Holding Pens

[curls]

A limit means you can not exceed the total catch limit of a species in a specific fishing zone.

For example: I fish Zone 25 ( Ottawa River)

-I catch my limit of 5 Walleye and keep my limit of 5 to bring home.
-The same night I filet and eat 2 walleye, leaving 3 remaining in the freezer.
-The next day I go fishing again, my limit is now 2 Walleye.
-I keep my limit of 2 Walleye and bring them home to put in the freezer.
-I now have 5 Walleye in my freezer.
-I go out fishing the following day again, my limit is now A big fat" ZERO" as I still have my full limit in possession.
-I can't keep another fish of that species until I consume part or all of my limit in possession.
-If I leave those fish in my freezer for 6 months, my limit stays at ZERO no exceptions.

Hope this helps....

But technically if you have other people at home (even with no fishing license of their own) they can possess a limit. So I am pretty sure that if you give a limit to your wife or girlfriend or son ordaughter you can go back the next day and still be able to keep a limit. It is illegal to fish without a license but it is not illegal to possess fish without one.

I hadn't thought of that. Here is what the ministry says about giving fish away.


Can I give the fish I catch to someone who doesn’t have a fishing licence?

You can give away any legally-caught fish. The person receiving the fish:
◦does not need a licence
◦must not exceed possession limits for that species

So if there are 4 people in your home legally you can give your daily catch to your wife/husband or anyone else in the house. But it does not mean you can go out and catch 24 bass (6x4) and not give any away until the end of the day. You would have to catch your limit - drive home with your catch in a cooler. give it to someone in your house go back to the lake etc.

To play devil's advocate on the bolded piece of your reply...
Assuming your wife/kids are with you at the time, could you not kill (humanely of course) the first 6 fish limit onboard the boat, place in a cooler, and resume fishing? They're not actively fishing (nothing illegal), and you're not above your possession limit of 6 (as you gifted them to family who are present to claim such 'gift'.

[curls]

Actually I'll answer my own question based on the information on page-1 from CN:

Assuming catch limit = 6 and possession limit = 6, then yes you'd have to go home, and come back another day to get the 2nd 6 fish for the freezer.

Catch limit

The number of fish you can catch and keep in a day. It includes:
•fish you don’t release right away
•fish you eat
•fish you give away

Your daily catch limit counts towards your possession limit.