# the man is watching



## real reeltime (Jun 30, 2009)

Couple guys went out and came back with their limit. Only problem was that one guy caught more than 4 fish and the law was in a boat next to them fishing and watching them. He got fined and lost their fish. Just a heads up.


----------



## LenB (Mar 8, 2012)

Where did this happen ?


----------



## real reeltime (Jun 30, 2009)

Turtle Creek


----------



## Leschamp19 (Aug 21, 2010)

There is no boat limit rule, a limit of fish is per person however I was told by a dnr guy last year ( who fished on my boat) that it is completely legal to hand your rod off ! Let's just say that if there are three of us on my boat we would be allowed 12 fish total but only 4 a piece , and one of us was on fire with the fish and hit our four fish limit and the other two were having trouble hooking up the one who is at the limit can continue to fish and release the fish caught or if he would hook up he could hand the rod off to one of the other guys and let them bring it in as their fish ! 


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## hiddenlake (Dec 29, 2004)

We do same in river handing off poles


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

You guys need walleye that bad to hand off poles to people that don't know how to fish? You don't have to get your limit every time.


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

We went through this last year. You can get your 4 and continue as long as you C&R or pass your pole off. 

Once the jig bite dies off, do what you want, but technically there is no "boat limit".

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Carpman said:


> You guys need walleye that bad to hand off poles to people that don't know how to fish? You don't have to get your limit every time.


Not everyone is as good as you.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## idontknow316 (Mar 21, 2008)

And here we go again......a yearly occurence. Don't pass the rod, pass the rod blah blah blah. If its legal, which it is, do what you want.


----------



## Jason Pelz (Mar 6, 2012)

All the more reason to troll. If you alternate reeling fish in then everyone ends up with the same number of fish at the end of the day.


----------



## always fighting (Feb 2, 2013)

Carpman mind your own!! Everybody is there to catch fish.....


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Jason Pelz said:


> All the more reason to troll. If you alternate reeling fish in then everyone ends up with the same number of fish at the end of the day.


The reality is, once the spawn is over, "the man" will have his attention divided. Right now he's got a lot of people in a small area to focus on.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## Sculpin67 (Dec 11, 2007)

I used to hand off my pole to my son......now he's 13 and I'm waiting for him to return the favor. Last year, he schooled me once on perch. He was catching 4 to my 1.


----------



## shadowalker (May 7, 2004)

They get to keep there legal limit, but they are fined on and lose fish over limit.Shadowalker


----------



## Leschamp19 (Aug 21, 2010)

Not that I want to argue about anything on here , but before last year I was not aware u were allowed to pass a rod off ! That being said, thought it would help someone else who may have spent a lot of money and time to put some food on the table ! For myself, there have been times when food would have been slim if I would not have been successful on a hunting or fishing trip! Whether it be deer, rabbits or walleye I do my best to follow the rules ! I eat everything that I harvest, so going to the lake/woods is not only my hobby but also as a way to feed myself !  


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Bigjoe (Aug 13, 2011)

real reeltime said:


> Couple guys went out and came back with their limit. Only problem was that one guy caught more than 4 fish and the law was in a boat next to them fishing and watching them. He got fined and lost their fish. Just a heads up.


Good!!!


----------



## rustyhooks42 (Aug 22, 2011)

Leschamp19 said:


> There is no boat limit rule, a limit of fish is per person however I was told by a dnr guy last year ( who fished on my boat) that it is completely legal to hand your rod off ! Let's just say that if there are three of us on my boat we would be allowed 12 fish total but only 4 a piece , and one of us was on fire with the fish and hit our four fish limit and the other two were having trouble hooking up the one who is at the limit can continue to fish and release the fish caught or if he would hook up he could hand the rod off to one of the other guys and let them bring it in as their fish !
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


It sounds like the guys mistake was not handing off the rod. So if you reel in the fish and then "give" it to your buddy that's an illegal catch?


