Thread: possibly a dumb question

Originally Posted by Wiskers

My sources say that the CO's are out in force on both lakes this season, and writing tickets! Revenue is down so tickets are gonna be UP!

Maybe some of that ticket revenue could go toward prize money for another carp tournament or two!?

I won't even fillet a catfish for supper before my boat is tied up or on the trailer. No way I am paying those kinds of fines for saving a few steps or minutes! I don't want to be funding the Carp tourny all by myself

So we can catch twenty crappie per day/per person BUT one person may have forty crappie in the boat per the possession limit rule? Talk about confusing, the possession limit rule is super confusing because one minute you're saying 20 crappie per person/per day, then you're saying 40 crappie total in your possession? If I didn't know any better I'd think it's OK to catch 40 crappie per those rules????

Anyone who actually has filleted and cleaned their fish in the boat is STUPID...fish while you're in the boat and fillet your catch at home!

Every legal fisherman is allowed to catch only 20 fish per day. You are allowed to have only 40 fish per person in your possession. I don't know how else to explain it.

If you had 10 people in a boat they could technically all have 40 fish each in their possession, but I wouldn't want to try and explain that 20 of them were caught yesterday, and 20 today. I'd feel much better with those 10 people having 200 fish in the boat, and 200 more back at the cabin that need to be cleaned.

The intent of the Law is that you have no more than 20 per legal fisherman in the boat. 40 in possession means total not cleaned both on and off the water, ie at home or camp and on the boat. Just don't get caught on the water or at the ramp with more than 20 per legal fisherman and you are ok. And clean your catch promptly so as not to give the impression of any illegal intent. But as Wiskers said no short fish or your looking at a fine either way!

One of the enforcement officers in Calloway County is a friend of mine. He stated that possession is more for people who say are camping. If you are alone fishing and have a cooler at your campsite with anything over 40 unprocessed fish in it you are in trouble regardless of how many days you have been fishing. It isn't really applied on the water. There the daily limit applies. (20 crappie per fisherman) Myself I wouldn't get caught on the water fishing alone with say 35 crappie in the livewell and try and tell them it is a two day total. He didn't sound like he thought much of the possession law either as it can be confusing. But you can still get popped so catch your 20 per person, per day, get home or to the marina, clean them, through them in the freezer, cooler, or 350 degrees of peanut oil, kick back and open a cold one, and enjoy all God has given us.

PS
I wish I could say that worrying about going over on possession is a concern everyday I am on the water. Truthfully I am getting more and more where, especially in the spawn, where I enjoy the catch and then release them back. Especially those big fat females dripping eggs. As I get older I guess I am getting softer hearted. And I don't blame anyone for keeping fish at all. Crappie are about the best tasting fish going. I just enjoy laying the big mama's back in the lake and watching them swim back down towards home knowing thousands of those fry will hatch thanks to that one act.

Amen to the occasional catch and release. I am truly amazed that crappie fishing is as good as it is year over year with the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of fish taken out every year.