Thread: Over the limit!

I know that all the states I fish in have limits on panfish.

I think taking the limit off crappie in arkansas louisiana and mississippi would devastate the population and harm our sport. There is far too much potential for abuse in these states.

I agree.

I think some lakes should be more liberal on limits and some should have size restrictions.

Originally Posted by NIMROD

If you follow regs , your fish count towards your daily limit even if you give them away.

That is correct if you catch a fish and give it away it is still counted toward your limit. However, you can catch all the fish you want to during a day as long as you only keep your "creel limit" to take home or give away to someone else. For instance, you could not catch 20 and give them away to your buddy who is on the water in another boat and then go catch yourself another 20.

Some of you guys are a little paranoid in my opinion. If you have a limit in the boat and keep catching them in order to cull a few little ones no one is going to care if you reach into the livewell and throw out a little one to keep a bigger one. Yes technically you will have 21 fish in the boat for just a few seconds in order to accomplish the cull but do you truly think that anyone is going to care. The wildlife officers are out there trying to catch people who are blatantly breaking the rules for most part. I'm sure on occasion there is some poor soul who doesn't really know the law who gets caught doing something wrong, but it is their responsibility to know the rules if they are going to hunt or fish in our fine state. These types of matters are not very vague in my opinion. We all know what the creel limits are, that we have to have a license to hunt or fish, that we have to have life jackets in the boat, and tags on the hull, etc. If you don't know the rules you can log onto the web site and get them for free or pick up one of those colorful little books they have at the checkout at every bait shop and Wal-Mart in the state. As long as you are following the rules you have nothing to be concerned about.

Let's call this for what it is...greed. If you go catch your limit take them home and then come back to catch another limit you are rolling the dice and if you get caught, oh well, it's on you and you shouldn't be upset with no one but yourself. The guys that are doing this are stealing from everyone of us who pay our license fees each year and do abide by the rules.

It's just my personal rule but I won't continue to fish with a limit of fish in the boat. I will fish with one or two less fish than the limit and swap out the smaller ones with larger fish as they are caught. Technically, if you have a limit in your possession and continue to fish you are in violation and can receive a fishing award from the game officer. I will not give them the chance to do that.....they might be having a bad day when I am checked and decide to take it out on everyone they see! I play by the rules when on the water.....it keeps everyone happy. LOL !! There have been days where I caught multiple limits of great fish and kept ten or less because that was all I needed or wanted to mess with that day. Most of those would have been the ones that would have died anyway if released. Didn't go home with a limit but still happy for a good day!

Probably won't have anything to worry about, but in March we'll be fishing a full week across the state and will need to carry what we catch with us. If I have a limit cleaned bagged and iced, I wonder if I'm legal to fish the next day? I looked at the regs and it says something about not having over a daily limit on a one day fishing trip, but doesn't say anything that I could find about a multi-day trip.

Next day ok, but after that you would need to go home and put the fish in your frig.

Page 8 of the 2012 Arkansas rulebook

Possession Limit: Double the daily limit

Possession Limit − The total limit of a certain fish species that is in your possession
at any time, whether on your person or stored in another location. Fish and wild
game (other than migratory game birds) that have been processed and stored at a
residence do not count toward a person’s possession limit. A residence is defined
as a house or house trailer that is permanently in place and is owned, leased or
rented by an individual; it does not include mobile travel trailers, tents, vehicles or
temporary rental units (motels, lodges, cabins, resorts, etc.).