----------



## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

WadeontheWater said:


> It sounds like the guys mistake was not handing off the rod. So if you reel in the fish and then "give" it to your buddy that's an illegal catch?


Correct.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## Leschamp19 (Aug 21, 2010)

Wade - yes that is illegal ! 


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Yep, well only illegal if you go over your limit. If you caught the fish and then gave it away, I'm pretty sure it counts towards your limit and whoever you gave it to also. So if you keep 6(or whatever the limit is where your fishin) and give them away to someone that's technically a limit for both of you. Not 100% sure.

Moral of the story, just practice c&r lol and you don't have to worry about "handing your rod off."


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

You can give away all the fish you want as long as it counts towards your limit. once you've reached your limit you cannot give away fish. Just ask the captain of the head boat that got busted last season.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

We use 2 rods per man. My question is if you have four guys trolling 8 lines. Do you guys remove 2 rods per limit caught or do you run all 8 till the last fish. Just curious. As technically you're still fishing if you catch 4 and troll your rods anyway. Really don't matter to m these days. I feel there should be a boat limit not a personal limit when fishing from a boat anyway. Because unless they watch through binos they don't know who catches what. Just seems so small a thing. With the number of people who don't get a limit why worry on a baot to who caught what. 
Im sure my thoughts are wrong to some but thats my take.


----------



## LenB (Mar 8, 2012)

viper1 said:


> We use 2 rods per man. My question is if you have four guys trolling 8 lines. Do you guys remove 2 rods per limit caught or do you run all 8 till the last fish. Just curious. As technically you're still fishing if you catch 4 and troll your rods anyway. Really don't matter to m these days. I feel there should be a boat limit not a personal limit when fishing from a boat anyway. Because unless they watch through binos they don't know who catches what. Just seems so small a thing. With the number of people who don't get a limit why worry on a baot to who caught what.
> Im sure my thoughts are wrong to some but thats my take.


I don't know the legal answer to your question, but I agree with you 100%


----------



## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

You can keep fishing with 8 rods as long as you want even after you caught limits(c&r of course), but just keep in mind if you already have your limit, if you catch a fish and it dies because of getting gut hooked or whatever then that also counts and you could go over your limit. So maybe just keep one less than your limit to be safe, just in case you get one that doesn't make it so then that fish would then count as your last fish instead of going over.


----------



## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

viper1 said:


> We use 2 rods per man. My question is if you have four guys trolling 8 lines. Do you guys remove 2 rods per limit caught or do you run all 8 till the last fish. Just curious. As technically you're still fishing if you catch 4 and troll your rods anyway. Really don't matter to m these days. I feel there should be a boat limit not a personal limit when fishing from a boat anyway. Because unless they watch through binos they don't know who catches what. Just seems so small a thing. With the number of people who don't get a limit why worry on a baot to who caught what.
> Im sure my thoughts are wrong to some but thats my take.


We keep the rods out. You never know when you'll hit a steelhead instead of a walleye.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## Alaskan (Jun 19, 2007)

Selective enforcement reigns again. If they really want to enforce that, get on the head boats...and many charters. How long before they make us wear colored gloves coordinated with some optic colored trolling rod..."now , now,you can only reel in fish hooked on your rods."
Wait until they start making us guys on 20 foot boats carry a fish cooler for each person on board. Why don't we just start tagging and reporting each fish caught?


----------



## Redheads (Jun 9, 2008)

I would say its the net man's fish ,after all he is the one who has reduced it to possession


----------



## chardoncrestliner (Dec 19, 2012)

Has this "always" been the rule? 

Back some 30 years ago when I went out on charters out of Port Clinton we always totalled the fish from the boat, not each fisherman.

Currently when I go out with my wife perch fishing we don't count each individuals fish, but guess that I'll start. But, we've never limited either.

Want to do the legal thing.


