question about Cleaning Fish .

Went fishing the other day caught our fish pulled our boat out of the water was cleaning our fish putting fish 30 crappie 2 of us 5 or 6 kentucky bass in zipplock bags on ice putting the waste in a bucket got through cleaning our fish poured waste from bucket back into water away from ramp.A man walked up( not a game warden ) said that cleaning fish at the lake and throwing the waste back in the water was illegal could get a ticket for it.What is the rule on this where are you suppose to clean your fish at home what? have been fishing and cleaning fish all my life what is the rules.We did't throw the waste on ramp or swimming area or in trash can what is a fisherman suppose to do?

Yea, I'm curious what other states do too cause I've seen those cleaning stations around some. What few times I've used one the water pipe went back to the lake and a few were built over the water and the carcasses went over the rail back into the water (as instructed).

I clean mine at home. Jump waste in creek by house or if over at Dad's put in compost pile.

Have been known to bag it and take to dumpster at work. Picked up ever other day.

We still have dirt roads here.:biggrin:biggrin:biggrin If I'm only cleaning a few theyre buried in the garden.

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Originally Posted by gabowman

We still have dirt roads here.:biggrin:biggrin:biggrin If I'm only cleaning a few theyre buried in the garden.

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Amen

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I carry mine off about 200 ft from the house. I've never had'em still be there in 24hrs. Turkey buzzards make short work out of'em.
I've never heard of it being against the law to clean'em on site.

I was told it was illegal to clean fish and throw them back in the lake a couple of years back. I clean mine at the house

The guy said a game warden said any lake or river that has a slot or length limit that if they the game wardens walked up on you cleaning they could not tell what kind or how long the fish was after you have cleaned and disposed of the waste.

i clean at home put the waist be hind garage the coons and skunks have a mid night snack.

i fished norfork lake a few weeks back and they also had a fish cleaning station on the dock

I have heard it's illegal to have any piece of a game fish filtered or with head or tail missing while ur fishing cuz then the wardens cant keep track of ur daily limit but if ur headed home and ur boats out the water with no intention of taking any more fish I don't see the problem I think that's why they have the stations on those sites

Now as fer me I live in the sticks so I clean mine round back just like I do with all game I take and I throw the scraps either in my pond or in the woods wild game takes care of it and my four year old gets a kick out of watching animals come by our house

Clean mine when I get home but it's a 5 minute drive from the ramp.:biggrin The leftovers go behind the hose where the coon and buzzards work their magic.

my left overs get saved... I have an uncle that makes stink bait and he uses them for that and or my father-in-law takes em out on his boat and dumps them in one of his fav Catfishing holes.

This came from the AGFC website.

Fish Cleaning – While fishing in waters designated as having a length or slot limit on sport fish, you may not possess a fish that has been filleted or had its head or tail removed while fishing from shore, boat or while being transported by boat. Check your destination to see whether length or slot limits apply.

Don't know if it helps or not. I would suggest calling your local game and fish office or the office in the district you like to fish and ask them. The numbers can be found on the AGFC website. You could also ask a game warden the next time you see him. Just don't ask him about it as you are dumping the waste in the water!!!!rotfl

A couple years back my father got fined on the Little Red River for cleaning like that and not leaving any skin on them so you can tell what breed of trout they were. Pretty hefty fine too.

Each state is different. We just moved back from Illinois and there you could not dump any fish remains back into the Lake.

The way I catch fish, this is usually not a problem

What you did would be against the law in Minnesota and it is in a lot more areas than a lot of folks realize.

Here in Minnesota you may not put the remains back into any water when you are done cleaning. Where there are slot limits and/or minimum sizes it depends on the water, whether you may clean them at the lake or must take them home to do so, although IIRC you may remove gills and guts before transporting fish. For those that are cleaned at lakes in general, you must not reduce to less than two fillets per fish at the lake and must leave a 1 square inch of skin and scales attached to each fillet for major game fish although not for crappies and sunfish. For most of our fish limits, the possession limit is the same as the daily limit and includes fillets at home in the freezer and in the freezer at the resort, and if you eat any of your daily catch during the day that is supposed to count against your daily limit, too; so you are not supposed to catch a limit in the morning, have it for lunch and then catch another in the afternoon.

