallmouth bass (or any combination) are not exceeded at any one time.

Anglers are reminded to closely monitor the condition of fish held in a livewell. Only fish that are in such a condition that they will survive may be released (see Tips on Live Release of Fish, page 10). Releasing a fish that will not survive and allowing the flesh of that fish to be wasted is an offence. Any fish not

live-released are part of your daily catch and retain limit

 

 

lol..so what happens when ya live release fish from deep water all day long in the slot and they all die?

 

Yup....Ya gotta love new regs.

Edited August 12, 2010 by gbfisher

[Dave Bailey]

It's beginning to look as if you should always have a lawyer as a fishing partner.

[Michael_Brown]

You guys need a hobby. Like knitting....less rules.

[Sinker]

Frig, just go fish. Don't keep over your limit, and don't worry about the small stuff. Some of you guys are reading way too deep into the regs. Christ, how often do you actually catch a limit, let alone keeping one?? \

 

Get over it and go fishing!!!

 

S.

[Dave Bailey]

Frig, just go fish. Don't keep over your limit, and don't worry about the small stuff. Some of you guys are reading way too deep into the regs. Christ, how often do you actually catch a limit, let alone keeping one?? \

 

Get over it and go fishing!!!

 

S.

 

Quoted for truthiness.

[mercman]

Frig, just go fish. Don't keep over your limit, and don't worry about the small stuff. Some of you guys are reading way too deep into the regs. Christ, how often do you actually catch a limit, let alone keeping one?? \

 

Get over it and go fishing!!!

 

S.

 

 

ABSOTOOTLY !!!

some people steal cars some steal money some steal fish. if ya cant do the time, then dont do the crime. fish, keep a few, photograph the rest and enjoy the brag. amen