----------



## ChinnAgain (May 28, 2012)

Last year I got stopped by ODNR after a 3 man limit of perch. They counted and never questioned who caught what. I was just glad that someone didn`t sneak one into the cooler without marking it.


----------



## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

All of this was discussed in detail last Spring.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=198577

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=198322


----------



## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

Alaskan said:


> Selective enforcement reigns again. If they really want to enforce that, get on the head boats...and many charters. How long before they make us wear colored gloves coordinated with some optic colored trolling rod..."now , now,you can only reel in fish hooked on your rods."
> Wait until they start making us guys on 20 foot boats carry a fish cooler for each person on board. Why don't we just start tagging and reporting each fish caught?


Whoa, that's enough! They come up with enough stupid ideas on their own, you don't need to help them any!

You know, the cooler thing applies on land? I even called and asked about it. I was ticked to learn, legally, 3 guys on shore need to have 3 coolers, with no more than 1 limit in each cooler.


----------



## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

I Fish said:


> You know, the cooler thing applies on land? I even called and asked about it. I was ticked to learn, legally, 3 guys on shore need to have 3 coolers, with no more than 1 limit in each cooler.


I have been checked a dozen times on shore with everyone's fish in one cooler. Never been an issue as long as you have the required number of licensed fishermen present.


----------



## Lundking (Apr 15, 2013)

The cooler issue has never been a problem for us either.. However I wouldn't put it past "the man" to bring it up in discussion during a check.


----------



## Alaskan (Jun 19, 2007)

_"I have been checked a dozen times on shore with everyone's fish in one cooler. Never been an issue as long as you have the required number of licensed fishermen present. "_
And therein is another example of non enforcement or at least not consistant. 


According to those links, a charter captain and first mate could catch their fish and give them to whomever. How often do you see a captain or first mate reel in fish on a trolling charter? At the end of the day they don't have have a "boat limit'? I don't have a grudge against charters....just how unevenly the law is applied.

Why doesn't the state make it easy and just make it a boat limit? Ohio has bumped the quota how many times vs Canadian netters?


----------



## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Carpman said:


> You guys need walleye that bad to hand off poles to people that don't know how to fish? You don't have to get your limit every time.


Just got back from four days of walleye jig fishing on the reefs. Sat down to view all I had missed on OGF and wondered how long it would be to find the first "Winning Post".  Sure enough, there it was.


----------



## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

Back when the limit was ten a buddy of mine and I went to Mosquito for Walleyes. I was running the boat so I was in the back and he was up front. We anchored on a point and started jigging. I began catching them right away and he wasn't doing anything even though he was using the same lure as I was and fishing the same way.
After about an hour I had my ten fish limit on the stringer. He had none. I said to him let's switch ends of the boat so we did. I began catching them up where he had been and he finally caught three back where I had been. For some reason his technique wasn't as effective as mine was. Why ? I have no idea.


----------



## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Whaler said:


> Back when the limit was ten a buddy of mine and I went to Mosquito for Walleyes. I was running the boat so I was in the back and he was up front. We anchored on a point and started jigging. I began catching them right away and he wasn't doing anything even though he was using the same lure as I was and fishing the same way.
> After about an hour I had my ten fish limit on the stringer. He had none. I said to him let's switch ends of the boat so we did. I began catching them up where he had been and he finally caught three back where I had been. For some reason his technique wasn't as effective as mine was. Why ? I have no idea.


 We had the same thing happen this weekend. Saturday was the day for Joe to get the hits. Sunday was Ron's turn and Monday was Scott's turn. Same lures, same positions in the boat, Had to be technique (presentation). That is what makes fishing soooo much fun and enjoyable.


----------



## ErieGoldSportfishing (Feb 5, 2009)

Nobody has to stop fishing when limits are reached because C&R is perfectly legal. Technically when a person reaches his or her limit, they can no longer contribute to the live well but we all know that is not the common practice. Typically folks fish until there are enough for limits for everyone on board.

