Originally Posted by
Schobs
buckhunter14, are you fishing commercially? Not to be that guy, but I checked the MI fishing "guide" and it says possession limit on sunfishes, including bluegill and crappie, is 25, which means 25 in the freezer and no more fishing 'til you eat em. It's one thing to have some fish over the limit, but it sounds like you've got at least 16 limits in your freezer, and unless I'm mistaken that's 15 too many, and it wouldn't exactly be a smart idea to be bragging about it on the internet, because a game warden only needs probably cause to check your house, and a post like this could be cause enough. I hope I'm wrong, and please feel free to correct me if that's the case; I'm thick skinned.
Actually, the actual limit is 25 and the possesion limit is 50. I have fish in the freezer, but I also have an unreal number of people that I supply. The 30+ landowners that I hunt/fish there property get Bluegill fillets. Some get smoked Steelhead. Others like me to rake their yards or mow the lawn. I'm the guy that everyone else is jealous of because I have so many properties to hunt/fish. Not to mention family anf friends that love Bluegill. Also, I'm a college kid, I eat fish all the time. Saves a lot on the bills.
I have actually had some problems with this law. Due to the fact that I like to have large parties "fish fry" with family and friends, and I do not fish for Bluegill after ice-out, the DNR is telling me I cannot stock my freezer for the summer when I do not fish for Bluegill to let them spawn and reproduce? I could go up on their beds and tear them off easier than ever, but I would much rather fish them in the winter; they taste better and fight better plus they are sure to reproduce.
I clean alot of fish a year, and I am by no mean perfect. I know the laws and I try to abide by them. If the DNR don't have better things to do than check a fisherman for possesion limit and a few over, heck MI needs the money in fines so it wouldn't surprise me. But that is a different topic. I think there are much better things for them to do with their time. I bet rght now I don't even have over the possesion limit in my freezer. All them fish wouldn't fit
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