# Is culling legal in M.I.



## twoteal (Jul 22, 2001)

If I have a days limit of bass swimming in my live well can I release the smaller ones and replace it with a bigger fish as long as the fish released is returned unharmed?


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## tedshunter (Dec 27, 2004)

Yes you can as long as the fish is returned unharmed,the guy's in the bass tournaments do it all the time.That way they can come into wiegh in with the most wieght.


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## WALLEYE MIKE (Jan 7, 2001)

Seems like this was answered once before if I remember correctly. I think the answer was "nope not legal". But then again my mind is getting old.


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## fatboy (May 8, 2002)

Fella's if I remember right the way it goes is if there is a five fish limit you cannot have five in the box and still be fishing.Four in the box and still fishing and culling fish i think is what is legal.Pretty sure thats the way i do it !


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## burbotman (Feb 20, 2001)

You cannot continue to fish for that respective species once you attain that species' daily possession limit. It is a keep or release decision. I think that bass tournaments can cull their catch because all fish are released unharmed at the end of the day. As for us sportsmen, not legal.


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## tedshunter (Dec 27, 2004)

That would be something to look into,I would'nt want to give out wrong information.How could you honestly know what you are going to catch next once one has reached a limit?I dont think I should have to stop fishing just because I have caught a limit of one species.I think as long as you show up at the dock with the daily limit or less you are ok.And dont get caught throwing a dead fish back in the water you should be ok too.Something to look into


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## shadow7663 (Feb 24, 2004)

WALLEYE MIKE said:


> Seems like this was answered once before if I remember correctly. I think the answer was "nope not legal". But then again my mind is getting old.


I am with Mike on this one.


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

First I will repeat what I posted in another post.



boehr said:


> 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.


That being said, here is a portion of the sport fishing law. Some number of fish may be changed by DNR Order but the caught, killed, or possession portions have not been changed:

*324.48721 Maximum number of fish to be caught, killed, or possessed in single day; possession of fish illegally taken prohibited.*
Sec. 48721. (1) Except as otherwise provided in an order authorized under part 411, a person shall not in a single day catch, kill, or have in possession at any 1 time more than the number of fish indicated as follows:
(a) Brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, steelhead, lake trout, and splake, in any combination of species, 10 when taken from rivers and streams or 5 when taken from inland lakes or Great Lakes, but not more than 10 pounds and 1 fish.
(b) Largemouth and smallmouth black bass, 5.
(c) Bluegills, sunfish, warmouth bass, rock bass, and crappies, 25 aggregate of any 1 species or in any combination of species.
(d) Pike-perch, 5. Any person may take and possess 10 pike-perch when legally taken in the connecting waters or the waters of the Great Lakes.
(e) Saugers, 20, when taken from the waters commonly known as the Portage canal and including Portage lake and Torch lake, all in Houghton county. Saugers when so taken shall not be bought or sold.
(f) Northern pike, 5.
(g) Landlocked salmon, 5.
(h) White bass, 10; 25 when taken from the Great Lakes or connecting waters.
(i) Whitefish, 12.
(j) Sturgeon, 2 per season. A person shall not possess sturgeon on or along the shores of an inland water except during the months of January and February.
(k) Perch, 50 in the Upper Peninsula and all waters of the Great Lakes that are within the jurisdiction of this state and are 10 or fewer miles from a border of the Upper Peninsula; in all other waters of the state, 100.
(2) A person shall not in a single day catch, kill, or possess more than a combined total of 5 largemouth or smallmouth bass, pike-perch, and northern pike, except that a person may take and possess a combined total of 10 of those fish when taken in the connecting waters or the waters of the Great Lakes.
(3) A person shall not possess a fish illegally taken.


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## Hi Ho Silver_Joe (Aug 4, 2003)

boehr said:


> (a) Brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, steelhead, lake trout, and splake, in any combination of species, 10 when taken from rivers and streams or 5 when taken from inland lakes or Great Lakes, *but not more than 10 pounds and 1 fish.*


Can someone clarify this?


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## Adam Waszak (Apr 12, 2004)

If I read that right and to the letter of the law it says it is illegal to "catch" more than the limit so if I am trout fishing and releasing my catch after I have caught 5 or whatever the limit may be according to size I should go home. I know this is not right but that is what it says. 