I've engaged in the discussion about boat vs. individual limits among both friends and law enforcement and the biggest question is.....who's catching the fish? That's easy to figure out jigging or perch fishing, but almost becomes a "chicken or the egg" argument when you look at a trolling charter situation. The captain or first mate is setting lines, making hook sets or tightening up lines after a release, then handing them of to customers to reel in. You can hire a crappy lawyer to make a case that the guy tuning the baits, dropping them back a certain number of feet, or tightening up after a release is catching them regardless of who reels them in. The same crappy lawyer could easily make the argument that the guy driving the boat is the one catching the fish because he is putting you on them at the right speed. I told a group of Lake Erie enforcement officers that very thought and they couldn't disagree. It would be much easier to enforce to use this simple equation: 

number-of-persons x individual daily bag limit=legal daily bag limit 

All we know is currently the law implies that the person reeling in the fish is the angler who's limit that fish is counted against and until it is changed, that's the rule.


----------



## LenB (Mar 8, 2012)

Alaskan said:


> _"I have been checked a dozen times on shore with everyone's fish in one cooler. Never been an issue as long as you have the required number of licensed fishermen present. "_
> And therein is another example of non enforcement or at least not consistant.
> 
> 
> ...


I agree with you completely. The amount we catch as recreational fishermen is nothing compared to what the Canadians net.


----------



## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Not hard to see why this topic comes up every year. The more folks we get trying to clarify the rule just gets more mud in the water.

My interpretation: If you're jigging the reefs this time of year and you already contributed 4 legal walleye to the creel, then you are not allowed to contribute any more walleye to the creel but you can C&R if you choose.


----------



## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

Are you able to release a smaller fisk from the live well in order to keep a bigger one once you are limited out? May be a dumb question but just curious.

"Big fish only get caught because they open their mouth."


----------



## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

jlami said:


> Are you able to release a smaller fisk from the live well in order to keep a bigger one once you are limited out? May be a dumb question but just curious.
> 
> "Big fish only get caught because they open their mouth."


Yes you are. You can not if on a stringer that goes thru the gills.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## willysol (Mar 12, 2013)

If you have your limit and catch another one or two can't you simply release the fish? Or are you required to stop fishing, at that point I could be trying for perch but keep catching wallyes, can't I emmediately release them? no culling mind you.


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Let me clarify, once again. 

Once you have reached your limit, you can continue to catch and release. 

You may cull your catch provided fish are kept in a live well. Returning a dead fish is a violation.

There technically is no such thing as a "boat limit". However, when DNR checks your box at the dock the only things they are concerned about is 1) All fisherman have a valid license; 2) the number of fish does not exceed limit per man; 3) All fish are of legal size. 

As stated above, you can give away your caught fish up to the amount you are allowed to legally keep. 

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## 34181 (May 6, 2012)

fishinnick said:


> You can keep fishing with 8 rods as long as you want even after you caught limits(c&r of course), but just keep in mind if you already have your limit, if you catch a fish and it dies because of getting gut hooked or whatever then that also counts and you could go over your limit. So maybe just keep one less than your limit to be safe, just in case you get one that doesn't make it so then that fish would then count as your last fish instead of going over.


Interesting, What happens if you catch a undersize fish and it dies because of getting hooked, do you keep it? Hummm, ticket for dead fish? Just a thought?


----------



## robertj298 (Feb 23, 2009)

There is a simple solution. Just catch and release everything. If you want fish to eat it's much cheaper to buy them at the store if your worried about how many fish you can keep.


----------



## jimski2 (Jul 23, 2010)

The "release" in Alaskan waters is determined if the fish is lifted from the water in a net, it is a catch, put your pole away and fill out your tag and let everyone else have their day. You can release the fish in the net, but "high grading" is illegal.


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

This is Ohio, not Alaska. I'm sorry, but there is a small contingent that after much discussion and clarification with DNR, still don't get it. Please do not further confuse the group by discussing out of state regulations that have nothing to do with us. Thanks! 

