ethics ,legal.sportsmen ship

[PeterCos]

Depends on why you think there are limits. If it is to keep a sustainable and healthy population (which should be the main reason for the limit)
then I would suggest stop fishing after getting your limit. If you do continue to fish, consider using barbless or circle hooks to minimize injured fish. I would not feel too badly on fish that do not make it, as nature will clean up for you. But in terms of population and limit it really should count.

[iceman260]

No fish is worth a ticket for breaking the law. Throw it back it will be taken care of by mother nature, she has many to feed.

[Mac Attack]

......and  yes  mac i'm up early  lolb getting   some  new  gear ready 

 


Getting that worm you old early bird.   

[hinkydo]

I believe the Ontario Canada rule is on walleye the first 4 no matter what size, no catch and release. get your fish and be done, same with bass first 6. I feel it should be that. I know that some feel that's not right keeping small fish. All that dose is if a small fish swallows the hook and is going to die it is kept to be table fair and gets you off the fishing grounds.
 Just my opinion and Canadian rules.


                                                       hinkydo Fish ON

[trapper2000]

all good  answers  ....and  your  right   you can't  keep the  fish  .....  so  let me  explain what happened to me.  i   started  fishing   first light   first  2  cast prodouced  2  nice over  12  browns  ...13  and  15 i  believe ,  few  cast  later   i  get  another  brown   a really  nice  fish  and    for what  ever the  reason   the  nymph  was  way  down his troat ..... unusal to say the  least and  the  fish is  bleeding  out the  gills  bad  .  i know the out  come and i know the  law  .... you can't  cull  trout so  i  did  what was  "legal"  and   tossed  him in  just  to watch him float  away.....i'm  still 3  fish wiyhin my  limit  !  not to mention i'm catching  blue gills  in this  spot too ....  it  bothered  me  enough  i made a  call  to the  DEC..... and  the officer agreed  it was a  waste  and thats  when it hit me . a few years ago  i was  fishing  for  blue  gills and  crappies  when i was approched  by a  dec  officer   he  looked at  my  licence  looked  in the  bucket  and  got talking and   aske het  you want some  fish  .... i said  yeah thats  why i'm here , seems he  had some  crappies  he took  from  a  fisherman that  where  under size   by 1/2  inch he  wrote  me a slip  and  gave  me his  number and said  don't count them on your  limit and  show this if your  questioned .....  good deal  so  i asked this   DEC officer if  i  caught   a  fish like that  again if i called a  DEC officer  and they had time  would they  pick the  fish up and  donate it to someone......  he said  he  would  do it   and  sure if  other officers  had  time they would  too ...... he  even  suggested i  write a letter  to the  DEC  and  tell them  this  suggestion  ....there is  no  reason  for a  good  fish to go to waste  now they arn't  going to  come  for a  bluegill or small  trout  but a  18 inch  brown  ot a  10 lb walleye   if they have  time  they probablly will  .........  so my  suggestion  is  don't  break the  law  call  and  ask  it  won't hurt ,why waste  a resource ?  and  i  do not advacate  keeping   a illegal  fish  period  but  when you see  something  thats  wrong  or  harmful  call and  see  what can be  done to help  correct the  issue  ....ps   feeding   wildlife  is  also illegal

[62 & Done]

I don't know Trapp , it's a very tough call, One that would weigh heavily on the mind of a true sportsman. By rights, I think we should all quit for the day once that legal limit is in the boat, the bucket, or on the stringer. However, in your case where you are actually targeting the gills after your trout numbers are satisfied, then  I have no clear answer. It is good that you had an ECO in close proximity to assist you with the outcome.
Now let's say that you were on a back woods water with no one in sight and no one close enough to assist you with this dilemma. What now?  WE all know the law. So, we let the mortally wounded beautiful Brown float away?  I think I'm gonna go with Skinny on this one.

