# Remember the "gifting" fish trick?



## kzoofisher

I wouldn't try it in Minnesota or Ontario and I would think twice in Michigan




> A potential ice fishing world-record lake trout caught by a northern Minnesota man earlier this month has been confiscated from a Duluth taxidermist by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
> 
> The catch is under investigation by enforcement officials with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, officials with the agency said.
> 
> The fish, which unofficially weighed more than 52 pounds, was confiscated Monday night from Bowe Taxidermy in Duluth, owner Randy Bowe said. It was confiscated by Scott Staples, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, Bowe said.
> 
> The Minnesota DNR is cooperating with Ministry of Natural Resources enforcement officials in the investigation. The fish was caught in Ontario waters of Lac La Croix, a border lake.
> 
> MNR conservation officer Joe Burroughs, based in Atikokan, Ontario, confirmed that the MNR is investigating the catch but offered no other details.
> 
> The angler, Rob Scott, 65, of Crane Lake, caught the large lake trout while fishing on Lac La Croix on Feb. 8. It was weighed at 52 pounds, 3 ounces, on a handheld scale later that day. The fish was 45 inches long with a 32-inch girth, Scott said. It was caught on a tip-up line, Scott said.
> 
> In a telephone interview Wednesday, Scott said he caught two lake trout that day but gave the first one away after catching the larger lake trout. His limit was one lake trout.
> 
> The big lake trout hadn't been weighed on a certified, official scale before it was confiscated, Bowe said. Scott had hoped to have the fish weighed officially and was considering having it submitted for record status.


http://www.twincities.com/localnews...nesota-possible-world-record-lake-trout-could


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## wyandot

Talk about a kick in the A**. WOW.


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## wintrrun

Yikes.
Say goodbye to that potential world record.:lol:


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## Brown duck

At least in MN, you can "gift" fish to get under your _possession_ limit, but it does not allow you to exceed your _daily_ limit. That's where the angler in question screwed up. I would wager the law is the same elsewhere.


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## MERGANZER

Ouch! Any pics of the fish?

Ganzer


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## cooner_jeff

what is the fishing version of SSS?
gift, fillet, shut up?


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## MERGANZER

Thats a iffy law IMO. I understand it but its like when 4 guys go out on a boat for bluegills. The total they can get is 100 but rarely does one stop fishing after HE caught 25 which by law he should cause he got his limit but they usually fish till the 100 has been caught. This is kind of similar IMO.

Ganzer


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## Robert Holmes

MERGANZER said:


> Thats a iffy law IMO. I understand it but its like when 4 guys go out on a boat for bluegills. The total they can get is 100 but rarely does one stop fishing after HE caught 25 which by law he should cause he got his limit but they usually fish till the 100 has been caught. This is kind of similar IMO.
> 
> Ganzer


 I am not pointing fingers at the Charter business but I would believe that many captains do not tell a client to sit it out or reduce lines when one person has caught a limit. If a charter goes out with three fishermen and two of them don't want to fish do they quit when the odd man catches a limit? Legally you can still fish when you have a limit in your possession you just have to C&R.


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## jediknight

Robert Holmes said:


> Legally you can still fish when you have a limit in your possession you just have to C&R.


Not according to the dnr on the Saginaw river. I watched them stop two guys that were fishing in a boat next to us. They had 9 walleyes and both guys were fishing. A few words were exchanged and the two fisherman left very upset. Don't think they wrote a ticket. The fisherman were telling everyone if u got nine fish one guy better stop fishing.


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## Big Skip

jediknight said:


> Not according to the dnr on the Saginaw river. I watched them stop two guys that were fishing in a boat next to us. They had 9 walleyes and both guys were fishing. A few words were exchanged and the two fisherman left very upset. Don't think they wrote a ticket. The fisherman were telling everyone if u got nine fish one guy better stop fishing.


This was discussed on here before and im still not sure if there is a definitive answer. At the time...it varied officer to officer. While that discussion was going on, I bumped into officer Forester on the river and he said u cannot target that species with your limit in possession. You can still fish for another species though.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## kzoofisher

MERGANZER said:


> Ouch! Any pics of the fish?
> 
> Ganzer


There's one at the link. The key to the story is that he was violating as soon as he kept the second fish. He had his limit and kept fishing, knowing full well that he was already limited out and having been checked by CO's after he got his limit. 

I guess if you are one short of a multi-man limit it's a good idea for whoever has their limit to quit targeting that species. Or each man could stop one short of his limit and everyone gets to keep fishing and you keep your last fish when it gets close to quitting time.


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## Trout King

Robert Holmes said:


> I am not pointing fingers at the Charter business but I would believe that many captains do not tell a client to sit it out or reduce lines when one person has caught a limit. If a charter goes out with three fishermen and two of them don't want to fish do they quit when the odd man catches a limit? Legally you can still fish when you have a limit in your possession you just have to C&R.


Technically the charter captain and first mate have licenses so they do not have to reduce lines.


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## itchn2fish

"Never sniff a gift-fish" in the mouth....or anywhere else for that matter


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## Robert Holmes

I guess that if I fished in Canada that might be an issue. I fish in the UP where the DNR doesn't plant enough fish for me to worry about catching a limit. I usually only catch one trout or salmon and consider myself lucky then go home.


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## MERGANZER

Listen! I am not targeting walleye I am targeting perch with this thunderstick!

Ganzer


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## destroyer353

Can you legally gift a fish here is Michigan? Lets say i'm standing there among others fishing on the river bank and I have two of my three fish limit on my stringer. Can I catch another and give it away as a gift and keep fishing? 

I have never thought about this before. In the past I have been fishing and seen guys that truly are trying to catch fish and can't. So I will kindly offer them a fish if I have it so I can keep fishing. 

Legal?


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## Robert Holmes

What ever you give away while fishing counts toward your limit and it also counts toward the limit of the person who accepts the fish. You are walleye fishing and give me two walleyes. You can only legally catch three more walleyes that you will keep. Likewise I can only catch and keep three more walleyes. If you gift a total of 6 walleyes you are over limit. I have seen people get tickets for this. In one case the fisherman gifting and the person getting the gift were over limit. You might also ask if they have a fishing license it is illegal to gift fish to someone who does not have a license.


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## destroyer353

Thanks for the clarification Robert. Good to know. Every year of going over the rule book to make sure I don't wind up coming home with any expensive paper work, I have never come across the rules and gifting.


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## Robert Holmes

I believe once a fish is processed you can give it to anyone. It would still count as a daily catch but not a possession limit. Throughout the year I do find myself giving fish to the elderly and neighbors. I have always given fish to elderly people who enjoy them and just cannot get out and fish themselves. On years when I get two deer I usually wind up giving one of those away also, to the elderly.


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## Davelobi

Robert Holmes said:


> What ever you give away while fishing counts toward your limit and it also counts toward the limit of the person who accepts the fish.



Wait a minute, how can one fish count towards two different anglers limits? Sounds a bit like double jeopardy or something. I can catch and release all day long as long as I don't have a possession limit right? If I catch a fish and hand it off to another licensed fisherman, who also does not have his limit, I should be able to keep fishing right? Wrong? Maybe, I don't know for two reasons. Sometimes the regs books are hard to figure out (govt publications right), and sometimes all the rules don't seem to make sense even if you understand them. 


I catch and release lots of salmon on the rivers and have allowed other anglers who can't seem to land any to have a fish or two. Guess I better figure this out.


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## jd_speed

I've caught some good sized gills on skein!


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