# PWT culling?



## duckman#1 (Sep 22, 2002)

I am watching a Pro Walleye Tour at Sault St Marie MICHIGAN and they show many of them culling or as they call it "trading up". It is in Michigan. 
How can they legally do this?


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## tdejong302 (Nov 28, 2004)

Are you saying boats are trading fish. What do you mean "culling". If it looks illegal it probably is.


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## duckman#1 (Sep 22, 2002)

When a boat has their limit of fish in the livewell, they keep fishing and when they catch a bigger walleye they take a smaller one out of the livewell and throw it back and put the bigger walleye in the livewell.
I realize some states allow this, but this episode was in Michigan waters and I thought we couldn't do that in Michigan. It was filmed last year.


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## Westlakedrive (Feb 25, 2005)

If there are two anglers in the boat and they are only turning in a limit of 5 fish then I think that may be the key. If there is only one angler then I think there may be issues but I am not 100% sure.


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## Slick fishing (Sep 25, 2002)

the way I look at it if you dont throw back A dieing fish or take home more than your limit whats the harm, the law may say something diffrent tho..Cya Slick


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## snaggs (Jul 20, 2005)

......I suspect we will see more and more controversy about FISHING TOURNAMENTS...specifically the catch and take of fish and the release after the weigh in's...A high number of these fish never make it...the stress and oxygen depletion cause so much trauma that they die a short time after being released......this is a sad affair...and perhaps just another story in the never ending story to what commercialism can and has done to a sport....I guess.......MONEY... is the ...ROOT OF ALL EVIL...after all...:sad: :sad:


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## duckman#1 (Sep 22, 2002)

The two man team is probally how they get around it, tho I still don't think its legal because one angler could in theory catch way over his limit and by that I mean he could actually put more fish in the livewell than he is legally allowed to be keeping. Its like you and me going bass fishing and I;m doing real good and i have put 5 bass on a stringer and you have only one. so you tell me to keep fishing and anymore bass i catch i can put on your stringer....thats not legal. But then again, if they can do it on film for all the DNR to see,and the DNR doesn't care? well I guess I can do it then..right?


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## eino (Jun 19, 2003)

This is Boehr answer from last year on culling bass.

First I will repeat what I posted in another post.


Quote:
Originally Posted by boehr
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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## Ninja (Feb 20, 2005)

The MDNR has chosen not to enforce the culling reg's in permitted tournaments, bass or walleye.

I cannot find one instance of a recreational fishermen being ticketed for culling a bass or walleye either.

It is also not illegal to place a dead or dying fish back in the water.

Right, wrong or indifferent, those are the facts.


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## Jason Adam (Jun 27, 2001)

Ninja said:


> It is also not illegal to place a dead or dying fish back in the water.
> 
> Right, wrong or indifferent, those are the facts.


I disagree. Read the rules that are posted above. If you are fishing Kings for example, with a limit of 3 per person, and you have 2 in the deadwell, and you throw one back dead, and then boat one more fish, you are done. Your limit is the "Maximum number of fish to be caught, killed, or possessed in single day". The way I see it, 1 dead fish in lake plus 2 in your possession = your limit of fish for the day. 

I did not verify the law, I'm assuming eino got it somewhere legitimate.


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## Ninja (Feb 20, 2005)

Jason Adam said:


> I disagree. Read the rules that are posted above. If you are fishing Kings for example, with a limit of 3 per person, and you have 2 in the deadwell, and you throw one back dead, and then boat one more fish, you are done. Your limit is the "Maximum number of fish to be caught, killed, or possessed in single day". The way I see it, 1 dead fish in lake plus 2 in your possession = your limit of fish for the day.
> 
> I did not verify the law, I'm assuming eino got it somewhere legitimate.


 
You are adding to what I posted.

It is NOT illegal to put a dead or dying fish back in the water.
If I catch only 1 fish, and it dies in the livewell, I can put it back in the water legally.


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## duckman#1 (Sep 22, 2002)

Ninja said:


> The MDNR has chosen not to enforce the culling reg's in permitted tournaments, bass or walleye.
> 
> I cannot find one instance of a recreational fishermen being ticketed for culling a bass or walleye either.
> 
> ...


The MDNR has chosen? Could you please tell me where the DNR was qouted as saying this?

As for the "no one ever being ticketed" I recall on a Practical sportsman show a few years ago ole Fred was interviewing a DNR officer and he said no one to date has ever been ticketed for shooting before hours for duck hunting, so I guess we should of ignored the shooting hours at that time?

I was surprised to see culling used so much in that tourament.
I would rather see the pros use their judgement on what to keep as they catch them and take the chance they made the right decission at wiegh in time.


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## alex-v (Mar 24, 2005)

duckman#1 said:


> The MDNR has chosen? Could you please tell me where the DNR was qouted as saying this?


Wait a second here, please. It is a matter of language.

If someone can find a quote then the original statement if no longer valid. Until and when the DNR makes a statement against it, then it is proper use of the language to say that they have "chosen not to enforce the culling reg's in permitted tournaments, bass or walleye."

It is up to you, "duckman#1" to prove "Ninja" and his statement wrong and not the other way around. "Words mean things." So, right or wrong, Ninja's comment is still valid until you or Boehr or anyone in authority with the DNR says otherwise that the DNR has NOT chosen to avoid confronting the situation.

Again, it is "Ninja"'s statement that is valid. They have "chosen" to avoid it until we find out otherwise. Hopefully, they will address this issue very quickly.


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## Ninja (Feb 20, 2005)

Thank you Alex.

If we try to interpret the laws EXACTLY as written then I could envision a day of fishing like this:

I wake up at the crack of dawn, load the boat and hook it up....drive an hour to the lake.
Start throwing my topwater bait at the crack of dawn....hook into 5 dinks, all undersize, in a half hour.....then I'm DONE fishing for bass for the entire day.


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## eino (Jun 19, 2003)

The law is the law. Weather or not you choose to obey them is up to you.
If I were walleye fishing and caught 4 under size and one leagle, I can assure you I would still be fishing for some more keepers. I belive most people would.
But, that don't change what's written in the book.
I pasted above, Boehrs reply from last year. I have to consider it credible.

Ed


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## Ninja (Feb 20, 2005)

eino said:


> The law is the law. Weather or not you choose to obey them is up to you.
> If I were walleye fishing and caught 4 under size and one leagle, I can assure you I would still be fishing for some more keepers. I belive most people would.
> But, that don't change what's written in the book.
> I pasted above, Boehrs reply from last year. I have to consider it credible.
> ...


And the ENFORCERS of the law have chosen not to issue tickets for culling.
It's also illegal to spit on the sidewalk.


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## Ninja (Feb 20, 2005)

LOL @ BGB....so true.

But, I am on the water, in the woods and around CO's enough to know what is acceptable and what is not in most instances.

I will continue to cull, and will continue to be a good steward of the resources at the same time.


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## Slick fishing (Sep 25, 2002)

My day of fishing I will only keep fish that are of legal size and I will never throw a dead fish back, these are living creatures for us to have food and not to be wasted, culling dosent bother me as long as the fish is alive and well when you put it back in the water..

Mans laws does not always help man or the creatures on this planet, you know whats right now do it.. Cya Slick


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## RichP (Jan 13, 2003)

Ninja said:


> I cannot find one instance of a recreational fishermen being ticketed for culling a bass or walleye either.


Just out of curiousity Ninja, what do you do for a living that allows you to keep track of the hundreds, maybe thousands of citations that are issued each year for fishing/game violations?

Do you have the credentials to back up the statements you've made in this thread?


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

Been beat to death here. Has nothing to do with law anymore, just opinions.


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