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

robertj298 said:


> There is a simple solution. Just catch and release everything. If you want fish to eat it's much cheaper to buy them at the store if your worried about how many fish you can keep.


have you seen the price of lake erie walleye in the store??? 13.99-14.99 a pound!


----------



## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

robertj298 said:


> There is a simple solution. Just catch and release everything. If you want fish to eat it's much cheaper to buy them at the store if your worried about how many fish you can keep.


Catch & Release so someone else can catch and sell it to you...I don't think so. Besides there is nothing better than a walleye or perch that goes from the fillet table to the frier!

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

This thread has kinda been all over the place. I'll try to distill it:
1) there is no such thing as a boat limit in Ohio.
2) you can cull live fish in order to have a limit of bigger fish.
3) you can continue to catch and release, even with a limit of fish in possession.
4) you can hook fish for, and hand off the rod to other people, and, so long as they do the "reeling in", they go toward their limit, not yours.
5) you can give away fish, but, they all count toward your daily limit.

As to more than one limit in a cooler, when I called DNR last year, they said whoever owns the cooler legally possesses the fish. Does that mean the Warden will write you a ticket? That's up to the Warden's discretion, but, they can, as that's the law. It's another grey area. I thought about using a marker to write on the cooler it was property of me and all my fishing pals, then, we all own it. Here's another: Sometimes my fishing partners will meet me at the lake. When we leave, if my cooler or livewell were to be checked, especially when crappie fishing, I'd have to go to court and try to prove that not all of the fish were mine, as legally, I would be in possession of over my limit. While unlikely, the potential is there. Also, if you already have your daily limit, legally, you cannot accept any fish of the same species as a gift, even if somebody brings them to your house.

It's really not that hard to understand. Each individual is only allowed to take and or possess 1 daily limit, per day. To take and to possess are two different things, and any combination counts toward your limit.


----------



## lil goose (Oct 16, 2009)

Let's be honest i have fished lake erie for quite a few years from charter boats,head boats and finally i have my own boat and it always been a boat limit, that we know is illegal, and we have been boarded and checked by dnr and checked at the launch and all they have ever asked me is how many total fish were harvested. The tickets i have seen written was almost always either over limits , undersized fish or no licence so in my opinion as long as you are not over your limit or have undersized fish and have a valid fishing licence they won't mess with you,for the most part. That being said i read last year where some captain got ticketed last year for contributing to get the boats limit but i haven't heard of it before or since then so as long you abide by the limits they set you will be fine!! Oh yeah they need to change that law to boat limits and quit trying to make outlaws out of everyone!! Just my two cents worth. Good luck everyone Goose


----------



## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

I know I put all the fish that we catch in one cooler/livewell on my boat.....but....

I was at a well known trout stream last year during this time and everyone was hammering steelhead. Anyway, I just catch and release unless I get a large female for the eggs. Well, the hillbillies next to us wanted to keep all they caught and i'm fine with that, put and take fishery. Well, game warden shows up because it's april 1st, and you need the new license. He checked all of our licenses, then proceeded to check the other guys' cooler. There was a problem, they had 3 steelhead in 1 cooler and they got fined and were told to leave. The warden said "this isn't party fishing, you have to have separate stringers."

Guess that doesn't apply on a boat on lake Erie, cause I have been checked multiple times with just one cooler full of walters. 

BTW, sorry for my stupid comment on page 1 of this thread, I was out of line.


----------



## rizzman (Oct 25, 2007)

How about this, read the booklet (regulations) you get when you buy your license or if you got it "on-line" go to the ODNR web page and READ THE RULES...it's not that complicated.


----------



## wakina (May 30, 2007)

robertj298 said:


> There is a simple solution. Just catch and release everything. If you want fish to eat it's much cheaper to buy them at the store if your worried about how many fish you can keep.


