Immediate Release

[Doug]

That email is from 2006. I'd caution turning a blind eye to that regulation evolving into something more seriously enforced over the last decade.

My gut tells me it's a charge they'd use if they were wanting you for other reasons. I've never met an unreasonable CO in my life.

Well....................I have certainly met an unreasonable CO, more than once, and I am an older, law-abiding citizen with great respect for law enforcement. These were not pleasant experiences. As others have said here, one must endeavour to be squeaky clean in all one does, or POTENTIALLY face an unreasonable, by-the-book interpretation of a law.

[Oneeleven]

Fish with a buddy. And always have the camera ready.
A good fishing partner stops everything he/she is doing and starts taking pics. Right from landing to live release.
Is it illegal to throw a quick pose in while releasing?not in my book.

Yup. X3

It's a darn good thing all my photos are from my or my fishing partners Gopro too.

Basically comes down to this, letter of the law its illegal to take a picture of an oos fish, might not say it in regs directly but if you have experience reading regulation its clear. Now why they dont add one sentence saying this includes taking a picture is pretty stupid, but its not the first or last govt reg that isnt written as well as it could be.
Are you going to get a ticket from a CO for snapping a quick pic, probably not. Personally I dont take pics of oos fish but thats me, if someone is with me and they take a pic while iam unhooking it or releasing it then Iam ok with that. For myself when Iam tracking my own PB fish I dont include oos fish in my "record book" so I dont need or even want a picture of these fish.

I would gather that most people don't have experience reading the regs. And nor is it actually very clear JZ. If it were, this issue wouldn't come up over and over again, on this and many other fishing communities.

I would also gather that year after year, that they have in fact *not* added the sentence regarding photos to purposely leave that grey area. Otherwise, I am quite sure it would be in there. Clear as glass.


OOS or not, if I catch a PB. It's still a PB. Because it still is 'personally' my best. Even tho it was accidental.

You can get into all sorts of semantics for that, IE: you were targeting bass and ended up with an in season muskie. You didn't mean to catch that fish, but it was an accident, just like an OOS fish. But most of y'all would still consider that muskie a PB if it was for you.

[smitty55]

I would gather that most people don't have experience reading the regs.

Don't agree with that statement at all Tia. Unless I took it wrong, you seem to be inferring that most folks don't bother to even check out the regs. I'd like to think that every fisherman and hunter reads the regs, so that is experience. Now comprehension is a different matter, specially with a grey issue such as this.

Cheers

[Oneeleven]

I would gather that most people don't have experience reading the regs.

Don't agree with that statement at all Tia. Unless I took it wrong, you seem to be inferring that most folks don't bother to even check out the regs. I'd like to think that every fisherman and hunter reads the regs, so that is experience. Now comprehension is a different matter, specially with a grey issue such as this.

Cheers

Yep. You're taking it wrong. My response is to the following statement:

"might not say it in regs directly but if you have experience reading regulation its clear"


Quite obviously all of us have read the regs or we would not be here in the first place. This is all about grey areas and interpretation.

[CyrusG]

I don't see much of a problem with taking a quick pic of a fish that's out of the slot size, but if the season is closed completely i wouldn't want to hurt the fish anymore by keeping it out of the water longer than it should. If i'm with a buddy and he wants a quick pic, i'm not the one to say no but if it was me i would unhook it in the water and wouldn't even think of taking a pic. Its easy to catch a 5+ pound spawning bass, but catching them in season is something else.