Met a guy at Winnsborro yesterday that said he got a ticket for giving other people fish after he had his limit....

He did say he caught over 100 fish and an undercover witnessed this.

How can you get a ticket if you only have 25 in your posession??

When you catch a limit you are done. If you put them on stringer, in bucket , in basket.

Interesting rule. So if you have a limit, could you then practice catch and release? Or, don't exceed your limit and then cull? I just enjoy the thump!!!

Just asking... it's not often that fish stack up like this at least for me.

Yep, if you catch 25, quit fishing until you give some away, you are always under you limit. But at any time you have 26 fish, you are over. Can't catch fish until you ready to go, then cull fish until you get to your limit.


keith

When I want to keep fishing and I have a limit, I throw the last fish back and then I have 24. The next fish I catch I throw it back or cull a smaller one. If you have 25 and you catch another one, even tough you are going to release it, you're in possession of 26 at the time.

Possession is the key word here. If you bring a fish in the boat and don't immediately release it, you have taken possession of the fish. Giving the fish to someone else would constitute possession. You can't possess more than the legal limit. Nor can you possess an illegal fish,ie. wrong length. Put an over/under length fish in the live well, bucket, give to someone else and you took possession. Bringing the fish in the boat to unhook it and release it is not considered possession. Otherwise you could get ticketed for a short fish on the end of the line.

I'd do as Benny suggests, stop keeping at 24 if you want to continue fishing.

The Game Warden done his job, Hats off to him,

All the illegal fisherman are gonna start coming out since the fishing is going to get easy.

Everyone needs to put this number on speed dial and report everyone breaking the rules 1-800-792-4263

I understand the thump is addicting and how a person would want to continue fishing, especially if you're in the thick of them. However the trouble that comes with it, in my opinion, is not worth it. I'd rather get my limit, leave the fish biting, and come back another day to give it another try. I could do a lot of other things with $1,500, like get some electronics for my boat, than to give it to the State. Just my 2 cents.

hats of to the game warden there coming out now especially in the spring

I wonder how much the fine was?

If you honestly think about it, the game wardens know where the fish are being caught, and they WILL show up to check on it.

that doesnt make a bit of sense cause if that is the case every bass fisherman would get a ticket when he has a limit and catches a sixth fish but has it in his boat but checks all the fish to see if he can cull any fish and if this is the rule every bass fisherman should have had multiple tickets

He got fined $150 for 10 fish..

Guess it could have been more..

What about when 2 or 3 people go out in a boat and 1 person catches all the fish??

Nobody ever helps get the boat to its posession limit??

Bass fishermen fish as a team usually, possession limit is 10 fish, two people. Six in the live well is not a violation. If he's fishing alone, it's a violation if he put's the sixth fish in the live well. You may recall a famous bass fisherman was disqualified on a TV fishing show for doing that very thing. He forget how many he had in the live well and as soon as he dropped the sixth fish in, the chase boat called him on it and he was DQ'd.

Yes they definitely know where the fish are biting. I gave one of our local wardens some fish while we were fishing the same spot a few days ago. I feel like they have a job to do and I follow the rules. Knowing the rules and ignorance is no excuse will keep you ticket free.

Fish caught and immediately released are not considered to be in your possession, therefore you can fish after your limit is reached as long as you throw them all back

you dont have to quit fishing if you have reached your limit. simply keep fishing and release them back to the water. dont give them away either since it would count as your limit simple as that.

To me that rule doesn't make sense. That fish is counting towards the other guys limit so it really doesn't matter. Isn't a fish in your possession if it gets deep hooked and you have to get out pliers to get the jig out? Conflicting rule to me.

That's the way a GW explained to a friend. Probably depend on the circumstances and the GW on how strict they'd be.

Not true. The limit is for a days fishing period. If you caught a limit and give 5 away you still caught a limit. Catch and keep 5 more and you kept thirty that day. If warden sees this you are gonna get a ticket even tho you only have 25 in possession.

Its not an all day buffet. Make the guys around you catch their own

If you can't follow the rules take up a new hobby.

This is no different than the reason why the guy got fined in the first place. In both situations the limit was caught. This will get you fined as well.

catch your 24 and go home....isn't that enough?

I don't know, maybe he could've explained the rule and then let him off with a warning.

If the fellow was old enough to have a fishing license then he is old enough to already know the RULE. The game Warden was only doing his job and already some seem to be bitching about that.

