Unreal...the night I don't have a camera

[Trophymuskie]

Spoke to a CO I know today and asked about photographing a short muskie before releasing and his take was that if done quickly and you had a full licence it was not a problem. If you had a conservation licence he would take your camera as proof that you had a muskie in your possesion. It was his take that you couldn't target muskie with a conservation licence.

This is contrary to anything I had ever believed and I have been targeting muskies exclusivly since the conservation licence first came out. I once had the clerk in the MNR office tell me I couldn't fish muskies on a conservation licence ,I purchaced one anyway. As I have turned 65 I now have the full licence for FREE.

I intend to speak to two other CO's I know and ask for their take.

You need to check the MNR Q&A section it's in there in writing that it is OK to fish for muskies with a conservation license you just can't keep any. This means if they are in season you can take a quick picture and release any size muskie.

[CNs]

HEY!


Hockey is on. As of now Chicago 3 philly 2 now go watch the game

[horsehunter]

Richard

Where are are these Q&A, I don't see them in the 2010 book so I can point out to the CO whose comment stunned me.

Frank

[horsehunter]

Richard

Where are are these Q&A, I don't see them in the 2010 book so I can point out to the CO whose comment stunned me.

Frank

[Half-hitch]

Richard

Where are are these Q&A, I don't see them in the 2010 book so I can point out to the CO whose comment stunned me.

Frank

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Le ... index.html


The catch and possession limit for muskellunge is zero (0) if I have a Conservation Fishing Licence. Does this mean I can't fish for this species?
Not at all. A catch limit is the number of a species that you are allowed to catch and keep in one day. (A possession limit is the total number of a species that you are allowed to have in your possession on hand, in cold storage, in transit and so on.)



As long as you immediately live release any zero (0) limit fish you catch during the open season you may legally fish for them using a Conservation Fishing Licence.



This holds true for such species as muskellunge, Atlantic salmon and aurora trout. Immediate live release is the key.



However, those who fish for muskellunge with a Conservation Fishing Licence should understand and be prepared to deal with the fact that occasionally muskellunge are injured beyond being able to be successfully live released. What would you do with the fish if it could not swim away?



Or, what would you do as the angler if you caught the world record muskie (something that is quite possible in several Ontario waterbodies) on a Conservation Fishing Licence? It would have to be released.



For these reasons and others, most ardent muskellunge anglers purchase the Sport Fishing Licence. The added bonus is that their licence dollars can help improve future muskellunge fisheries.

[Dore]

Niceeeeeee..... good job on jacking Fisherguy33's topic

Bravo !

[Half-hitch]

TM: Who are the "Bad Guys"?? You come off by saying guy's attack the Muskie guy's?? I'm not on this site very often, so excuse me if I'm wrong.

Why are you beating on a guy who was "Pike" Fishing, and caught a OOS Bass?? Why ARE YOU?? Picking on Bass guys for fishing tourney's in open season?? You claim you know of guys "Pre-Fishing" OOS Bass to secure money in the up-coming tourney?? Then that's ILLEGAL!!!! But you post you know of this illegal action, but do nothing but cry about it on a public forum???????????????????????

You say "The Muskie" Comunity is picked on, TRY STEELHEADING!!!!!!!!!!!

I drove for 8 yrs to The Eastern Basin of Lady O for clean up's, log jam removeals, Stocking programs, even to the CRAA For help with the Hatchery, the CRAA Tourney, to raise funds for the future of the fisheries, that you claim you spent 200$ on for a bag of tackle... I COMMEND you on that to help out, and not only the fisheries, but a close personal friend BIG JIM, but take 200$ and see how far that gets ya in gas over 8 years from Ottawa to Toronto.

I love Muskie, I love Bass fishing, AND I LOVE MY STEELHEADING! Join a few other boards there Rich, you think that Muskie guys are the ONLY Conservation minded fishermen/women?????????

I'm also ALLERGIC Highley ALLERGIC to fish, don't stop me from a solid day out fishin Crappies, not does it stop me from fishing Whitefish on frozen or soft water...

I could post 1000 pics of the Conservation not only for the steelheading, but other types of fish not only I, but many others go through to see a better fishery for us, our young, and those generations to follow.

You are a Muskie guy, and that alone, If someone posts an OOS fish pic, tredd litely, there are men, women and children on this site that tend to learn from the posts. Not to read )(*&^%$#@! Bashing the person for trying to better the fishery by posting, it was incidental to catch the fish, but to educate those who might not know.

If you caught the fish on purpose, your a F**K! If it was an accident, and you were out with your daughter, or an In-Law who does not fish, the opp presents itself, take the pic, and take that to inform, or teach not only your fishing partner, but take the story and try to educate others on forums such as this.

I'd love to get into this in another way, but bashingt a guy who was NOT Fishing for bass, and just wants to share his story, for those who give him/her grief, pee pee off and go fishing.

My 2 pennies worth:

F.F

You should get some change back.

[Trisomy21]

Wow, pretty much the same thing happened with us last weekend, we took my friend's girlfriend out (she had never caught a fish before). So there we are fishing for pike and her with her pink fishing rod and line LOL. BANG! Reels in a 5.4lb largemouth, her first fish ever!

After that she proceeded to out fish both of us and convinced my friend to buy a new boat for bass opening hahaha!

[ganman]

Here's how I feel about these things. I'm sure I'll get flamed but this is me swimming upstream.

First why would catching a big bass OoS be worth posting about, weighing or a picture? The moose is the story, then the pike and walleye. The bass?.... Oh yea I caught a big OoS bass.

Bass that size are not uncommon to catch this time of the year. It didn't take skill and it didn't take luck. More like being in the wrong place at the wrong time and you could make an argument its an absence of knowledge. I am not interested in catching any OoS fish period and I rarely do. I think its more a mistake on my part when it happens. A few weeks ago while pike fishing on the St Lawrence I caught a big muskie OoS. Its the second OoS muskie in 40 years fishing the river. Once I knew what I had on I did just about everything to get the hook to pull free but failed. I had braided line and I would have broken my $100 rod before my line. Afterwards I only mentioned the muskie to others as an afterthought. Someone said wow that must have made your day and I said ....no it didn't.

[moonshine]

its one thing to catch a Musky incidentally but to target them when your license won't allow you keep an injured one is just wrong

[horsehunter]

What the Co was saying is taking the picture proves you had a musky in possession which you are not allowed on a conservation licence

[Muskie4L]

Boy do I have some questions for the CO that's coming to our club meeting on June 30th

If he reads this post he may not come

[Todd B.]

Here is the quote directly from the MNR regulations regarding zero limits.

If you catch a fish after reaching the daily catch and retain or possession limit for that species, the fish must be released immediately back to the water. If the limit is zero, anglers may practice catch and release only and any fish caught must be released immediately back into the water in a manner that does not harm the fish.

A photo of a fish is not "possession". With respect to keeping injured fish, given the size limits on the Rideau (44") and Ottawa (54"), my guess is that the majority of injured muskie would be illegal to keep in any case.

[moonshine]

you do have a valid point Todd but everywhere else minimum is 36"

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Boy do I have some questions for the CO that's coming to our club meeting on June 30th

If he reads this post he may not come

I hope you write all your questions down Ted so you don't forget them!!!