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Question....


The Donk

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Hey it just struck me... We are staying up there Sat-Mon this weekend, being that the season is closing Sunday, can we even leave the lake with the walleyes we caught on Sunday? What's your guys "expert" opinions for this one?

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I'd say no... but i could be wrong. If you filleted them and had them in a freezer on shore, I'd asy all is well, but I gues I wouldn't be possessing any on the lake after the season closes.

Good Luck!

Ken

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Shoot the DNR specialist an email with the question. If he/she says you can, print it off and stick it in your wallet for an insurance policy.

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Yeah, if that happens with DNR post it. I'd be anxious to know if they OK that. I'd check with an outfit for storage prior to Sunday. That wouldn't be hard to find. You'd be at the mercy of the CO. I wouldn't ever chance it.

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We are staying from Sat thru till Tues. West winds says they will store our walleye if we get them to their bar/saloon before midnight the 24th. You definitly cannot have any walleye on the Lake after 12:00 midnight on the 24th. Of course we are staying in a West Wind sleeper so you need to check with the road owners your going out with for storage opportunities.

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im sure you can take your walleyes home on monday.just gotta mark the bag.if you leave them at the resot you have to mark your bag anyways.but i would e-mail the dnr 1st.

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Taking them home and possessing them on the lake are two seperate items...

Good Luck!

Ken

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Well, I'm still waiting back for a response from the DNR, hopefully they get back to me soon. I think we will have to plan to make arrangements with a resort of some type or have a big fish fry Sunday night!

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 Originally Posted By: Borch
Shoot the DNR specialist an email with the question. If he/she says you can, print it off and stick it in your wallet for an insurance policy.

Well I got an email back from them, it reads...

Good question Ryan. This situation is a difficult one to answer since there are a couple of different issues here and no statute or rule to give direction. First, The walleye you would catch prior to the close of the walleye season would need to be package with the date, name, and license number of the person who caught them. The walleye would need to be left whole and not clean since it is unlawful to cut up a slot fish on a slot lake. This would be the best thing to do in a difficult situation. Otherwise, taking the walleye off the lake prior to the close of the season would of course be acceptable (but since you are staying in a sleeper house, this would not be practical). The second issue is that at the close of walleye season you would need to stop fishing for walleye. If a Conservation Officer came to your house Monday morning and found you to still have your lines down and targeting walleye, you may have an issue. Hope this information helps you. Good luck, and good fishing.

Thanks,

Robert G-K121

MN Conservation Officer

>>> Ryan 2/19/2008 4:25 PM >>>

Hello, I am taking a trip to Upper Red Lake this weekend, have a sleeper house rented from Saturday Feb 23 through Monday Feb 25. We would be leaving the lake at 10am or so. Being that the walleye season closes the night before, what is the requirement for us to be taking walleyes from the lke that we (hopefully) catch the night before while legal? We don't want any confusion and are wondering what actions we could take to avoid

any.

Thank you for your response

I am definitely taking this with me because just reading the last part makes me wary of them greensuits... he left a little wiggle room in there to warn me, seeming that if I showed the C.O. this paper, he might try to hit me for targeting walleyes... when the crappies hit the same stuff!! Oh well, maybe we will just save our own butts and not try it at all.

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I wouldn't worry about the last part too much. As long as you don't have shiners down I would think it would be pretty difficult to prove that you were targeting walleyes since the crappies on red are huge and eat everything walleyes do.

Bring a printout of this with you as far as the packaged walleyes go and do as he says. If you happen to get ticketed, fight it, it is unlikely that a judge would find you had intentionally violated the law when you went to these lengths to abide by it.

-Chris

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Wow tough question ... Equally tough answer. Define targeting walleye on a lake such as URL. Tactics for lg crappie are not much different. Maybe fishing just a bit higher in the water column. But fat heads and various jigs. I guess if you had walleyes in the house and it looked as if you could be fishing for them beyond the close makes them think you are fishing for them beyond the close.

I'm taking mine off the lake. It's not like I've been taken out in a track vehicle and have no way back to shore till my trip is done. Too easy to just pull them off the lake and have them stored.

BUT... targeting walleyes beyond 24th. That's pretty subjective. I wonder what they would use as a reason for determining anyone was purposely targeting walleye? I guess maybe dump my fatheads and only use crappie minnows and waxies beyond midnight on the 24th. Seems silly since they are definitly getting crappie on Fat Heads and shiners. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Also as a quick side note I have caught some very nice perch on URL and will also target them along with crappies. That puts a whole other target species which have the similar patterns as wallyes.

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i have e-mailed the dnr also with the same ? you did and here is what he said.

Hello,

You will need some type of receipt indicating that you were on Red lake for the day(weekend). Purchase something from a store and just keep the cash register receipt(purchase bait). Just something that would show that you were there the day before.

good luck

jim

James Abernathy

DNR Information Consultant

now it seems even the dnr dont know the correct answer to this 1.

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Hmmm, "some type of receipt" to verify a purchase prior to Midnite on Sunday, 2/24/008. I would think that most people on the lake fishing would have a road pass that is dated.

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and what is a receipt going to show other than you purchased something the day or 2 before the walleye deadline???? how is that going to prove that you didn't catch and keep a walleye after midnight of seasons end.......I would just keep them frozen and bag them after midnight and mark them or drive to shore and hide them or just not keep any walleye.....if the DNR wants to give you a hard time they will but I would imagine they will be understanding with this situation.

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And wouldn't the fish still need to remain Unfrozen besides whole, so you package and label a whole unfrozen fish, with a date that could be real or not???

I still think it would be Possession on the Lake, but if the Red Lake CO's give you the green light, you may be ok or not, I wouldn't count on the others...

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lol targeting walleyes, the crappies and perch hit the same thing the walleyes do....i've never even fished with crappie minnows on url before...i use fatheads and emerald shiners to catch crappies...the crappies and perch also hit the bigger sized jigs too....it's impossible to prove someone is targeting walleyes unless they keep them.

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He asked the local game warden what he should do and the game warden gave him an answer; I think he should follow the instructions to the letter.

OR, you could take them off the ice, maybe your guide service could help find a spot to store your fish. I believe it's a $132 citation in Beltrami Co. to keep a walleye after the season. I think if you were to ask the warden he would tell you to protect yourself so you aren't in a situation that you need to "explain" yourself.

Take them off the ice or eat them so you don't have to worry about it.

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How can one prove what type of fish you are targeting unless you tell them. The CO's on URL know that the presentations for walleye, crappie, and perch can be identical at times so I doubt they would hit you with that citation. Just make sure you take your fish to Westwinds before the 24th is over, or freeze them in a bag and write the info the CO said you needed on it.

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