How does it work if you have your child with you? Can you keep 50 or can you only catch 25 and your child is responsible for the other 25??

all of yall that are saying it doesnt make since if you give your fish away are blinded. that would be saying that you robbed a bank and gave the money away so therefore i should not be charged with the crime cause i dont have the money now. follow the rules and if you dont know the rules the book is free at any sporting goods store. happy fishing

2 years ago this month, I was fined on Lake Texoma for keeping too many stripe bass. We slaughtered the fish that day and I left my law stick at home. We caught some monster up to 15 lbs and it was one of the best trips I had on Texoma. There were 4 of us and we were allowed 8 overs and we had 12 overs (over 20 inches). The 8 overs were big fish 25 - 30+ inches. The other overs were 20.5 to 22. We threw a bunch of overs back. I felt bad about it because I thought we were legal. I blame no one but myself and I now have a law stick installed in my boat. The fine was $200 per fish ($125 fine and $75 replacement value of the fish). We kept a total under 40, but again you can only keep 2 over 20 inches per person. I have never had an issue since. For crappie or any fish, a 25 per person limit is nice! Enjoy it. Occasionally, when I am lucky enough to catch my limit early, you can change species and try you hand at bass or whatever. Ask the warden questions if you are not sure about something and enjoy fishing.

When I am lucky enough to really get into the Crappie I will only have 20 or so on the stringer and release everything after that. Keeps me out of trouble that way.

Does anyone really eat that many fillets? Especially when they go dang near every day and keep a limit.

Seems ridiculous to me,but they are probably giving them to Tom,Dicky and Hairy too

All of the info quoted below is taken directly from the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site:

Definitions:
1. Possession Limit: The maximum number of fish a person may possess before returning to their permanent residence. Possession limit is twice the daily bag on game and nongame fish, except as provided in this guide, and does not apply to fish in the possession of or stored by a person at their permanent residence.

2. Daily Bag: Quantity of a species of a wildlife resource, such as fish, that may be taken in one day

Rules and Regulations
3. Possession of Fish Taken from Public Water
•Any fish caught must be taken by legal means and methods.
•Fish caught and immediately released are not considered to be in your possession. Any fish not immediately released that are retained by using any type of holding device such as stringer, cooler, livewell, or bucket are considered in your possession and must adhere to established protected length and bag limits.
•While fishing, it is illegal to be in possession of more fish than the daily bag limit or fish that are within a protected length limit.
•In order to verify length and species, a fish caught may not have the head or tail removed and may not be filleted until an angler finally lands the catch on the mainland, a peninsula, or barrier island not including jetties or piers and does not transport the catch by boat. Broadbill swordfish, shark, and king mackerel may have the head or tail removed, but the carcass must remain intact and may not be filleted.
•Any fish taken from public water and landed by boat or person in Texas must adhere to the protected length limits and daily bag and possession limits established for those fish in Texas, regardless of the state or country in which they were caught.

•The bag limit for a guided fishing party is equal to the total number of persons in the boat licensed to fish or otherwise exempt from holding a license minus each fishing guide and fishing guide deckhand multiplied by the bag limit for each species harvested.

SO! All that being said...the way I read this as it applies...if you are fishing alone, you may catch AND retain 25 crappie and ONLY your first 25 LEGAL crappie. You may keep fishing but EVERY CRAPPIE AFTER 25 must IMMEDIATELY be returned to the water. (I can't find anything specific about culling and how it applies to this rule). ALSO...if you and your buddy are fishing together and you have caught 25 crappie but your buddy has only caught two...YOU may still keep fishing but must release EVERY crappie you catch thereafter because YOU have reached your DAILY BAG LIMIT...sorry about your buddy's luck (lol), UNLESS the two of you are on a GUIDED fishing trip,in which case you may keep fishing and may KEEP ANY LEGAL CRAPPIE until the BOATS daily bag is reached which would be 50 since guides are not allowed to keep fish toward a limit while working a guided trip. Hope this helps...but when in doubt...talk to a warden and they will be happy to help you clear any misunderstandings you have...

If it is immediately put into someone else's bucket,stringer, or cooler and they claim it, how can this be so??

What if you start giving away when you reach 20??

And by looking at definitions 1 and 2...

I should be able to catch 25 and go back to the truck and put them in the cooler and go back out again.. Is this right??