AW


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## kdogger (Jan 10, 2005)

Do bass fishermen recieve tickets for catching a 6th bass and throwing one from the livewell back into the lake?


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## Bobby (Dec 21, 2002)

.............a person shall not in a single day catch, kill, or have in possession at any..............at any 1 time more than the number of fish indicated as follows

Read the sentence above..............in a single day catch..............more than the number allowed. If I am fishing a catch and release area, the way this is worded I *CANNOT* catch *ANY* fish, period. I am certain that was not the intention. I here what Boehr is stating, don't try to find loopholes, but I don't think that was the intention of the original question, nor the intention of most if not nearly all fisherman. I can catch a bass before the bass seasons opens, I have to release it 'unharmed'. The way the wording is above that would also not be legal. 

Additionally, the text Boehr copied in his reply makes no mention of size limits for those species that have such. Therefore, as I read, catching ANY fish would count towards the number daily limit. Is that the intent?

I'm not certain where I'm going with this analysis, so I will stop. But I don't buy the idea that one cannot cull his catch. If the fish are released unharmed then all should be fine. If one is fishing a body of water with multiple species it is not uncommon to catch various fish with the same rig. One should not have to stop fishing because a particular limit has been filled, say bass, on a lake where I could catch other species.

I thought I said enough, so enough


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

Can of worms:









Meet can opener:


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## twoteal (Jul 22, 2001)

Why would you think I was looking for loopholes? I was just wondering how the law worked. Is having 4 bass in the well and culling legal as long as you never have 6 bass in the boat at any one time? The way I inturpret the rule posted once you have caught 5 bass even though you you release them you have to be done fishing?  

Despretly seeking answers!!


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Why do you have to be a "Philadelphia lawyer" to understand these regs? The way that "trout thing" is worded,, anything over 10lbs has to be thrown back. And what is a "pike-perch"?  Also, the perch limits,,, the way that reads,, the limit would be 100 on LSC.


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## Moss_835 (Feb 1, 2002)

But I do think the answer is there is no culling in the state of Mi...at least not legal culling...most bass and walleye tournaments held in the state of Mi have in their rules that there is no culling per state regs...
I may stand corrected but if one checks the rules of the PWT held in Bay De Noc you may find my above statement correct...I also think the same applies to the Sag. Bay tournament...
Most what one sees on the TV is from other states which have much different rules than we do here in Michigan....


Moss


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## kdogger (Jan 10, 2005)

> (g) Landlocked salmon, 5.


 
I can't believe this is our law! (Well, I guess I can, but I am amazed by it!)

We have a navagable outlet to the atlantic ocean (St. Lawrence Seaway) so how can our salmon be "landlocked"? (Shouldn't have the guy put in "Great Lakes Salmon, not landlocked?)

No wonder Bill Clinton can legally challange the meaning of the word "the".

Do these lawmakers just play word games?

Now I see why Beohr says not to find loopholes, and just try to be a good steward of the resource, because the whole law looks chock full of loopholes!

What is a "Pike-Perch"? I've never heard of a Northern Pike and Yellow Perch hybrid! (Although I think some state rep must think a walleye is a pike perch)

Hats off to Beohr for trying to enforce such a mess!

Can we rely on the DNR's interpretation in the fishing rule book as gospel?
What I'm asking is do CO's write tickets on thier interpretation of this mess of a law, or do they write tickets based on the DNR fishing rule book?


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## Randy Kidd (Apr 21, 2001)

I searched for "Pikeperch" here is an encyclopedial description that I copied

pikeperch
Any of various freshwater members of the perch family, resembling pikes, especially the walleye Stizostedion vitreum, common in Europe, western Asia, and North America. It reaches over 1 m/3 ft

If you do further searches some sites show the yellow perch as a "Pikeperch" and some show a Walleye as one. So I guess it encompases both? But in the context of the law as posted it must mean a Walleye. I think anyway


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

Please keep in mind ALL of my post...*here is a portion of the sport fishing law. Some number of fish may be changed by DNR Order*

If you want the whole law I will be happy to provide links but putting books of texts as posts is not a good idea.


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## twoteal (Jul 22, 2001)

Please, Provide links if it is possible I really want to get involved. Maybe its time that the regs where ''updated'' so that they can be better under stood.

Now I know why fred had to get a law degree....


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