opinions...........on ,, OOS fish

Post by **Trophymuskie** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:32 am

Joco you missed a word here.

OOS fish are illegal TO target. That is a big difference.

Post by **joco** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:08 am

Post by **Lookinforlunkers** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:50 am

A person would have to be crazy not to snap a quick picture of a 53" inch fish on the Ottawa. If you are prepared a picture shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds. As far as out of season fish go, so long as you are not targeting a oos speices, we can't help what bites our hooks.

Post by **Ciscoekid** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:09 am

Everyone keeps saying 54 " is the minimum size for a Musky, that would be a real monster. I thought the minimum legal size was 44" on the Ottawa. Some bodies of waters can hold bass and lakers on the same spot . In the spring of course the bass are not open. We were after Lakers in 2003 but we were catching bass aswell. We released the bass right away. We tried other spots but it seemed that BOTH BASS AND LAKERS were drawn to the warmer water. We were either cathing nothing or both. We asked someone from the ministry and they told us we could catch oos bass as long as we were not targeting them and releasing them. I asked if we catch them do we have to move spots and he said we did'nt. What is the rule here. CISCOEKID.

Post by **Lookinforlunkers** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:37 am

Ciscoekid 54" is indeed the legal limit for Muskies on the Ottawa, We (muskies Canada) are also trying to get it to 54" on the Larry. Like the Ministry person said you are doing nothing wrong by accidently catching bass while fishing Lakers as long as you aren't keeping them. If deeply hook a fish and kill thats a grey area in the regs and is at the discression of the game warden to dicide if you will be charged, same goes for killing a undersized in season fish. I was told by a game warden the best thing you can do is report it as not to look guilty of anything.

Post by **Bobber** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:52 pm

Hey folks,

This topic comes up every year and I want to thank you for keeping it civil and respectful. While many of us may have already visited it, there are most likely new members who have not be privy to some of the discussions. It's a good way for us to all be educated about the subject so that we can all make our own decisions based on that education. The position of Fish-Hawk.Net has been stated here.

To summarize....
Fish-Hawk.Net does not condone the intentional targeting of OOS fish. This is illegal. Catching OOS fish negatively impacts the overall fish species. We feel that those who intentionally target OOS fish should suffer the harshest penalties there are.

Fish-Hawk.Net acknowledges that anglers who target in-season species will incidentally catch OOS species. Fish do not always cooperate with our best intentions. We feel it is important for anglers to educate themselves so they can avoid situations where there is potential for catches of OOS fish. Further, anglers should remove themselves from situations immediately after recognizing the potential.

Fish-Hawk.Net does not condone picture taking of OOS fish. We see no value in posting pictures of OOS fish either in the Fish-Hawk.Net picture galleries or in Hawk Talk.

We feel that if you do happen to catch an OOS fish, even if it is a fish of a lifetime, you should immediately return that fish from whence it came, taking every precaution possible to release the fish quickly without removing it from the water. If an angler encounters a situation where they are catching OOS fish, changing locations is an absolute must in the interest of protecting spawning fish and their spawn. Where is the sport in accidentally catching a fish you were not targeting anyway?

Thanks again folks.
Bobber out!