P.S. I carry a golden rule cause I dont trust those little plastic gadgets and I aint never caught enough to give away anyways!!!

Nope it ain't right. When you caught a daily limit of 25 your done for that day. That's why it is called a "daily" limit!

You can legally give your catch to someone else if you also fill out the game resource form and give it to that person with the fish. The form is available on the TP&W website. Those do not count towards the other persons daily limit because they were on YOUR daily limit. 25 a day is 25 a day period. Once you catch 25 legal fish all you can "legally" do the remainder of that day is catch and immediate release. If you want to cull better just keep 24 and as you add one throw another small one away so you be ready for the next larger fish. Its really a simple thing, 25 legal crappie a day period.

A big hand to the game warden! Thank all games wardens for a job well done!

Not part of the thread but I have a big amount of respect for my MOST Game Wardens. They do our state proud in a very dangerous profession.

But I have seen a couple of Game Wardens in my life that were just going out of there way to be rude and confrontational.

My advice to everyone is whenever you come across a good OR bad GW is to send their Commanding Officer a letter either complimenting them or giving them the reasons you are concerned.

If it were up to me we would ALL get checked everytime we went fishing. That way the outlaws and riff raff would be culled out them ownselves.

I have my phone on quick dial to "Operation Gamethief" and have used it. This very question came up last year for flounder and the ruling was after you catch your limit "Leave" and let others get a chance themselves. After you handle fish, put them in a basket or stringer they will most likely die anyway so culling is Not advised and in some cases NOT ALLOWED. Don't be so greedy. I have witnessed myself last crappie spawn a couple of guys that came every day and made a 2 person limit every day. I won't name ethnics but soem people do not care what a limit is as long as they bite they keep fishing and keep any size they catch. Trust me when I say I will call every day I see people keeping undersize fish or over limits. People like this are the reason why fishing is so hard now.

i completely agree call anytime you see something illegal

Im new to this fantastic forum and fairly new to crappie fishing and I have learned a lot on here, but not nearly enough. Thanks for all the knowledge passed along.
I havent posted before, but I just had to weigh in on this.

I am a police officer, veteran, fisherman, father, and husband (not neccessarily in that order). In every class/group of people (i.e cops, vets, fishermen, hunters, walmart employees, spouses, whatever) there are what I call the 1 percenters. 99% of the group are good people, and 1% are bad apples (arrogant, jerks, lawbreakers, poachers). 99% of us on here follow the rules. Its the 1%er's that ruin it for others.

Lets assume that what we know so far is true. This guy caught 100 fish, gave some away, and got a ticket.

He caught and possessed over 3 TIMES the daily bag limit! Maybe the game warden might have been an a-hole, and the fisherman might have been one too. There are GW bad apples too. But He deserved what he got, and prob should have gotten more. "Possession" is on page 29 of the TPWD outdoor annual.

Comparison Scenario...Would I write a ticket to someone who is going 26 mph in a 25mph school zone a ticket? Absolutely not! Doing a 100 mph in a 25mph zone?? you bet your a**!! I shouldn't have to explain the rules to someone on that. Its the INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBILTY to know the rules before enaging in an activity. I'm pretty sure that this wasnt the first time he did this. This was just the first time he got caught.

Unless a GW is being a complete jerk, I think most wouldnt write a ticket for having 26 fish on your way in. Posession is in a cooler, livewell, or basket. If one person had a 100 fish, I would EXPECT the game warden to give a ticket and hopefully a lot more. The GW's I have dealt with are very professional, and have a job to do. This GW did his and I appluad him for it!

I echo what "lakeman" and "snagalager" said. Reports fools like this.

Sorry for the long post, but I had to vent.
-Will

The individual learned a lesson. The fine could have been much higher. The Game Warden did cut him some slack.

Wish I had to worry about these sorts of things...can't catch many Crappie to save my life!

Tom

25 fish is the daily limit...when you're done, you're done. If you think you'd like to fish a while more, start releasing at 24 fish. If you keep 25 and continue to fish, then(other than being greedy) you may be in violation of this TPWD regulation if you gill-hook a fish:

Waste of fish - It is unlawful to leave edible fish or bait fish taken from the public waters of the state to die without the intent to retain the fish for consumption or bait.

From an ethical standpoint, conservation of the resource is the goal...make your choices with that in mind.

FM

That explains why they never check me.

