I messed up BAD today

[D.D.E.]

I got tired of recounting fish so I got an old bail counter out of my spare parts bin, Myself an 2 friends fished until about 4 o'clock when it said we had 90 fish.
We got back to the dock and here came the game warden, My heart jumped a little but I said to myself I'm ok I was careful and got it right and didn't have to worry. Well guess what !!! we were 3 over. Got a ticket for 118.00 dollars.

MY question is how do the cooler counters work????? Have they ever let anyone down ????

OH!!!! we had 30 lbs's at the cleaners, that is of coarse, less the 3 my friend took with him.
West side of Kelleys I think about 27 ft.

[BClark0124]

That always worries me but we've always been right on so far when counted. How far up the west side were you? Out in the middle of the islands or more towards the south side

[D.D.E.]

That always worries me but we've always been right on so far when counted. How far up the west side were you? Out in the middle of the islands or more towards the south side

I would say lower west side.

[fishin2]

Witnessed first hand those cooler counters mess up too, drop 1 in and it counts 2. I have a hand clicker and 2 buckets. We put perch into 1 bucket while catching and 1 person counts em into cooler when we get a good mess. When counter says limit for all, we count again. Better safe than sorry..

[JBD's Regina Marie]

That's crazy... 3 0ver on a 90 limit! Why would he even count em. I have been checked in the east side 3 times. All 3 times they looked at the cooler and said looks good. Better use of tax payer dollars than counting out 90 fish.

[wakina]

That's crazy... 3 0ver on a 90 limit! Why would he even count em. I have been checked in the east side 3 times. All 3 times they looked at the cooler and said looks good. Better use of tax payer dollars than counting out 90 fish.

Sorry, I disagree! The ODNR officers were doing the job the tax payers and license buyers hired them to do. The limit is 30 yellow perch and not 31. Just as the original poster stated, "I messed up BAD today". I didn't hear the original poster complaining about the ODNR, but instead he stepped up and admitted they were wrong and wants to never repeat that expensive mistake again.

[JBD's Regina Marie]

Sorry, I disagree! The ODNR officers were doing the job the tax payers and license buyers hired them to do. The limit is 30 yellow perch and not 31. Just as the original poster stated, "I messed up BAD today". I didn't hear the original poster complaining about the ODNR, but instead he stepped up and admitted they were wrong and wants to never repeat that expensive mistake again.

I appreciate that Wakina, and respect this and all your posts. I do believe Blatant violations should be dealt with aggressively much like a crazy driver putting others at risk on the road. But if people started getting speeding tickets for 3 mph over the limit I'm sure there would be an uprising.

[Capt Eric]

On our trips, we have several 5 gal buckets, with a few inches of water.... customers toss perch into the buckets as they catch. As the buckets start to fill, either myself or the first mate count perch into the cooler - 10 at a time - and put those on the counter. As the cooler reaches our boat limit, we can tell the customers how many more we need, like 15 more, 12 more, etc.... until we hit the number. Then we're done! Anything else caught while we clean up gets tossed back. We've never been over.

Most of us will agree the DNR has a job to do and we respect that.....30 means 30 and 15" means 15" - BUT - don't be afraid to RESPECTFULLY defend yourself if you believe you are correct and he is wrong. If you are certain you have 90, and they count 91, ask to assist in another count. After having my walleye cooler checked a few years ago, the WO held one fish out and said it was 1/8" short. (My personal minimum for walleye is 15 1/4".) I asked to see it, and he showed me. I asked to see it on my measuring board. And he laid it in there. I pinched the tail for him because he clearly was not following their guidelines for measuring fish, and the fish was 15 1/8" on the money. I asked why it was 1/8" short on his stick, yet 1/8" over on mine??? Instead of measuring my fish board (which is what I expected next) he took his fish board and left, saying "Have a nice day." (4 years ago)

[pimplepounder]

Sorry, I disagree! The ODNR officers were doing the job the tax payers and license buyers hired them to do. The limit is 30 yellow perch and not 31. Just as the original poster stated, "I messed up BAD today". I didn't hear the original poster complaining about the ODNR, but instead he stepped up and admitted they were wrong and wants to never repeat that expensive mistake again.

I am with you Wakina,, If the law starts to bend, we soon learn to expect it to bend.. True this was a mistake and innocent enough, but the ODNR being tough keep us on our toes and we need to make sure 30 is not 31. I myself have lost count and had to recount time and time again. yes it is a pain but it is nice to get checked and be on the money. I think recounting preferably by another is the only way to go. That is a bummer on Carpn's story of 89 perch... Sometimes I think the ODNR plays tricks on purpose.

[Eyezcrazy]

I'm surprised he didn't give all three of you a ticket for being one over each....seeing how it's just a money thing! I mean, you were really putting a hurtin on them taking 3 extra perch! It was obviously an honest mistake, it's not like you had double limit or anything.

Then again I guess I'm still mad about having one walleye that was "1/4 inch" short a few years ago! And they had to measure it 4 or 5 times between 2 different people to come to the conclusion. It's hard to be perfect but we do our best I guess.