This also varies from state to state, just like the number of lines and hooks.
It is best not to assume, but instead to find out in advance.

Game Wardens up here aren't always visible either. Many of them will glass lakes they patrol with spotting scopes that are strong enough almost to read the brand off your rod from across the lake.

I clean mine at home, and throw the remains in a ditch down the road from the house. Feeds the coons, crayfish, and turtles in the ditch.


BRM

BTW, I use a 5 gal. bucket, and just dump em over the rail. I do live in a rural area tho.


BRM

I fillet my fish at home and freeze the remains. The morning the garbage truck comes, I take the remains from the freezer and place them in the garbage receptable.

Too many rules you can't help but break one. if you throw them in the water you break the law if you throw them in the ditch you break the law if you clean them at home and stink up the garbage your wife gets mad at ya. I have been there done that.

I do the same...clean em at home and freeze the leftovers until trash day.

I have 2 different crews that make house calls. I usually dump the parts in the pasture in front of my house. The night crew (coyotes) , come by that same night and do the initial clean up. Whats left is finished off by the day crew, the turkey vultures. Just a few bones and some dried skins are left. Xring tried out a new method, giving them to his x wife, but that didn't work out too well.

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Originally Posted by rtark

I have 2 different crews that make house calls. I usually dump the parts in the pasture in front of my house. The night crew (coyotes) , come by that same night and do the initial clean up. Whats left is finished off by the day crew, the turkey vultures. Just a few bones and some dried skins are left. Xring tried out a new method, giving them to his x wife, but that didn't work out too well.

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Did his ex return them?:yikes

If you read the reg, it says "while fishing"... you are not fishing after the boat is our or you're at the cleaning station.

I clean them at home and freeze remains also

At the lakes and waters that have cleaning stations, what happens when you push the carcasses into the chute? I know they're ground up, but where to they go from there?

The way our local city water taste...I wonder.

Well on the OK lakes they want you to throw everything back into the lake. Other states are different though. Turtles and other scavenger fish will clean it up but it does make a mess in the water. I always toss them out in the woods somewhere so the coons, buzzards, crows, coyotes, ect. may feast on them.

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Originally Posted by Skidz

At the lakes and waters that have cleaning stations, what happens when you push the carcasses into the chute? I know they're ground up, but where to they go from there?

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Depends on the state I suppose, but normally I would expect the ground remains to go into a holding tank or pit that gets pumped our regularly, probably with a disinfectant to keep down the smell like the port-a-let toilets perhaps even the same sort of company. What they do with it after that I have no idea.

If that is the case there should be a record of pump-out services posted somewhere publicly in the cleaning station along with the name of the company that provides the service.

In most states fishing cleaning remains are considered raw sewage. Where I fish, mainly in metro city parks, casual discard of cleaning remains is definitely frowned upon by nearly everyone, of course.

I clean 'em at home and either put them in the ditch at the back of my property for the critters or bag 'em and put them in the can for pick up.
Only things that bother me are carcasses at the launch ramp and littering with plastic bags of guts by the side of a otherwise pretty country road.

If you keep your remains in a sealed bucket or container or something like that for a long time and let them decompose you can make an excellent stink bait for catfish for them.

When trout fishing on white they have cleaning station at boat dock and throw carcass over into water/river. So dont think it would be illegal, cause you know how they are bout them trout........

At the lake (Reelfoot TN) I dump em in the cove by the cabin, its legal there, but we can fish with gamefish too, as long as its part of your daily creel, go in and clean up, come back out and toss a catfish pole out on top of it, catch 5 or 6 cats, clean and repeat until Your tired!

Clean em at home and let the coons do the rest. :)

I clean my fish at home after they have chilled on ice for a while... They clean alot better for me that way. As far as the waste, i take them to a dumpster 3 blocks from my house.... Downwind at that! :cheers2