Culling

[IA4PATS]

I don't know if anybody else saw the bass fisherman that was disqualified for culling in Minnesota. I was wondering what the actual law is? I read on another site that said once any fish touches your livewell you have to keep it.

[thatoneguy]

There can be no culling in Mille Lacs or on the MN side of border waters with Wisconsin...that's my understanding, anyway. I could be leaving something out, though.

Palaniuk was DQed because he was a few yards on the MN side of the river when he culled a fish.

[zappy]

I have a PDF of the 2012 MN Fishing regulations on my computer so I did a quick search for "cull." It appears in a few spots but the one that seemed relevant is under General Regulations: Possessing Fish --

Quote:

Once a daily or possession limit of fish has been reached, no culling or live well sorting is allowed. No culling is allowed on Mille Lacs or Wisconsin border waters...

I assume that means once I get a limit of walleyes for example (rare in my case) I can't replace any in the live well with additional walleye I catch (also rare). Seems odd to me, though, that no-culling only applies once a limit is reached. I wonder what the intent of the law is?

[brian6715]

That's confusing, so it seems one could stop one fish short of the limit and then cull fish all day until they are ready to quit and then fill there limit with one last fish and head home? Whoever wrote these regulation books could not make them more confusing.

[motley man]

Once you put a fish in your livewell or on a stringer it's considered part of your limit and cannot be released later. These contests that are culling are breaking the law as I read it.

[IA4PATS]

I don't really care so much about the contests. I was more concerned if I have breaking the law. There are plenty of times when the fishing is slow and we will have one two or three blue gill/crappie in the livewell and we will release them cause I don't want to clean that few. The fish always seam to appreciate it

[mikeymike]

I think the purpose of the rule, and it stating that once your limit is reached you cannot cull, is because once you have reaced your limit, you are no longer allowed to fish for that species...that has always been my interpretation of the rule, which could be way off. IA4PATS, I do the same thing, and I do really think its to "prevent" people from going over their limit, I can't imagine a DNR officer being upset about that, unless they are dead when you "release" them back haha.

[Hookey]

Oh, ya I do the same thing if the fish is healthy, the water cold and I decide against keeping it I toss them back assuming it is legal , maybe not ?

Culling by definition means removing the inferior same as sorting. I certainly do not do that.

Not sure about the once in the livewell it must stay there comment. Guess I need to reread the regs.

[thatoneguy]

Once you put a fish in your livewell or on a stringer it's considered part of your limit and cannot be released later. These contests that are culling are breaking the law as I read it.

In a word, nope.

[ThunderLund78]

I gotta also think that a fish in a live well or stringer is a stressed fish and has a lower likelihood of surviving if it's in there for a period of time and then gets released. But I too have kept fish and it turns out to be slow and released them later--just because it was not enough for a meal. They do seem eager to swim away. If it's clear a fish isn't doing so hot in there, I make the effort to clean them whether it's one or a dozen.