Thread: possibly a dumb question

There is a daily creel limit and a possession limit. You are only allowed to take 20 fish per day. You can't go back out the same day and take another 20. The possession limit means that you cannot have anymore than 40 fish in your possession at any one time. for instance if you caught 20 on monday, 20 on tuesday, and 20 on wednesday without cleaning the ones that you caught on monday you would be over your possession limit. Most importantly, the daily creel limit is 20. You can't go back out the same day and catch 20 more.

here it is straight from our fishing guide:

Q: How is a daily creel limit different than a possession limit?
A: The daily creel limit is the
number of a particular sport fish
species you may keep in one day’s
fishing. A possession limit is two
times the daily creel limit for all fish
species with a daily creel limit and
excludes processed fish.

so i guess the confusing part for me is when there are 3 in the boat, each person is entitled to their 20 fish, correct? and if so then you could potentially have 60 fish in the boat.

Originally Posted by kissfan4

so i guess the confusing part for me is when there are 3 in the boat, each person is entitled to their 20 fish, correct? and if so then you could potentially have 60 fish in the boat.

Yes, you could have 3X the daily limit IF (BIG IF) all 3 in the boat are fishing and have legal status to be fishing. That means above 16 years old they must be licensed. You are going to have a tough time convincing a CO that your toddler caught 20 keeper crappie before the rest of you did. Also, having a cooler full of bags of unfrozen fillets in the boat is not going to set well with game wardens. Believe me, I have heard of both those arguments being used on the water. I'm sure they were also used to try to convince the judge when that person appeared in court.

i just wanted to try to get some clarification, i dont plan on trying to keep more than my limit, it is just that when we come down there next week, i dont want to keep more than our limit. but i also dont want to cheat ourselves out of fish that we can legally keep. because up until now i thought that no matter how many legally licensed fisherman were in the boat you could only keep 40.

Originally Posted by kissfan4

i thought that no matter how many legally licensed fisherman were in the boat you could only keep 40.

Not true, If you have 1 person in boat you can keep 20, 2 person=40 crappie, 3 person=60 crappie and so on. But like Mrdux said, if over age 16 they all need a license for each person.

One other big thing, the COs will not give a fraction of an inch under 10 inches on the crappie size limit. Make sure you have a measuring board that you can prove the fish is 10 inches or more.

Hey Kissfan4,

I understand your confusion. I have went into some of the smaller resorts and they have it posted just like you thought it might be. I try and tell them they are wrong. It is 20 x the number of fishermen. One had a sign that says 40 is the max in possession regardless of the number of fishermen. I asked where they got the info. and they say it was old "Joe". He has guided for years and told us that. Well I have guided for years too and have always understood the law. Joe obviously doesn't! What Dux, Kercha83, and 325WSM is right on the money! The guys on here are a good resource for information for sure. Also like they said don't have processed fish in the boat. All crappie a good 10 inches, don't go over daily creel, have the needed equipment (license, PFD's, fire extinguisher, etc.), and no open containers of booze, and you should be good to go.