So I should spend $60.00 to $70.00 in gas and supplies to go fishing and then release all caught fish, then stop at my local Meijer store in Findlay, Ohio on my way home to purchase fish, where they have 3 week old fresh walleye fillets for $13.99 a pound and 3 week old fresh perch fillets for $14.99 a pound in the Sea Food case today 04/17/2013. I am glad that you like that idea because I don't.


----------



## wakina (May 30, 2007)

PDNaz said:


> Interesting, What happens if you catch a undersize fish and it dies because of getting hooked, do you keep it? Hummm, ticket for dead fish? Just a thought?


I would do the same thing with it as I would if it was the first fish of the day! I would put it back into the lake where it was at before I caught it. 
When you catch a short (undersized fish) in relation to your legal limit, it makes no difference what condition it is in, it makes no difference when you caught it, it must be thrown back dead or alive or in-between because it can never be part of your legal limit, because it is a short (illegal) fish.


----------



## texasrig (Apr 11, 2013)

I Fish said:


> This thread has kinda been all over the place. I'll try to distill it:
> 1) there is no such thing as a boat limit in Ohio.
> 2) you can cull live fish in order to have a limit of bigger fish.
> 3) you can continue to catch and release, even with a limit of fish in possession.
> ...



The statement in red is not true. If the fish are tagged with the name, address, and phone number of person who caught them, date caught, type of fish and how many. It is perfectly legal to keep fish gifted to you, no matter what day, or where they were given to you. Like someone said, PLEASE READ the REGS.


----------



## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Even in inland lakes we use separate buckets for our crappie, saugeye, trout. If there are three of us fishing we take three buckets. And yes we have been checked. My buddies and I all have the 5gal bucket top tackle boxes set up with the tackle we use for those 3 species (which is mostly similar) to cut down on gear. We dont always catch or keep our limit but the total of all three buckets tends to be close or over the single person limit. 

Why is it so hard to understand that today Jim Bob is allowed to catch and keep 4 walleye. If he catches 5 walleye then a live walleye has to go back into the water. Legally it would have to be one of Jim Bobs live walleye but that is next to impossible to prove. 

Generally I don't agree with the hand off rule in principle because it is used as a technique to increase harvest. But it has to be there because for the business end. All over the world people pay to go on fishing trips, many of those people never cast a pole out. But they retrieve the fish and it is theirs. That's how it works. 

You don't need to be the one that cast the pole or hooks the fish. If a catfish takes off with my Fishing Pole while I'm "using" a tree and my buddy grabs the Fishing Pole so it doesn't get pulled in, that's still my fish and I take the pole and land it. But If my 4 year old daughter has trouble casting an open face but she hooks the fish and brings it in, she caught that fish.

I have never had a problem with DNR and If anything I dont think they bust enough people. There are a lot of confusing rules in the fishing regs, but Walleye-Limit 4-per person is not one of them.


----------



## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

texasrig said:


> The statement in red is not true. If the fish are tagged with the name, address, and phone number of person who caught them, date caught, type of fish and how many. It is perfectly legal to keep fish gifted to you, no matter what day, or where they were given to you. Like someone said, PLEASE READ the REGS.


Have you got a link? I can't find it. All I posted is what the woman I talked to at the 1-800-wildlife number said. This was a couple of years ago, so maybe it's changed.


----------



## Steimy (Jun 29, 2008)

I don't understand how this thread stays on reports. Why is it not moved to discussion?

I seen many more legitimate reports moved.......................


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

real reeltime said:


> Couple guys went out and came back with their limit. Only problem was that one guy caught more than 4 fish and the law was in a boat next to them fishing and watching them. He got fined and lost their fish. Just a heads up.





Steimy said:


> I don't understand how this thread stays on reports. Why is it not moved to discussion?
> 
> I seen many more legitimate reports moved.......................


The thread as it began belonged in reports.

Since it drifted from the original topic, time to shut 'er down.


----------