Great 1st post Will. I agree with you 110%. Hit the nail on the head. I have the utmost respect for our LEO's and the job they do. Kudos to this GW.

I am not seeing it that way. I can catch as many fish as I wish to catch. I, meaning me, can only keep 25. The person with me can keep 25. It is impossible to enforce any other way. Me and my 3 buddies are fishing. Game warden comes up. We have 100 fish. We are legal. Nothing he can do or say. No tickets, no nothing. Do we have to prove I caught 25? No. Can he prove any different? No. This thread is only about how may you can keep in reality. If I catch 25, come to shore, find a little old lady that wants them I can give her the 25, they are now in her limit, her possession. She leaves I go catch 25 more. I only have 25 in my limit, I am legal. I can repeat if I want. Long as I am not selling them not much can be done. I have given away fish with a game warden standing right next to me. All he cared about was my liscense.

I hope everyone who fishes and keeps there limit everyday uses all that fish . I'm fairly good at fishing and keep what i use but over the years i have found i keep few and few less . I do give some to my dad so he can eat some fresh fish he can't stand up on the boat anymore his new knees are no better than his old ones . That being said i understand giving some fish away but there are plenty of people at the boat dock where i keep my boat at and they keep everything everyday . It tears me up inside to know that there freezers are full and still keep fish . What's the point ? I don't want to eat 9 month old frozen fish why do they ? Knowing they can catch more the next day . Anyway's that's my rant about keeping to much fish . If you throw out bags of fish every year to make room for the new ones you should be ashamed .

A fishing license allows you to catch as many as you want. The amount you keep is entirely different. Once you have 25 in your possession you cannot keep more in your possession. You can catch as many more as you desire, you yourself just cannot keep more than the limit. If the man from Winnsboro actually got a ticket as stated, it will not hold up. Which I am betting it did not occur as stated. To be fined he must have had more than 25 in his possession. Again, a daily limit only applies to what you keep, NOT what you catch.

It's not rocket science. Catch all you want. You cannot "retain" more than the daily limit. If you give fish away they go against your daily limit since you were the one who originally "retained" them from the lake.

It is always amusing how folks perceive different laws. This thread is no exception.

What I find funny is catch how many you want. Boy I wish that was true each time out. Yeah I threw back a few hundred, and kept these two fresh ones, yeah that's the ticket.

Thats kind of like..."well I smoked marijuana, but I didnt inhale" -Pres. Clinton....

Once you put the fish in a cooler, basket, livewell, or on a stringer you are KEEPING the fish, regardless if you give it away or not, and it goes against your daily bag limit.

This is a great thread. I'm surprised that this is misunderstood. Always been clear to me that if you keep a fish, its part of your limit regardless of what you do with it after you keep it. I think this kind of discussion is good.

Devil's advocate here for a second. Say I have my 25 limit and continue fishing. Instead of landing the fish myself and then giving them away, I instead hand my pole to some person after the fish has been hooked and let them land and handle the fish and keep it. Would I be in violation?

Don't know how this would/could be interpreted.

Just make sure you pass your fishing pole to someone with a valid fishing license, or it might be confiscated. Now that would really suck!

I confess, during the sandie run 2 years ago, i helped my friend getting his limit. i was a total noob back then.. i also wanted to share some wisdoms that i have learned from the good people here while assisting him to get his limit.

According to the law, it sounds like i have broken the law. And i would have no issue if i get a ticket and wouldn't complain about it because that's what the law is, which i didn't know about back then. Now that i know the law, do i feel bad about it? No, Do i feel mortally wrong? No. Will i do it again, most likely. The law is law, however, my action wasn't meant to take advantage of it. At the end, he has his limit, i have my limit and it was rare opportunity for us. we all happy. i don't castnet, i don't fish without license, i don't keep undersized fish. I don't trash the place. And most of the time, i get skunked. You can criticise me if you must, but you better swear to the lord you have never done that in your life. I have absolutely no problem a person helping his son/daugher/friend/etc to reach their limit as long as it's within the limit.

In my opinion, there's no one to blame for him getting the ticket. However, if i was the warden and the fisherman didn't know well about the law, i'll simply give him a warning and give the benefit of doubt. That's just me, the way i would have handled it.

