There is such a thing as a stupid question

Saltwater Inshore Discussion
1

…and I’m about to ask it.

So the limit on Redfish is two per person with a six boat limit.
If it’s me and my wife on the boat and she doesn’t catch a slot, but I catch four, do those four go toward the “limit”? I realize that the boat limit would be four in this case.

If you watched my last video, I had four slots and she had none but I released two on a day when we were keeping fish.

So, how does that work?

Also, do you guys “cull” fish? I cull bass or crappie but I’ve learned that fish don’t last all that long in a live well inshore. I put them on ice until the water temp gets cool enough to use the live well.

I feel like once they are in the live well they start the process of dying. So I don’t cull them.

What do you guys think?

2

You are ok in counting the 4 you caught as 2 per person on the boat. So if you had a 3rd person, and you are the only one to catch all 6 fish on the boat, that is a completely legal harvest. It does not matter who caught them. The total is the total.

Culling fish is absolutely doable. Aerators help keep em alive in the warmer water.

Fishing Nerd

“No bar, no pinball machines, no bowling alleys, just pool… nothing else.”

…well, some fishing too!

3

…well, some fishing too!
[/quote]

Much appreciated. Would have thought otherwise on the daily limit.

4

I think if she has a fishing license then yes you can count her limit. But, if there are not enough fishing licenses on board for the limits caught, you’d probably be looking at a fine if boarded.

________________________ 1966 13' Boston Whaler "Flatty" 2018 Sportsman Masters 207 www.eyestrikefishing.com #predatorsstriketheeye
5

I don’t keep many fish. There’s no doubt in their mind. I am inviting him home for dinner cuz I put them in the cooler full of ice

I am fragile. Not like a flower. But like a bomb.

22 life’s a day

6

Kerry, limits are based on possession, and as was said, as long as what’s in the possession of those in the boat doesn’t exceed the limit divided by the number of persons on the boat, you should be legal.

However, as far as culling, there’s also “intent” of the regs, and once you place a fish in the live well or a cooler, it’s in your possession as far as the regs are concerned. If you already have your limit, and intend to cull one, and the Game Warden was right there, potentially you could be cited for having fish over the limit if the extra fish is brought on board.

A few weeks ago, the Bassmaster Elites were fishing a tournament on Santee, and one of the competitors forgot what he had in the livewell, and ended up with an extra bass in the live well, one more than the limit allowed. He didn’t get caught, but technically, by the tournament rules and the legal regs, he was violating the rules. He turned himself in, and got a penalty as a result. Had he actually been checked by the DNR, again, he could have been cited. Potentially, had he not confessed to what he did, even though it was an honest mistake, and if it was later found out, he could have been disqualified completely, so he did the right thing.

Most Game Wardens I’ve ever met were reasonable. common sense folks. However, if you have a limit in your boat and continue to fish, it could be argued that as soon as you bring any additional fish into your boat, then you’re violating the legal limits. Most folks who continue to catch and release, or cull, do so right away. If it’s a delayed release, then again there is the potential for a different interpretation.

I recall reading one time, that DNR in FL were citing folks for removing fish from the water that were out of season. Apparently many were taking photo’s and posting them online, and the DNR used the posted photo’s as evidence that these people had out of season fish in their possession, even though the fish were released.

I remember the MD DN

7

Optiker brings up another question. If you’re fishing in your boat and have other people along, are they considered to be fishing regardless of if they are touching rods and reels or not? If the DNR pulls up to check licenses will they believe you when you say “my wife or friend here is just along for the ride and is not fishing.”

If I have fishing gear in the boat, I want everyone onboard to be licensed and legal.

8

If I remember…this topic has come up a while back. From what I remember the conclusion was that the rules indicate that if one person on the boat is fishing, all others are considered to be fishing as well and would therefore, need a license. But in reality, it was thought that the DNR agents are flexible at enforcing it.

9

Wow! Thanks everyone. Great information. Yeah, I keep both mine and my wifes fishing license under my phone in the plastic case.
Yeah, we get checked a good bit by the DNR out there and I tell everyone to get online and get a license because there’s probably a 25% chance you are going to get checked.

I got a warning two trips back because my fire extinguisher was just barely out of the “charge” zone. I didn’t know they only last a few years.

The DNR office was a younger guy and apologized for having to write it. That was the video with the cowboys. Later that night the youngest boy recognized him in his regular clothes at a restaurant in old mt pleasant and sent me a pic of the two.

Again all, thanks for the help.

10

Fishing license in SC aren’t expensive, so a good idea for all on a boat to have one, just in case. Many times I’ve tried to get my wife to go with me, but she doesn’t care about fishing at all. I had never given any thought to this question. Most of the time, I release fish that I catch, but not always.

If there’s another person on a boat, that doesn’t have a fishing license, and they do fish or not, the “boat” limit wouldn’t apply anyway I don’t think. If there’s a two person limit on board and only one person with a license, of course it doesn’t matter who caught the fish. One way or another, there’s a violation if there’s more than a single person limit.

If the legal limit is 4 per person, and I keep 4, and my wife is with me & didn’t fish, there shouldn’t be any issue with the Game Warden, but you know they’re going to ask questions if they check! That’s part of their job. I don’t understand how any reasonably intelligent person would think that a “boat limit” can exceed a personal limit, just because there’s more than one person on board, if any of those extra folks doesn’t possess a fishing license. I know that back in MD, licensed Charter Captains, can have unlicensed anglers on their boat, which was legal because the commercial license to charter covered a certain number of clients. But, that is a different situation than an angler fishing from his own boat who is not a licensed Charter operation.

I seem to recall a story about a big time offshore f

11

Best thing to do is everyone have a license. It’s all up to discretion of the officer.
Several years ago the wife and I were coming back from the stream. Got stopped by DNR rookie & old salt. The rookie boarded our vessel asked for licenses. I handed him our licenses. Dnr. I need your ID also.didn’t have wife’s ID with me He wanted to write a ticket but the old salt told him it was okay
Then he wanted to see the fish we had the mother load. He pulled a black grunt from the cooler and sarcastically asked the wife do you know what kind of fish this is.
Wife. The kind that swims in the ocean.
Dnr. So you don’t know what kind of fish this is & you don’t know what the bag limit is.
Wife. It’s a black grunt and I do know the bag limit. And I don’t appreciate your sarcasm.
Me.oh s@#.
He goes through that cooler everything fine.
Opens the fish box there’s two wahoos in there cut in half.
He wanted to write a ticket the whole salt said.that’s okay that’s the only way they could fit them in the fish box.
He gets to the bottom and he gets a big smile on his face and says oh what do we have here?
It was a black sea bass that was borderline. First fish of the day and he was gut-hooked so we kept him.
DNR. Don’t think this fish is legal.
Wife. It’s a boy fish.
Dnr. What’s that got to do with anything.
Wife. Boy fishes shrink when they’re put on ice.
Old salt laughing so He had to sit down.He told the rookie close enough for government work come on.
Then the rookie asked for life jackets. Old salt. they’re fine I know them come on.

I am fragile. Not like a flower. But like a bomb.

22 life’s a day

12

Off the chain, that’s a great story! [<3]:smiley:

It is a good reminder that those guys are just doing a job and some can be a lot more zealous than others. :+1:

13

Post of the year:+1:

NN