Eating fish on the ice

[Ronsay]

If I spend a couple days on the ice can I eat a meal of fish and not count it as part of my limit?

[Fish On! Guide Service]

All fish consumed must be counted towards your daily/possession limit.<P>Stephen

[curt quesnell]

Something else you need to consider.<P>On Lake of the Woods you may not clean and<BR>cook Walleyes, Saugers or Northerns <BR>(this applies<BR>to any lake or any fish with a slot limit)<P>You may clean and cook all the Perch you<BR>want.<P>Have fun fishing<P><P>------------------<BR>Curt Quesnell<BR>NorthCountry Outdoors Radio

[fiskyknut]

Perch and Burbot for me in the winter....Yummmm!

[Dr. Bob]

Why Curt?<P>I never knew that and was planning on a couple of sleepr fish-frys this winter.<P>We may have to have a plan B.

[Buckets]

Wow, never thought of that before. Amazeing the smell of fresh beer battered walleye didn't find it's way to the nose's of the dnr guys over the years ! Where is it written, I've never stumbled across it..<P>What's the word on discarding burbout or guts on the ice ?? The gulls and ravens seem to appreaceate it (: At home I put out guts for eagles, they clean up every crumb.There were over a dozen on a pile last year. Wish I'd had a camera when a large bird wouldn't let a young one have a bite till a bit smaller one came out of no where and clubed the big one on the head. Then the two smaller ones (mom and kid I guess) had a meal while the big guy could only watch. That female would fight him off seriously.<p>[This message has been edited by Buckets (edited 12-06-2003).]

[fiskyknut]

Buckets. Please release the fish you do not intend to keep. Burbot have a place in this lake, and many people, myself included eat Burbot and appreciate their presence in this lake. It is also against the law to throw Burbot, little Perch, Tulibees, or any fish for that matter on the ice just to go to waste....'wanton waste'. It is also against the law to 'litter' with fish guts. Both of these issues are addressed in the regulations.<P><BR>Fisky

[Buckets]

You got it, they are all going back in from now on. I have always thought that they (bourbouts) were a menace to any lake for the most part. I have tried them too and they arn't too bad with butter if once you get past the cleaning. <P>I don't buy the wanton gut waste thing though or litter. I put deer suet out ... for the birds too.. and go out and catch tiny ,wormy perch too for the birds <p>[This message has been edited by Buckets (edited 12-06-2003).]

[Buckets]

I have seen a lot of comments about useing radios to help locate fish, is that legal? I'm thinking it isn't

[Guest]

Curt, I have been all over the Mn regs online and can't find anything on eating fish on the lake. Please tell me where to find it. Thank you

[Crappie Killer]

Slot limits. Read post.<P><A HREF="http://FishingMinnesota.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/002522.html" TARGET=_blank>http://FishingMinnesota.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/002522.html</A>

[Guest]

Doesn't all that just saw that you can't have over your limit, nothing about eating the limit?

[LOWinEYEin]

Kaz<BR>What kind of radio?

[Kaz]

Buckets: There isn't any regs on not using radios on the water for fishing, liquid or ice. The law does limit their use for driving game, etc hunting. Every guide on the LOTW has a radio, and they pass Info back and forth... Use the Radio...Kaz

[only-eyes]

i was checked while cleaning walleyes on the most regulated lake in the state, mille lacs and the CO just glanced at the fish (i assume eyeballing the size of the fish), checked the cooler(measured those fish) and then just b.s. about the bite. we also had 2 obvious rattle reels down and invited the CO to stay for a couple fillets.i had no idea there was such a law. so either he was 1.feeling very kind that day, 2.he was not in the mood for paper work, or 3. it is legal to eat walleyes on the ice, regulated or not. i couldn't find it in the regs stating it was illegal on any lake to eat walleyes. i will have to check with the local CO on this. if it is illegal we were sure given a nice break on mille! GOOD LUCK

[only-eyes]

i did find something on having the head, skin and tail in one piece on regulated lakes while on the water. so i wonder since so many people do stay overnight on the ice if the CO just saw they were in the slot and decided to let one by. i'm confused, i know tons of people with permanent shacks on reg lakes that have always ate walleys and i have never heard of anyone getting fined or even warned about eating fish on the lake. ????????????<BR>

[Kaz]

WhaTT; 2-way, FRS/GMRS or Marine. Check other posts for more Info.....Kaz

[LOWinEYEin]

Yeah, I got post happy.

