Eating fish on ice?

[kooba]

I know there was a thread last year about this but I don't know the official rule. Brother and I are heading up after Christmas and we were wondering if we can eat our fish that we catch? He called the DNR and they said NO. He called a resort up there and they said yes. Who do we believe? What is the law? Can we and what do we have to do>? Thanks, see everyone up there. KOOBA

[JEV]

Walleye and Sauger are a no no when it comes to cleaning and eating them on the ice. Because of the size restrictions on the lake, there can be no eating of them on the ice. But, any other species, except pike, are ok. Those jumbo perch can be real tasty on the ice...

JEV

[BrianHansen]

Is it ok to eat walleye if you are staying on the ice like in a sleeper or do you catch your combo of walleye and sauger and stop fishing for the week ?????????

[JEV]

While on the ice you cannot have walleyes and sauger that have been cleaned whether you are staying overnight on the ice or not. Daily and season possesion limits still apply. If you catch your limit of walleye and sauger for one day you cannot keep any more THAT day. You could go back to shore for the evening, clean them, and store them on shore(or eat them on shore for that matter). Then the following day, any more walleyes and sauger you catch would go towords your season possesion limit. It's amazing how many people are not aware of this law. I know for a fact, a lot of people clean and eat walleyes and sauger on the ice but none the less, it is illegal.

[fishhawk2]

NOW YOU GOT ME CURIOUS,WHAT IS THE SEASON POSSESION LIMIT?THANKS MUCH FOR THE INFO****

[Dry_Fly]

I believe your season limit is the same as your daily limit in possesion. If you spend two days on LOW you can not have two daily limits with you at anytime. So plan on catching 8 fish and only four can be Walleyes. But you can have 8 Saugers if you have no walleyes. Hope this helps. Also Walleye 19.5" to 28" must be release but you can keep one Walleye over 28".

[Beaver15]

Kooba-

Sounds like you'll have to come off the lake and join up with us for a fish fry.

[gspman]

Technically you are not supposed to clean and eat walleyes and saugers on the ice. I've been told by a fairly well known outfitter that the DNR doesn't enforce this for sleepers because the outfitters will lose business if they do. After all cooking a meal of fish in the sleeper is half the fun of actually being in a sleeper. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't but this is what I was told. Ask your outfitter, call the DNR office up there and then make your own choice. But if you get cited, you alone are responsible, not the outfitter.

gspman

[Sutty]

How about if I eat the shiners if the walleye don't cooperate?

[shorecaster]

Kooba,

Put your whisky on ice. Fry your walleyes.

D

[12lb8oz]

It's illegal. But to me it's one of those laws that is made to be broken. I enjoy nothing more than a good, long, hard day on the ice and then rewarding myself with a few cold ones and a fresh pan of walleye. I don't know what kind of a CO would be driving around out on the lake at night. But, nonetheless it's illegal.

[Dirtyb25]

Nothing wrong with frying up a few pout at night though.... If you're real industrious you can probably finagle a good meal from the anglers around you.... I still have no idea why most people don't keep em. Perfectly legal to eat those slimey things on the ice.