Possible World Lake Trout record confiscated

Parksy · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:47 am

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... h-day.html

I know this will stir things up and I was hesitant to post it, but it does show how some CO's see the group catch idea most of us share, in that when we go out in a group of two and one guy gets five, the other gets three and anglers think they are in the clear because between two they have their count. CO's aren't looking at it that way.
However, I get the CO was in tough spot in that he checked the guy earlier in the day and there was one fish on the ice.

I think this is a very strict interpretation of an Ontario regulation and I wonder if there isn't some nationalistic pride involved in this matter.

><>J · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:31 am

That would have broken my heart in many ways especially not having a nice once-in-lifetime mount. But given the attention this fish was to get, I would think the COs wanted to drive a point home that they would not tolerate any contraventions of the fishery regulations.

sunrisecottageresort · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:38 am

Well, well, well. Good post Jason. Rules are rules but I'm sure we have all done it. Innocently though. The CO is correct.

Superdad · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:45 pm

I saw this last week - c'est la vie... about regs.

David aka Superdad

Dog Lake · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:46 pm

Parksy wrote:

I think this is a very strict interpretation of an Ontario regulation and I wonder if there isn't some nationalistic pride involved in this matter.

Perhaps, or maybe the CO read the article on it in outdoor life magazine, http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-f ... rld-record , where he is quoted as saying:

“Nothing in my trout vocabulary had ‘release’ in it,” Scott said.

Poor language skills are no excuse. Grizz can't spell release to save his a$$, but he does know how to put them back. :wink:

dudedru · **Posted:** Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:52 pm

too bad there isn't party fishing like there is party hunting...(well I guess it's all in how you define 'party'

)

Grizzly · **Posted:** Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:04 am

relic. releec...releas........ let go!! lol ......... people party fish all the time... don't make it legal I have always said when it comes to law its black and white no gray area but when you read the laws and how they are written there is a lot of gray........ had that guy given his fish to someone right after catching it he would have saved him self aggravation, and a new world record.... since he chose to lay it at his feet it became or was in his possession . this is why when I fish with friends I always hide my fish ( When I actually catch a fish that is ) behind my friends hut far away from mine until its time to leave because you just never know when that world record will bite on your line .
Im sure that if the only fish caught that day was the smaller fish it would have gone home with the guy in his pack not the pack of his friend. so you cant claim a record fish if you already reached your limit....... maybe he should have taped it snapped a pic and pushed it down the hole and had a new catch and releec..releas... let go record!!

West Lake Willows · **Posted:** Thu Mar 06, 2014 7:45 am

Griz,

Why do you say if he gave it to a friends right away it would have been ok? I'm legitimately asking. Not trying to be a dink. To my knowledge it doesn't matter how long you wait.

(Edited by Scott to be a better example) The party fishing rule makes it hard for me in the fall with the one over limit. If a client has chosen to keep an over and it is the only over of the day and towards the end of the day he catches a monster and wants to retain it technically be can not. There may be 5 other licenses on the boat and only one over in the livewell but he has to release that fish IF the one in the livewell is not releasable. It seems odd when trolling as a charter boat and I am setting all lines etc that the fish is tied to the guy who reels it in.

The law is the law and I both respect and honour it. In my opinion it is black and white. It very clearly states that a fish given away is part of your catch and possession limit for that day so is fish consumed for lunch. The problem is how do you draw a line and where does it end? Should the large party boats that fish the ocean with 76 anglers now all fish each other's license? It is hard to monitor and I get that. Just in my situation in the fall it is frustrating. But the world is a lot bigger then me.

Bottom line is our ministry from biologists to conservation officers do a great job and really and truly have the best interest of our fishery in mind.

I don't know this guy with the record and certainly in my opinion boils down to intent. Did he know he was breaking a law? Was it an honest mistake? What a great fish and a very unfortunate situation.

Scott

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BigMac · **Joined:** Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:18 pm **Posts:** 1383

Grizzly wrote:

relic. releec...releas........ let go!! lol ......... people party fish all the time... don't make it legal I have always said when it comes to law its black and white no gray area but when you read the laws and how they are written there is a lot of gray........ had that guy given his fish to someone right after catching it he would have saved him self aggravation, and a new world record.... since he chose to lay it at his feet it became or was in his possession . this is why when I fish with friends I always hide my fish ( When I actually catch a fish that is ) behind my friends hut far away from mine until its time to leave because you just never know when that world record will bite on your line .
Im sure that if the only fish caught that day was the smaller fish it would have gone home with the guy in his pack not the pack of his friend. so you cant claim a record fish if you already reached your limit....... maybe he should have taped it snapped a pic and pushed it down the hole and had a new catch and releec..releas... let go record!!

adventure · **Posted:** Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:16 am

I actually thought Grizzly's post was quite funny :lol:

I guess I interpreted it differently than others.

