Possible world record lake trout seized?

[8ucksho7]

Any photos of the 52 pound lake trout that was seized on Lac La Croix Feb 8th? Just read a short AP story about this, but was wondering if there are any pictures floating around? That's a huge lake trout to have been pulled through the ice!

[BartmanMN]

Are you looking for pictures other than the ones on the story?

There is a pic here. http://www.startribune.com/local/247563501.html

[8ucksho7]

Thanks! The article I read didn't have a picture with it. What a huge trout! I would have thought once you gave a fish away, it would count toward the other guys limit?

[fsnrod]

Thanks! The article I read didn't have a picture with it. What a huge trout! I would have thought once you gave a fish away, it would count toward the other guys limit?

I think in canada theres no so called party fishing.

[Mike89]

I just read no party fishing up there.

[magnum mike]

I think in Canada there's no so called party fishing.

[8ucksho7]

fsnrod, I think you're right. Last time we were in Canada, we were checked by the warden. They wanted to know how many fish were in the boat (we had 3 guys in the boat, limit is 4 each). We had about 10 walleye. They asked who caught them and we answered "all of us". They let it go at that, but I do remember seeing something in the regs that you can't party fish. So, even if he'd have given his first laker away before he caught the second fish, he'd have been over his limit.

[Xplorer]

I'm guessing he's wishing he had bought the sportsman's license (daily limit of 2 lakers) instead of the conservation one now....what a terrible way for this story to end. Guessing the fish will end up on the OMNR's equivalent of the "wall of shame".

Yes, in Ontario you can gift a fish, but it is still counted in your daily limit. And a conservation license has a 1 lake trout per day limit. With the CO's checking him earlier in the day with the smaller trout, he is busted. That said, I can't even imagine what it would have been like to fight that fish on a tipup, wow!!! I will also bet he will be contacting Artistic Anglers for a repro of the fish in the near future, since he won't be seeing the real one again.

[MinDak Hunter]

All the talk about the fish dying in the story made me look this up... There seems to very little evidence that the trout would die.

An Evaluation of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) Hooking Mortality in the Upper Great Lakes

Andrew J. Loftus, William W. Taylor, Myrl Keller

Investigation of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) hooking mortality was conducted in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior during 1984 and 1985. Fish were caught and handled by charterboat operators and sport fishermen. Mortality was estimated by returning hooked fish to the lake after tethering them to a line–buoy system. Overall hooking mortality was estimated to be 14.9% (95% C.I. = 7.4–25.7). Significantly higher mortalities occurred in fish that were not discovered to have been hooked and in fish of smaller size classes. In addition, lake trout that were hooked in internal regions produced a mortality of 71.4% whereas those hooked in the upper or lower jaw had a mortality of 6.9%. The depth from which the fish was angled, the temperature differential from this depth to the surface, gear type, and handling times had no significant impact on survival. These results support the use of size limits, creel limits, and season restrictions as effective methods to reduce sport fishing mortality of lake trout.

[monger]

Shame on him. He owns resort on the lake and should know the regs in and out. He could give his nephew the credit for the fish and all would be well. Plus they'd (him and his nephew) would have story to tell for rest of their lives.

[birchbranch]

Actually you might want to check. I believe in Ontario you are allowed 1 per day, 2 in possession with a full license. Otherwise your possession limit and daily limit are the same with a conservation license which would be 1.

[Xplorer]

You may want to check out the actual regs yourself

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/mnr_e001325.pdf

There are 20 zones in Ontario, zone 5 encompasses LLC. Having fished Lower Manitou, Clearwater, White Otter and several in the Atikokan area for 15 years I had not heard that the regs had changed. S (sports)= 2 daily limit, C (conservation) = 1 daily limit. Daily is the same as possession limit. I do not see any special regs for LLC listed. If you know otherwise I would be interested in knowing, after this fish, LLC may be on my to-do list

Oh, and here is page 7 that refers to aggregate limits;

Aggregate Limits for Trout and Salmon – Throughout the province

there are standard aggregate limits for all species of trout and salmon

in combination. You may only catch and keep in one day or possess no

more than five trout and salmon in total under a Sport Fishing Licence

(S – 5) or two trout and salmon in total under a Conservation Fishing

Licence (C – 2). N

[creepworm]

I feel bad for the guy. Granted, he should know the regs but it was an honest mistake that I am sure many make and get away with.