[trapper2000]

But fishing for trout there is 2 limits  5 fish only 2 over 12 ..... Like I said I released the fish but  I do like the idea that I can call and maybe a fish could be used .....it's a nice option....and you can handle this any way you feel is right I just wanted your thoughts on this

[rgfixit]

And you got them.

[62 & Done]

So what does this fellow who wants to consider himself a true sportsman, fishing in an area with no cell service, do with this deeply hooked , bleeding trout that will not survive ?

I personally, do not care for these new trout regs. Nor do I like the practice of targeting a specific species for just C&R  I think it causes a lot of needless mortality. But that is a whole nother issue for another thread on a different day.

 Really glad the outcome for Trapp worked out the way it did but I'm still staying with Skinny

[trapper2000]

again  i  let the trout go  ...exactly as the law  says ...... am i sure it died  yes  ...did i  do what  the law  says  yes i  did ..... after thinking about it i  called the  DEC  explained  the  situtation  and that i had experienced a  DEC  officer  donating   fish to me in the  past and  for  future refferance   could  a  fish caught in this  manor    be  surrendered to a  DEC officer   to be  donated  .....  he  said  he would  do and  he  thinks  most  officers if  not busy would  too ....... i seen something i thought  was  wrong  and  made a  call  and  will be writing letters   to try to correct it ......  again  i  returned the  trout to the water ...... and  made the  call  later in the day ....i  would in the  future  call  right when it happened   and  if told i  would  keep it  for a  officer  or  return it to the water  which ever the officer at the  time  said .....a  side  note  not only am i a avid trout and  flyfisherman i have helped  for  many years  with the  stocking  program  and  i'm the one that  got RG  back into  flyfishing  ...............flyfishing is  my  favorite way to  fish  and trout are  my fish of choice to  chase , i never asked  nor wanted to  keep the fish  for myself i   only wanted to  know if there was a legal way  for that fish to go to a  person as table fare .......then i wanted   everyones opinions  on  how they would handle  the issue,it's  been interesting  and  again i  never   broke  any  law  nor  sportsmans  ethics ! nor  do i  suggest  anyone to  do so ...... 

[trapper2000]

and  62  the  man  should  follow the  law  and  release the  fish  thats obvious

[62 & Done]

You are right Trapp, no dispute here  and again I'm glad it worked out    However, you did ask opinions and that is what you got  There have been several good thoughts here and that is what a personal opinion is all about  Good fishin Trapp   someday I have to make an effort at swinging those flies   I have a nice little outfit that I traded an old car for many years ago  The poor thing has hung in the garage for long

[lowaccord66]

In a lot of states...it is a posession limit, and some consider posession as in the net and in your hands.  With that, I would always stop fishing once I had a limit to avoid any confusion on what the law means by posession.  As far as what I would do in your senario Trapp, id release the fish and either switch methods or stop fishing to avoid it happening again. 

[trapper2000]

low  if that were  true you would  never  fish  for stripers  you may ony  keep one  between  28 to 35  so if you gill hook a  38  incher and it's   bleeding  from the  gills   what would you  do ...yes  your  supposed to let it  go  but it won't  revive  .....  i was  3  fish  short on a  limit   i  had  2  12 inchers  ....  so  back to the striper  if you  could  call the  DEC and  donate the  fish to a  needy person  or  another  fisherman  would  you??   thats  my only  point  i was  3  fish short of a  limit ...i  did  nothing illegal or unethical ....i  merely  didn't want  fish   caught like that to go to waste 

[joefish1]

I believe the Ontario Canada rule is on walleye the first 4 no matter what size, no catch and release. get your fish and be done, same with bass first 6. I feel it should be that. I know that some feel that's not right keeping small fish. All that dose is if a small fish swallows the hook and is going to die it is kept to be table fair and gets you off the fishing grounds.
 Just my opinion and Canadian rules.  There is a slot limit in zone 20, can only have one 24 inch or over.  So you still end up with the same problem.  Just saying.


                                                       hinkydo Fish ON