Would it be illegal if i caught a white bass and attached a balloon to it's dorsal fin with a safety pin and some fishing line and released the fish back in the water and then follow balloon back to the school of whites and fish ?
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Would it be illegal if i caught a white bass and attached a balloon to it's dorsal fin with a safety pin and some fishing line and released the fish back in the water and then follow balloon back to the school of whites and fish ?
Here is what the MDC site has to say regarding possession of game fish: DAILY AND POSSESSION LIMITS
"You may possess no more than the daily limit of any given species while you are on waters, or on the banks of waters, where daily limits for those species apply. Any species taken into actual possession, unless released unharmed immediately after being caught, shall continue to be included in the daily limit of the taker for the day.
Where only catch-and-release fishing is allowed, fish must be returned unharmed immediately to the water after being caught.
The possession limit is twice the statewide daily limit. Fish you take and possess must be kept separate or distinctly identifiable from fish taken by another person. If you are away from your catch, the device holding the fish must be plainly labeled with your full name and address."
So if you catch a white that has no length restriction, you should be able to do what you say. This fish would count as one of your daily limit, and the device holding the fish (your balloon) must be labeled with your full name and address. I had read where someone else stated to do this, and I wondered about the legality. I hope an agent will spot this question and give an answer. I don't really think the balloon would cause any permanent damage, but it would be nice to remove it if possible. Thanks for posting this question crappie curt!
I'll chime in...the wildlife code in MO is a permissive code...and it doesn't specifically say that you can tether a fish and tie a balloon to it entice and or follow the fish to find other fish...I would say it is illegal....to me it would be no different than putting white bass (or any other gamefish) under a bobber and using as bait..which is definitely illegal.....it is a very interesting question however...
you will get a ticket, if caught, all fish not kept must be returned to the water unharmed right away,, another reason your not allowed to cull your fish,,,,And if you don't get a ticket, you got caught by a very nice and forgiving agent...
If I am not mistaken the bass boys cull fish all the time.
Yes they do. But in Missouri if ya put a crappie in your livewell you can't cull it it goes against your limit per Mo. Regulations.
hogster is correct...once you put a crappie in the livewell, you may not legally throw it back...the bass culling rule for tournaments is different...then you may, at times, cull
Are you saying that if I go fishing and put 2-3 crappies in my livewell, and that's all I catch for the day (a normal day for me), that I would be breaking a law if I release them at the end of the day?????Quote:
Originally Posted by Tmason
I don't think so. It pertains to culling.
The only time culling is legal and doesn't go against your daily limit is if you are fishing a "bonafied bass tournament". If you catch a fish and keep it but decide to throw it back later,that would be perfectly legal except the fish you returned are counted against your daily limit.
don't panic if you catch three,,, fine, you toss them back,,,,fine,,,you can catch 27 more for state limit,,or 12 more Stockton limit, or Truman...Quote:
Originally Posted by vic n
Oh, I'm not worried about going over a limit, or culling. Tmason is an agent and he states that releasing is against the law. I don't know how this thread got highjacked so badly...lol Sorry crappiecurtQuote:
Originally Posted by beagle man
Sorry, was out of the office....fishing....:) I'm a fish biologist, not an agent...:)...sorry for the confusion...like beagle man says...its fine to throw your fish back at the end of the day if you don't feel like cleaning them....culling is where I was getting at, and it is also correct that technically, once you put a crappie in the livewell, it is part of your daily statewide bag limit whether you wind up filleting it or not
Thanks for the clarification Tory. I really don't know how this thread got into talking about crappie, because the OP asked about white bass. I also don't know how culling came into it.