[Xplorer]

I feel bad for the guy. Granted, he should know the regs but it was an honest mistake that I am sure many make and get away with.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/292602/group/Outdoors/

“I am not denying that it was a violation of the ‘party fishing’ rules, and I got caught,” Scott said in a statement by e-mail to the News Tribune on Wednesday.

[knoppers]

I feel bad for the guy. Granted, he should know the regs but it was an honest mistake that I am sure many make and get away with.

it was not a honest mistake, he knew what he was doing. but if you caught a 52 pounder, what would you'all do? it could be worth much for you, with a slight chance at getting caught. but still poaching.

[Wanderer]

it was not a honest mistake, he knew what he was doing. but if you caught a 52 pounder, what would you'all do? it could be worth much for you, with a slight chance at getting caught. but still poaching.

There was virtually no chance he wasn't getting busted after he'd been checked by the warden. You can't fly under the radar with a 52 lb laker that far south. There aren't that many people on LLC any given day so I'm not surprised the wardens remembered him - especially since he's a local.

Bad timing. But he could've measured it up real well and took some good pics and slid it back into the lake. Oh wait, he gaffed it... Cuz that's what you do when you plan on keeping what you catch. In that case, he shoulda been done fishing. There was no mistake made; he got caught doing what he's done for years.

Is it THAT bad of a violation? Depends on your perspective. I hate to see that fish labeled as being poached.

[TigerBlood]

It's a shame. What a fish! I thought I read he caught the big fish in 50 ft. of water....I think that's pretty deep for effective C&R. Sooo...while he was within the rules to keep fishing, I don't know why he dropped down that deep to keep fishing. He probably should have moved shallower if he intended to actually C&R after reaching his limit.

[Wanderer]

That's how deep you fish for inland lakers most of the time. Lakers can handle the depth change just fine and are successfully caught and released all the time from 50+ feet. They'll chase your bait up and down the water column from the bottom of the lake to the bottom of your ice hole when they're just playing with you. No problem there.

[TigerBlood]

Ahh. Didn't know that. I thought that was part of the reason he was unable to release it. Thanks for clarifying.

[woodsmanmn]

According to the story yesterday by Dennis Anderson in the star tribune, some Canadian CO's had already checked him earlier and he had the first trout with him at that time.

[kkahmann]

I am reluctant to call this fish poached--when you have a ton of rules its hard to follow them all.

And a lot of those rules aren't very clear. As an example--when does the Speckled Trout season close on Lake Nipigon? What is the limit on Walleye on Lake Nipigon? Not as clear as you might think, cause if you ask 3 CO's you might get 3 different answers. There isn't a year goes by that I don't get into an argument over this with the boots on the ground.

I am rather proud of the fact that I have never been an employee of the MNR--but I was a contractor for them for a lot of years. It used to be that the CO's were all wannabe biologists--and for that reason they were the best source of info in the bush--not anymore.

If the guy already had a trout on the ice when checked--why was he allowed to keep on fishing?

If he was targeting Lake trout at the time that ain't legal.

I read on here he used a gaff--I know why--pulling even a 30lber thru a 10 inch hole is gonna be very difficult--ask me how I know.

If the second fish he caught was a 4lber I doubt there would be any controversy. 50 lb lakers might be rare in the US--in Canada--not so much.

[DTro]

A 50lb laker in Canada isn't rare? Huh, I didn't realize that.

If the CO checked him earlier and he said he gave his fish away already, then they should have warned him he cannot keep another fish that day and actually why was he allowed to keep fishing at all then? Is catch and release allowed after you caught your 1 fish?