[Eyewitness]

There is nothing in the regs about eating fish out on the ice whether in a shack or out of a shack. Bottom line is that any fish you eat is counted towards your DAILY limit. You can't eat a limit than catch more that same day. It is a very hard rule to enforce and some of the CO's don't like it, but that's what they have to deal with. Eating fish on the ice is no different than having shore lunch or going in to eat fish for lunch and then coming back out to fish. The regs are still all about the DAILY and POSSESION limits. As far as leaving guts on the ice, the regs clearly say on page 29 that no USABLE waste from fish shall be left on the ice or shore of any stream or lake. If they wanted to cover fish guts too they would have said both usable and unusable in that statement....There is still some grey area in the regs open to a CO's interpretation so when in doubt don't risk it or ask the local CO when the opportunity arises.

[BGFlyer]

Here is the story on eating fish as I see it. The applicable regulation is that you can't possess fillets on a body of water that has length limits. (It keeps you from cutting them up to avoid measurement.) We have always felt that while illegal by the letter of the law, eating a few fish in the ice house is not seen as an issue by enforcement. See you on the big lake, fry pan in hand!

[Uncle Bill]

This is right outta the book.<BR>"Depositing fish entrails or fish parts into public waters or onto lake or stream shores is prohibited"

[Ronsay]

Talked to the local CO and he thought it was legal to eat fish on the ice as long as there were not special regulations for that species on the body of water that you were fishing on, he gave me the number to St Paul Dept of Enforcement to verify.<P>The Dept of Enforcement stated that you could indeed eat fish on the ice as long as there were not special regs for that species where you were fishing. It is legal to eat walleyes that you catch today, and you can replace them while fishing the following day. They did recommend that you try to take the entrails from the fish that you ate, to shore on the day you eat them so that there is no confusion if you are checked the following day by a CO, although he stated that they would probably be okay with it even though you were not able to take the entrails to shore. If you eat one over 19" you can replace that also the following day. Ron<P>

[89Bronco]

The depositing of fish guts into the lake rule...can someone explain the reason for that one? I know it's in the rule book, but we have always dumped the guts on a "special rock" and we get snapping turtles, bald eagles, ravens, crows, bears, martens, mink. A regular smorgasbord of wildlife! We don't use those parts and I'm sure the animals appreciate the tasty snack. It's always picked clean by morning.

[crabby]

I e-mailed the DNR, and got the following response: <BR>"You can clean and eat fish in a fish house. If the lake has no slot limits. The fish caught and eaten would still count as part of your limit for that day. Lakes with slot limits require that you be off the water before fish can be eaten."<BR>According to the regulations, "only 1 walleye over 19.5" may be taken daily." If that's a slot limit, then you aren't supposed to eat walleye in fish-houses on LOTW. <P>

[Ronsay]

Crabby,<P>IM going with what I was told by the Dept of Enforcement in St Paul, he pulled the regulations out for LOTW and stated that there were not any special regs for that lake and Walleye could be eaten on the ice and replaced in your limit the following day. As a matter of fact he stated that if you spent 6 days on the ice you could eat fish every day and replace those fish in your limit the following day.<P>He stated that you could not eat Walleye on Mille Lacs lake because of special regs. Ron

[Xplorer]

OK, but what about this scenario. I go up to Kabetogama and Namakan and camp several times per year on the islands.<BR>All those lakes have a slot limit (keep 13-17" and 1 over 23", all others go back). According to the above answer from DNR i could not eat fish while camping on the lake. I have had a fish fry on every trip there (@25) and been checked many times by both DNR and Nat'l park wardens. As long as they could measure the fish in the boat or in the cooler they were fine. <BR>There are many fishfry's/shorelunch's going on every day on those lakes and i can't believe that they are all illegal. <BR>Xplorer<P>PS: the DNR officer for that area is by reputation particularily strict in his enforcement, and i've been checked by him numerous times.

[Buckets]

It sounds as though a "slot" must be defined as having both a upper and lower limit unlike lotw which has a upper limit only, no "slot".<P>As for depositing fish guts in good faith for food on ice or a rock I guess you're taking a chance of being harrassed although on ice it technically is not in the lake or on a shore. jeshee, if I bury them aint someone concerend about angle worms, a "exotic species and not naitive to here" thriveing on them ! Maybe we should all bring our guts to a nuclear waist dump or something.

[crabby]

Ronsay, <P>I e-mailed the DNR for some more detail about the slot limits, and got a different answer than you did. I'm going with what you were told by Enforcement. Maybe this is one of those grey areas, subject to the interpretation of the CO. From some of the other comments, though, it doesn't sound like anyone is enforcing the "no eating fish on the ice" version.<P><p>[This message has been edited by crabby (edited 12-09-2003).]