possibly a dumb question

ok so i was looking at the limits for crappie on barkely lake and i have confused myself regarding the creel, and possession limits. Hopefully someone can help claify this, if there is one person in the boat your limit is 20 fish at any one time, with the total you can take in the day being 40. Then if there is 2 people in the same boat, each person has a limit of 20 at any time, and each can take 40 per day? Then what happens if there are 3-4 people in the same boat? i cant find a straight answer on this.

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.

Quote:

---

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.

Quote:

---

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.

Not a dumb question at all that was a great question and great clarification there guys. I learned something on this thread I too thought it was 40 in the boat if there were 2 people or 20 people. Thanks guys. Long time lurker first time poster thanks again guys

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mrdux

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.

---

That will get you a ticket fast! It is against the law to have ANY processed game fish in the boat, while the boat is in the water! Legally if you pull your boat up to a cleaning station, get out of the boat & clean fish, throw the bag of fish in the boat and go to put it on the trailer, a CO CAN write you a ticket. The ticket ain't too awful bad but where they get ya is that $152.50 court cost PER VIOLATION!

Example... You get caught with 5 short fish. The fine is $50 per fish or $250. The court cost is $152.50 per violation. 5 X $152.50=$762.50
Add the $250 + $762.50=$1012.50. Figure that by the pound and it's pretty expensive meat!

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!

Quote:

---

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:banghead

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. :Rofl 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. :biggrin

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by redearhoosier

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!

---

no!!!

Possession limits do not include what you have "at home" in your freezer. Once they're cleaned & put in cold storage, they're considered "processed". Possession Limit refers to unprocessed (alive/dead & not yet cleaned) fish ... x2 daily limits/person, after two or more days of fishing, BUT does NOT count the cleaned/processed fish (in your camp or cooler @ camp). You can only have a Daily Limit, per person, in the boat ... and you can cull, as long as you don't have more than a days limit/person at any given time while on the water.

"Possession Limit" definition was 'changed' several years ago. It used to read : no more than 2x a daily limit per person, after 2 or more days of fishing. That meant that you could only have twice a daily limit, in your possession, even if you were fishing for more than 2days in a row. That was pretty restrictive, and meant you would have to eat a lot of fish or leave once your possession limit was reached.
When the "processed" clause was added, it allowed you to clean (process) & store fish, and not have them count against your Possession Limit ... which allowed people to camp & fish for more than the 2days, once they'd caught, or if they'd caught 2x their daily limits in that 2+days timeframe. It also allowed possession of more than two days worth of daily limits to be kept at your home (if processed), without fear of breaking the law.

(Disclaimer)
That's how I interpret the way the law reads. I'm not a LEO, so I defer to the KDFWR to clarify or dispute that interpretation.

... cp :kewl