[superbee]

The regs for zone 5 if you are fishing in the Border Waters area (Rainy River District such as Pipestone, Clearwater West, White Otter, LLC) for non residents are a daily possession of 1 trout and total possession of 2 trout with a sportfishing license. Conservation license is 1 trout total possession. This is an odd situation. Lots of people party fish even though it is not legal. Feel bad for him, but he did break the law.

[kkahmann]

I'm not so sure a crime was even committed here. It kinda depends on how close his nephew was and how he answered the CO's questions. What is the limit on the 'merican side? The article says he was 100ft on the Canadian side. A smart lawyer gonna argue the exact location--100ft ain't much on an international border.

Here's another thing--the regulations state specifically--non-Canadian Resident. I know what they mean but it could be argued a different interpretation than mine--cause I know lots of residents who aren't Canadian.

What ultimate good is served by laying charges? Is anyone gonna change their behavior?

[Wanderer]

O.K., not to argue with YOU on this but I'll add what I think would have to be considered in this case.

I'm not so sure a crime was even committed here. It kinda depends on how close his nephew was and how he answered the CO's questions.The COs checked him earlier and the fish was deemed to be in his possession. His nephew was "nearby". What is the limit on the 'merican side? The 'merican limit is 2.The article says he was 100ft on the Canadian side. A smart lawyer gonna argue the exact location--100ft ain't much on an international border.I don't think he mentioned moving around during fishing that day and the Canadian COs checked him because he was on the Canadian side. The thing he has to be careful about in claiming what side of the line he was on is that the MN side in that area is in the Boundary Waters where snowmobiles and power augers aren't allowed. Does he want to fight the fish violation with ON or the equipment violation with the US Forest Service?

Here's another thing--the regulations state specifically--non-Canadian Resident. I know what they mean but it could be argued a different interpretation than mine--cause I know lots of residents who aren't Canadian.MN resident with non-Canadian Resident license probably presented to the COs when he was checked

What ultimate good is served by laying charges? Is anyone gonna change their behavior? It's high profile now. Any variance from ruling with the law will set a precedence for handling fishing regs in a remote International border area. They can't slough it off as just a tough coincidence.

I'm not saying the guy did anything that isn't really that far out of the ordinary but a law was broken. I wish for him, the fish, and the record, that it didn't go down the way it is.

[superbee]

If you go with the law, it does not matter where his nephew was. Party fishing is illegal. He kept the fish earlier in the day under his limit and kept the monster later on. He went over his daily possession limit. The non Canadian resident license means anyone who is not residing in Canada. It is not regarding Canadian citizenship. Canadian residents can buy an Ontario resident fishing license. The non Canadian resident license is for anyone not residing in Canada and would be the exact license he had purchased.

[kkahmann]

Learn something new everyday-thank you Superbee--I did not know out of Province anglers get a break on the cost of fishing liscenses.

Seems a little anti-american to me.

And the no party fishing strikes me as nit-picking to the extreme.

[superbee]

I agree that the no party fishing seems nit picky, it gets done more times than not and is never an issue. Unfortunately this has gotten lots of publicity and is an issue that most likely will not go away. I do not understand the out of province residents being treated the same Ontario residents for fishing licenses. They are treated as non residents when it comes to hunting. You think it would be the same for hunting and fishing.

[kkahmann]

The guy admitted to breaking a regulation--so maybe it shouldn't belong in the record book. But it seems excessive, at least to me, to confiscate the fish. Punishment should fit the crime.

Maybe its a bad comparison but the last time I got a seat belt ticket the Cop didn't say anything about confiscating my car or even my DL.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if the guy acted like a sleaze-ball drug dealer and lawyered up as soon as johnny law called him.

[birchbranch]

Check again. I fish a lot of the same waters. Stayed at Brown's North outpost cabin many times. Fished Lower Manitou, Pipestone, etc. Good to be informed before you post.