Replacing caught fish with another / limits

04/18/16 post update - Thank you Firetiger for the correction. I was wrong in saying - "I am 95% sure the rule is once you "possess" the fish it count's towards your limit and that's that... You can't then later, even a few minutes, toss it back and replace it with a newly caught fish, even if you are not at a full limit." I put the "95% sure" and "I don't have the regs in front of me" in the original post precisely because I didn't have the regulations handy and didn't want to say something for certain that I hadn't checked. This is a great example of 'check before you post.' I apologize to anyone who read the post before the correction and now thinks you can't "cull" fish in a limit.

Checked with ODW. It's been the rule / law for a long time. Don't know where the idea came from in my head, but I got it wrong. Maybe I got it mixed up with another rule. Anyway, yes you can release a possessed fish as long as it is alive and replace it with a newly caught fish. So if you already have a limit and catch "the big one" you can keep it and release one of your previously caught fish as long as it is alive. You don't have to be at your limit, you can do this at any point provided the released fish is alive.

However, as mentioned in the original post and commented on by pimplepounder, "fish involved in this process and later released have a high mortality rate... The fish may seem fine and swim away with a few quick tail thrusts, but the many stress effects of being caught and then kept out of the natural water environment take a hidden toll that often doesn't show up until later. So think twice before doing this, most likely you are releasing a fish that will not survive."

Just because a fish is "alive" doesn't mean it's good sportsmanship to release it in order to keep a freshly caught fish when it may be or is past the point of recovery if released. Each of us has to make that decision according to the situation, no matter where we are fishing.

right from the ODNR FAQ


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.

When I decide to release a fish I do it immediately. I have released some decent size fish when I know better ones are in the area and biting but it happens as soon as it is unhooked, but that's just me.

I make up my mind when that fish comes out of the water.

It is not worth the risk of killing a fish just to hope the next ones will be larger. If you put fish in a live well or on a stringer this adds exponential stress on the fish especially in warmer times of the year it is easy to tell this is hard on them. I would like to see the law say once the fish is in the live well or on the stringer, it is part of your limit regardless of weather you return it to the water or not.

Fishing and our fishery is something we need to treasure and be good stewards of. I have caught my limit many times yet only go home with two fish. The day on the water and the art of fishing is what is important. Having some fish to fry up afterwards is just a bonus.

Enjoy your time out there.

My 2 cents.

I already know if I'm going to keep a fish when I catch it. i'll release the fish as soon as its brought aboard. i'll never put a fish in the cooler to be released if I catch a bigger fish. if I want a big fish i'll release my last fish caught and not keep my last fish to have my limit but will keep releasing smaller fish until I catch the fish I want to keep. but i'll never release a fish that's been placed in the cooler.

I agree with that if the fish goes In a cooler it should stay in the cooler. If your boat is equipped with a working live well and the fish you plan to release is healthy than I see no reason that you could not cull if you wanted to.

Here is the FAQ page from the ODNR web page with their answers! Scroll down to the fishing section and click on rules. It addresses the culling of fish and it also addresses the keeping fish from multiple days of fishing for those who are staying multiple days in the area of the lake. It is legal to cull with one exception! It is up to each individual if they feel comfortable culling or not and it is legal to do so if they so chose to do so.

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

We cull walleye in the Maumee river all the time as long as your using a steel stringer that goes through the lower jaw and not a string through the gill. I got 4 this morning and culled a 17 inch for a 21 inch. Nice morning was done in 2 hours