Stopped by Ottowa County's finest!

Read the perch blog here and got excited, took folks to B can this am, 7am lines in, lot of boats read what I did, not much jerking around us. Moved 3 times got a dozen. Went to west side of the islands to troll South for eyes at 11am. Got 6 in 90 min. Trying to impress the guys after a bad morning of perching and ran 10 lines, problem was I only had 4 guys. Saw a boat about to run over my lines and ready to start yelling, but realized it was Division of water craft.

Yes I was cheating, they new it, I new it, they were very professional as they boarded, measured and inspected. I'll pay my ticket with out complaint. But seems like a maximum number of lines per boat is better than lines per fisherman, no?

I do reiterate, officers were very professional and courteous. I was in the wrong, this is the rule. I have no issues with them.

Glad to see someone accepting their fate rather than blaming it on someone else!! My hat is off to you for being truthfull.........

Hats off to ya JBD.. I have been there and never go back to impress someone.

Gene

Two lines per man is plenty in my opinion. I only run 8 lines no matter how many people are on board. I've found into be too much going on especially with guests that aren't familiar with the system. Laws are laws. It ink it's funny when one or two guys go by with more rods than I can count

What was the cost of that fine. Always wondered, I too have seen boats go by with 3 ppl on board and 10 lines in the water

I know a boat that got fined 80.00 this year. 2 guys with 6 rods.

Most boats out there at one time or another run more rods than they should. It comes more tempting when fishing is slow, and tring to work the column to find fish.

I have seen plenty of charters with only 4 or 5 ppl running 16 lines.

Glad to hear the officers were polite and nice, they are just doing their jobs. Everytime I have been stopped, checked, they have always been nice and respectful, but as have i. More than once, I have watched ppl get mouthy with them and to a point they have alway remained professional, till that line is crossed. Then those ppl got what they should have for disrespecting an officer.

I am glad they are there out and checking, they at least help keep the honest ppl honest. But that is all any rule or law does it seems.

I was stopped a couple of weeks ago. I was well N. of West Sister. I was the only one in the boat and was trolling with two lines out. I had 3 other poles in the rod holders in the middle of the boat and was working on tying new gear on a 4th. Which make 6 total. lol

I saw a small boat coming directly at my stern with one guy looking at me through Binoculars. As they got closer I saw the side of the boat with the DNR placard. They pulled up and said they were just checking licenses. So I showed them my license, then they asked about all the poles. I stated that just started and fishing and was trying to find a program to use. The officer said they saw me set up and had watched me for a while. lol

They wished me luck and I thanked them for being on the water and told them to be careful.

Luckily for me I guess is I know the law and try to abide by it or I would have had the pony up and take my punishment as well.

I also have run more than 2 rods when I'm the only one on my boat...not legal but how many charter guys pull rods when they have a full charter with only one more fish to catch

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dand

but how many charter guys pull rods when they have a full charter with only one more fish to catch

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Not trying to start argument but.
None, that I know of sence it is not illegal. All rods in play until last fish is in my possession in the cooler.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SPOONFEEDER

Not trying to start argument but.
None, that I know of sence it is not illegal. All rods in play until last fish is in my possession in the cooler.

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Right on SPOONFEEDER the law is the law and it is not Illegal to continue fishing even if you have your limit either Iced down or in the live well. You just can not keep any more fish of that species unless you can and do release(cull) a healthy one.

In the following provided link scroll down to the fishing section, click on rules. This is addressed in the very first question.

http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/stay-inf...sked-questions

Here is a copy and paste of the question and the answer!

Can I release a smaller fish to replace it with a bigger one to stay within my limit?

You can release smaller fish for bigger fish to stay within your limit. This is called “culling.” The released fish must be alive. If a person releases a dead fish to replace with a live fish of the same species to stay within their bag limit, both of the fish, live and dead, are counted and that person could then be charged with exceeding the daily bag limit for those fish. Also note that it is illegal to give any of your fish to anyone else to contribute to their limit.