Michigan has a no cull law?

[kram1982]

There is a topic over on Bass Boat Central in the Michigan Club page about a DNR officer telling a tournament angler that was fishing a 1 on 1 event that because he had his limit of bass he could no longer target bass or he would be in violation of state law.  Anyone else heard of this before? I mainly fish team tournaments but this would effect BFL events as well if both anglers had their limits of 5 bass. A few posters at BBC wrote emails to the DNR and the response from the DNR was that it is illegal to have more than 5 bass in a boat per person.  Anyone have any information on this?

Keith

[stackenem]

That is the law but most DNR will overlook it for tx's. But they really could write you a ticket if they wanted to. Just remember to be very polite to them and it will go a long way in your favor.

[Genie]

That is not a "no-cull" law ... just a possession limit.

[Mini]

Some responses to inquiries to the DNR came back and are posted here:

http://www.bbcboards.net/michigan-bass-club/384211-dnr-issues-during-tournament-2.html

Interesting that the response came from the same person. I think she may be mislead......

I have asked CO's before and was told that possession is once you leave the lake/river you are fishing. While on the water you can release smaller fish in a tournament situation. But this was MANY years ago.

This could get interesting....

Dan? what are your thoughts?

[kram1982]

Thanks for posting the link Mini. I'm on my phone and just to much of a hassle to copy and paste links.

[motocross269]

That is not a "no-cull" law ... just a possession limit.

This is true...Basically what they are saying is you have to have no more than 4 fish in your live well to keep fishing....So at some point during the tournament you would have to decide to sit down or take a chance of not rounding out your limit...

You could cull with 4 fish in the livewell and keep fishing..but if you have 5 in your livewell you can't fish until you get rid of one...

Wow, that could make things interesting...

[bob o]

2 man tourny 5 fish limit no problems. one on one tourny might need a 4 fish limit if the MDNR tightend the thumb screws on this law.

[djkimmel]

There is the regulation that can be interpreted as a no cull regulation in Michigan if you have your limit of a fish such as 5 bass. I have been at several meetings this year where this has briefly discussed with higher up Michigan Conservation Officers this year.

There is no clear consensus that you will get a ticket for this, or that they intend to start enforcing it the way it is being described on this thread. Some COs do say they interpret the regulations as you can't fish for that species anymore if you have a limit of 5 in your livewell (possession) and some are saying maybe you can practice catch-and-release still. Some people have asked, 'what if you fish for a different species.'

I will always try to get the official answer from Lansing and try to ask that everyone in the same division uses the same interpretation. I can NEVER guarantee that will happen. I get variability too from different local MDNR persons. I do not have the sense they are going to, or want to head in the direction of anti-bass tournament Minnesota but I can't guarantee anything. I can just try to contact MDNR Law Enforcement leadership and discuss these kinds of topics with them to see what their official word is, and what we can do to make the best of it.

Pretty much every year someone contacts me early in the season about a friend of a friend being told by some MDNR CO while they are fishing a tournament that they will get a ticket if they keep bass fishing because they have their limit in their livewell. To anyone who wants me to try to find out what is going on, I NEED specific information to follow up on:
1. Name and contact information of the actual angler this was told to.
2. Date and time this happened, and the circumstances - tournament information, lake/river they were on.
3. What the name of the CO officer is who told the actual person this to.
4. What the CO said including where there any other issues/violations discussed - what caused, if anything, the initial contact.

I can check the thread later but not today. Was this incident by any chance mentioned as being in the Saginaw Bay/River area? That seems to be where I'm hearing this from the most though again I only hear about this issue popping up once or twice a year the past few seasons. It seems like a very low rate of incidence anyway.