While I don't think there is a gray area in this instance, there is a lot of truth about interpretation of the laws. After all, how many threads have there been over the years on the gray areas?

DanElliot · **Joined:** Mon Apr 08, 2002 8:59 am **Posts:** 4322

The leasson learned for Quinte is to only keep 3 under and save that fourth for that potential PB

Grizzly · **Posted:** Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:23 pm

exactly and we are all at fault with our will to want to catch and release when exactly is your limit reached? when exactly should you stop fishing? this has all been discussed before many times and opinions all very sometimes drastically . Scott I ask you if a guy puts his forth fish in the box do you let him touch a rod again for the rest of the day? if so what if the fish comes in half dead ? hooked badly to the point you know it wont live ? do you ask your clients if they have fish at home in storage? how do you handle a two day charter knowing the guy took 4 fish the day before? are you expected to become a fish cop and make sure the law is followed to the letter? possibilities are or seem endless to break the law crazy as it is we still have to police our selfs and do what we think is right.
How this guy got caught is by a co that saw the fish in this guys possession Now if that guy gave it to his friend out of sight of anyone...... it don't make it right but it does make it impossible for a co to charge him . he may think he is right but he does not know he is right no charge will be laid say im fishing and my buddy is fishing 75 yards from me and there is a fish laying on the ice 35 yards from either of us, a co comes and says WHO OWNS THIS FISH ....... does he not have to take the word of the answer ? it could be me. or him or don't know it was there when we got here....... sounds fishy is fishy but can he just decide its one guys over another's? who was in possession? like I said I believe this happens a lot I didn't say I do this, or did I ? I guess that's up to you to decide let he who fishes in a glass bottom boat drop the first anchor lol

West Lake Willows · **Posted:** Thu Mar 06, 2014 6:05 pm

Grizzly,

My question was not condescending or leading, I didn't mean any offense by it. You indicated that giving it away immediately was different then giving it away later. I was curious how you interpreted it that way. That was all, I really meant no offense by it. My apologizes if you took it that way.

Grizzly wrote:

Scott I ask you if a guy puts his forth fish in the box do you let him touch a rod again for the rest of the day? if so what if the fish comes in half dead ? hooked badly to the point you know it wont live ?

The short answer is yes I do as they are allowed to continue fishing even if they are boxed out. If this is the case I run the aerator constantly in the live well and monitor the condition of the fish so they can release one of their fish as required.

Grizzly wrote:

how do you handle a two day charter knowing the guy took 4 fish the day before?

We discuss this on day one. If they want to keep an over the next day then don't harvest it on day one. I will NOT allow clients to transport over their possession limit. My reputation is worth more then sending a client home with an extra fish.

Grizzly wrote:

are you expected to become a fish cop and make sure the law is followed to the letter?

No I'm not expected to be a fish cop, but yes we are required to abide by the laws. I do feel that as a charter operator I am required to be held to a higher standard.

There is no doubt the party fishing regulations make it complicated in the fall on a charter.

Scott

Grizzly · **Posted:** Thu Mar 06, 2014 6:17 pm

no offence taken bud, none at all . I sure don't condone bad behaviour but im not the law I find it funny how someone will watch a friend break the law but call the law on someone they don't know who they saw break the laws.......... you have a very good reputation you work hard to keep it but even here in what you say its up to the readers to believe or disbelieve what you say. I guess bottom line it is what it is and as I said its up to us to police our self and if you don't you might be caught what is it that they always say. Don't do the crime if you cant do the time.

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

WOOOW! That is a heart breaker! :cry:

To catch a 52lb laker and have is confiscated from the taxidermy shop due to having iced a 4lbr earlier in the day which was given away, 100 feet from the 2-fish limit line?! You couldn't make up a worse case scenario.

Some interesting points highlighted by Scott's charter experiences and no question where the law lies but I'd have a hard time tossing back a record breaking 52 lb laker that I knew was going to die just because I'd already caught a 4lb trout and given it away. I guess that brings us back to the debate of continuing to target a species when you've already limited out on that fish for the day...we beat that one to death earlier this year. I don't catch 4 walleye in a day, so not a problem for me :lol:

I'm curious, HONESTLY what would you have done in his shoes? Toss back a 52lb laker that was going to die :?:

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Possible World Lake Trout record confiscated

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