Targeting Bass before they are open

[Cyberfish]

Nahhh it is illegal to fish for bass but it is not illegal to catch a bass that bites your crappie jig. so FWA s pic is fine. if a big bass is dumb enough to hit a 64th ounce jig, and too wimpy to bust my 4 pound line, hes gonna get CPRed. or in this case it was CVRed

"catch video and release"! what else am I to do, cut my line and let poor ol larry go through the spawning season with a jig in his lip?

[Cyberfish]

Duff, you still posting to BP? he hasn't been on this site in at least 3 years! LOL

[FWA]

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Hey, FWA

If I were you, I would remove the picture immediately since taking a photo with an illegal fish might not be legal.

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I'm not worried about posting that pic. The fish was released with another another boat nearby witnessing the release. Max time out of water was no more than 45 seconds to a minute.

On a side note, next time you're on the highway, look at your speedo. It's reading an illegal speed.:p

[Hugo]

FWA,

Were you trying to catch bass with a baitcaster and a spinner bait? No you weren't. You and your son were fishing for panfish with normal panfish equipment, you caught a bass you took a picture and then let it go. No one has said that is illegal.

It sounds like you think it was ok that these guys were trying to catch them. They caught multiple fish that I saw. Not just one or two. I'm sure the were fishing other spots on the lake as well.

These guys were intentionally targeting a closed season species. The season is closed for a reason, to let the bass spawn. So when it opens there will be fish for you and your son to catch in the futue.

Hugo

[Duffman]

Cyber...

I have a sneaky little feeling he might still be lurking around here somewhere. Plus, I can't let old relationships die off so easily. I just was seein if I threw a grub up on the bed, if it'd be gulped up quickly.....

You know I couldn't care less about the guys out panfishin and scoring some bass. That's bound to happen, and I'm sure it's a blast in a floattube, but you guys aren't chucking 1 oz spinnerbaits.

Hey BP....

Let's have little contest this year. I'll send ya a pic of my biggest bass that I catch each week. You can post it on your blogs up against your fish of the week. Let's go with length. And I guess....the honor system LOL

[rippinlips]

My friend and I were out crappie fishing in his bass boat yesterday and we were both throwing 4" X-RAP and we had our limit of 10 to 12" crappies in an hour and a half. Why were we using 4" x-raps because last year durning a bass tournament on this lake we caught a pile of large crappies and the boat next to us was bobber fishing for crappies and all he was catching were those little crappies so the large x-raps is what we used to catch our crappies, I'm sure that the other boats out there thought we were bassfishing because we did catch 3 nice bass and let them go. The fact is I don't care what those other boats thought they were catching those little crappies and we got our limit of slabs so unless your 100% sure what they are fishing for. Don't waste what little time the CO's already have by calling them out to check those guys. If I seem a little POed is because that is what happen to us yesterday one of those other boats called the dnr on us and all it was was a waste of his time because he had to make a 20 minute drive just to check us, I know this because he told us so.

[Huntin&Fishin]

I catch jumdo crappies on those too! One time (during the open season) I was trolling with a red and white dare devil and caught a 15inch Crappie that is on my wall.

[hanson]

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It all comes down to integrity and character. You simply can not legislate that.

"True character is who you are and what you do when no one is watching"

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Amen to that!

[FZ]

Hey guys. Nobody said FWA catch and release is illegal. I just remembered that there was a thread a few years ago that a guy showed a photo of illegal fish (released also), and got blasted (forced to remove his picture) because people argue about that the fish should be released in water or not. I looked at this child in the picture, and just don’t want my fellow Asian get abused at this site. Maybe I am too sensitive.

[FWA]

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It sounds like you think it was ok that these guys were trying to catch them. They caught multiple fish that I saw. Not just one or two. I'm sure the were fishing other spots on the lake as well.

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No, I absolutely agree with you that it is NOT ok to target bass when they are not in-season.

On a related note, I really like the 4 lb Fireline crystal that I had on on pole. It was pretty slick....

[FWA]

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Hey guys. Nobody said FWA catch and release is illegal. I just remembered that there was a thread a few years ago that a guy showed a photo of illegal fish (released also), and got blasted (forced to remove his picture) because people argue about that the fish should be released in water or not. I looked at this child in the picture, and just don’t want my fellow Asian get abused at this site. Maybe I am too sensitive.

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I'm pretty sure some people who saw the pic of my son holding that the fish already assumed it was ground up into fish patties.....

[vister]

If some of you look really carefully, in the fine print of the regs, it doesn't say a thing about taking a picture of a fish out of season. FWA, your kid sure looked pumped w/ that bass!