I know each of you, when you go to work you do your job to the best of your ability. That is what these Wardens are doing, try to look at it in that light. I am not getting on a soap box just trying to show a different angle to look at it from. Also, these tickets that he writes generates funds for stocking/improvements to the lakes we all fish. We all need to do our share to keep teaching others about the right & wrongs of fishing.

if you catch and keep 25 fish you cannot go give those away and catch and keep 25 more. if you gave your daily limit to a little old lady and go back, each fish you keep is putting you over your daily limit. that is the point of this entire thread.

I think I finally got the posession and bag limit thing.....

Daily bag is 25. If I go to fork for 4 days I can still only have 50 in my cooler on my way home....

Am I correct??

Guess there will be a fish fry a couple of nights!!

guys, let's see the stringer of a limit first... then worry about the law...

i don't know about you guys. i don't think i am gonna have an opportunity to break the law anyway .. I've never caught any limit for crappie... most i have caught was about 15 or 16.. that was two years ago.. i wish i have the problem we are discussing here...

You are correct, 50 in possession.

Funny how sometimes the bag limit seems confusing to some for fish, but nobody seems to have a problem understanding you can't kill 15 doves, give those away and go back and kill 15 more, and give those away and go back and kill 15 more the same day. Same for ducks, quail, ect. Also, applies to fish.

I think Huckleberry nailed it. Try and catch what you can eat, throw the rest back if you're that fortunate (or good :-)

Rules are rules.

If 25 is not enough, go to Texoma. Bag limit is 37 a day BUT still 50 in possession.

I guess by the letter of the law, I have broken it several times, in a tournament, while trying to cull a bass, I have put the 6th bass in the other livewell while I am weighing 2 smaller bass to find which was the smallest. Then, when I determined the smallest, I tossed it overboard. Oops.
Now I just need to be able to catch a limit of slabs.

Never met one who wouldn't take the time to answer anything you asked. It didn't matter if we were on the water, at the ramp, or in Whataburger either.

i got a ticket for giving away a crappie that was LEGAL SIZE!! and the person had 4 crappie a hair under 10in also 10 slabs . GW came and ask me were my bucket and told him i was out to fish for fun and ask me where my fish and i told him i gave it to the old man next to me. he wrote me up a ticket and the other man a ticket. i ask the GW how did u know if i gave him a keeper or not? he told me he seen how big it was (60yards away). i measured the fish and it was 11inches. GW say he had me on video giving the fish away and it was short i ask to see the video he say no. smh... ticket was $265 the fish was only $60 and rest was in fee

That sounds about right!!!

Was kinda wondering about that myself. I know the elites on tv catch a limit and then proceed to cull, but never heard of them getting a ticket for it. Maybe the GW's just cut some slack there if it's clear that you intend to release a fish.

Nobody knows all the laws out there. I got a ticket in the mail for making a right turn at a red light. Camera "caught" me. I looked up the video and saw that I came to a complete stop, looked around, then made a safe right turn. I called some company in Ohio that keeps up with traffic citations (that's right your fines pay for outsourcing) and, after they reviewed the tape, they said I broke the law b/c you have to be stopped for a minimum of 5 seconds before making a right turn.

Can anybody tell me they you already knew you have to stop for 5 seconds before making a right turn? I looked it up online and found something about it, but it didn't even look like an official law (although my check book felt it was official).

I think there is a letter of the law, and there is a spirit of the law. In my case with the right turn, the spirit of the law is to stop and look so that you'll be safe. The "letter" of the law is wait five seconds so that the powers that be can fine you for more than a hundred bucks when you really didn't do anything wrong.

That's why I said the game warden should have given him a warning. He was obviously at least TRYING to follow the law, so explain it to him and give him a free pass. No need to cuss at me over my opinion. It's easy to accuse someone of "bitching" when you're sittin' there at your computer. Grow up or get out, sheesh.

i know the GW got there job todo but what if they harass you? i fish 7 days a week i always have my fishing license on me. he not racist but he do pick on us hand full of fisherman that fish every time he see us. most of the time he would check me and my car out for fish some time im not fishing at all. then leaves and wont check no one else that make me mad because why only check me while theres other people fishing with no license,snagging and keeping under size fish couple feet down from me. i know i cant tell him how to do his job but man ticks me off when hes just check me and not others.

Where the heck are you guys catching all these fish?! The only fish ever in my possession are the minnows I buy from the bait shop.

I agree with snagalager, throw them back and let someone else have the pleasure making the catch. After all that is one of the reasons we go experience the water.

Aint no fish in Cresson!!!!!