Thread: 33 walleye over limit

Four Americans fined for over-fishing on Rice Lake
Peterborough This Week
Four American residents have been fined $11,900 for fishing offenses on Rice Lake.

On Jan. 12, Daniel Lee Arp and William John Hilinski, both of Erin, Tennessee, and Joseph Paul Hilinski and Robert William Hilinski, both of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to having an over-limit of fish and packaging fish in a way that they could not be easily counted. Each was fined $2,475 for the over-limit and $500 for improper packaging. Each man is also banned from angling in Ontario for three years. The fish and a cooler were forfeited to the Crown.

The incident took place on June 25 when MNR officers were inspecting anglers leaving cottages in the Rice Lake area.

The four men were stopped and their vehicle was found to have a large cooler attached to it. In the cooler, conservation officers found multiple bags of frozen fish, most marked bass and walleye. Officers suspected an over-limit of walleye and seized the cooler and its contents. Once the contents were defrosted, officers counted 49 walleye. This was an over-limit of 33 fish as the men could only possess four walleye each.

Probably isn't their first time doing this. Luckily they got caught. Trophy fish should be treated as trophy game animals with the way fines are determined . Look how long it takes some fish to reach trophy size.