I was up north this weekend as the ice has just recently left. Caught my largest to date bass and a nice 9 lb. northern while fishing in 4 ft of water with flu flus tipped with waxies for pannies. I'd try posting the pics, but i may get blasted with negative remarks because there was a picture taken of them while out of season.

Yes, camera, photo, release, to my knowledge legal. Would like to know otherwise.

[ec30_06]

Same thing on jefferson last weekend. Two guys in a bass boat throwing big spinnerbaits. When I reminded thwm that it was illegal to fish for bass out of season they replied "well im fishing crappies then."

[Powerstroke]

It is not illegal to take pictures of a fish out of season. You don't have to be so dramatic. It is illegal to target fish out of season, but catching them inadvertantly is not a crime. I catch pike more often than I catch crappies in the spring cause they are in the same areas. If I do land one of the toothy critters I would take a pic of it if it was a nice fish.

[fishinfey8]

late ice this past march up north we were catching 5-10lb. pike on wax worms, it was the craziest thing ever!

[Cyberfish]

I got this gator saturday on a 64th ounce jig with a one inch plastic with 4 bl line while tkaing a bunch of kids panfishing in our pontoon boat!

[Moose-Hunter]

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It is not illegal to take pictures of a fish out of season. You don't have to be so dramatic. It is illegal to target fish out of season, but catching them inadvertantly is not a crime. I catch pike more often than I catch crappies in the spring cause they are in the same areas. If I do land one of the toothy critters I would take a pic of it if it was a nice fish.

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Hi Powerstroke!!!

Targeting fish out of season: ILLEGAL.

Inadvertantly catching fish out of season: NOT ILLEGAL

Taking the time to snap a photo "may" put you over that "legal" line... As it states in the regs... all fish out caught out of season must be returned to the water immediately. That being said, taking the extra time to snap a photo, no matter how short of a span that would be, may be observed by a CO as a violation. If the CO is a "stickler" for the rules, you may get nicked with a "harassment of the species" ticket.

I was personally warned of this while fishing crappies on Mitchell a few years back. I caught a VERY nice bass while fly casting. Had my father snap a couple pics before the release... A CO had seen the whole thing and was on me like white on rice. After a 20 minute "lesson", dad and I were allowed to go on our merry way with only a warning. I hold no ill will towards the CO for the "lesson" as he was only doing his job. I had never heard of this before so I was better educated after the CO left...

HOWEVER... If, by chance, I was to catch that 60" muskie while fishing pannies... You're dang right I'd take at least a couple photos!!!

[Dkoy]

There's a fine print within the first couple pages, I forgot which page, but its really fine, your supposed to throw your rod in the water when you catch a fish out of season, fyi.

[fishinfey8]

nice size pike...and landed it with only 4lb. test, good job!!! why do they bite such little stuff sometimes?? Usually i catch them on the biggest shiner i can get my hands on!

[Cyberfish]

Mabye it already had its meal and just wanted an after dinner snack?

[Powerstroke]

I was desperately searching for the line in the regs where it said "must be returned to the water immediately" but was unable to find it. I do remember hearing or reading it before. Obviously everything like that is a judgement call for the CO's. Any CO in his or her right mind will not fine you or even issue a written warning if it indeed was accidental. If you've got a few spinners or a alrge worm rig on you might have some explaining to do.

[FWA]

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I got this gator saturday on a 64th ounce jig with a one inch plastic with 4 bl line while tkaing a bunch of kids panfishing in our pontoon boat!

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I think we're gonna have to start a ridiculous face with fish photo thread...

[UdeLakeTom]

Here is one CO's observation, at least on Northerns..

CO Kuske watched an angler casting a large daredevil for a while before she checked the angler for a license. She discovered the angler was from Tennessee. CO Kuske asked the angler what he was fishing for and they mentioned wanting to catch some northerns or anything that would bite. The non-resident quickly learned that the season for northerns was closed and it was also illegal to target a closed season fish. CO Kuske learned that they don’t have closed seasons on fish in Tennessee.

[fisherman-andy]

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Here is one CO's observation, at least on Northerns..

CO Kuske watched an angler casting a large daredevil for a while before she checked the angler for a license. She discovered the angler was from Tennessee. CO Kuske asked the angler what he was fishing for and they mentioned wanting to catch some northerns or anything that would bite. The non-resident quickly learned that the season for northerns was closed and it was also illegal to target a closed season fish. CO Kuske learned that they don’t have closed seasons on fish in Tennessee.

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That still doesn't change that fact that Angler who had bought a MN license didn't take the time to read the MN Fish & Game regulations booklet before even attempting to fish. It's like driving somewhere you don't know without a map to begin with.