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Heard any Scuttlebutt?

rsimms

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Chattanooga, TN
Anybody (in Tennessee) heard any scuttlebutt on this?

I hate news releases like this. It's just a big tease. HOPEFULLY, we'll hear some follow-up SOMEDAY to learn who it is, where he's from and if he's charged. Or MAYBE has heard something under the radar?

Tennessee Man Suspected of Illegal Walleye Fishing in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wildlife officials in Ohio and Tennessee combined in early June to apprehend a suspected poacher who reportedly took an over limit of walleye on Lake Erie, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The investigation is ongoing with multiple state agencies involved in the case; charges have yet to be filed.

Division of Wildlife officers, assigned to the Lake Erie Unit, investigated an anonymous report to the Turn In a Poacher hotline about two men, from Tennessee and Florida, who allegedly caught and kept more than their daily limit of walleye for several days during their stay in Ohio. The daily bag limit on Ohio's portion of Lake Erie is six walleye with a 15-inch limit.

After witnessing the men engage in suspected over the limit activity, Ohio officers planned to contact the men on June 10, but determined that the man from Tennessee had left for home earlier in the day. With knowledge of the Tennessee man's identity, Tennessee officers met the man upon his arrival at his home. After interviewing the suspect and subsequent inspection of the fish, they reportedly seized 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets.

On behalf of Ohio wildlife investigators, the Tennessee officers seized chunks of frozen walleye which were not kept in a manner that the fillets could be easily identified and counted. The fish will remain frozen and maintained as evidence in the case.

Ohio law requires a fish to be kept in a manner than it can be easily identified and counted unless it is being prepared for immediate consumption. Otherwise, the fish is required to be accompanied by a receipt from a fish processor listing the name of the person, the number and species of fish, as well as the date the fish were caught.

Tips from the general public are valuable for stopping wildlife crime. Call or text 1-800-POACHER (1-800-762-2437) if you witness suspicious activity involving Ohio's wildlife resources. All information can remain anonymous. A reward is available in some circumstances. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The mission of the Division of Wildlife is to conserve and improve fish and wildlife resources and their habitats for sustainable use and appreciation by all. Visit wildohio.gov to find out more.

ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.gov.

-30-
 
Poaching aside;

Ohio law requires a fish to be kept in a manner than it can be easily identified and counted unless it is being prepared for immediate consumption. Otherwise, the fish is required to be accompanied by a receipt from a fish processor listing the name of the person, the number and species of fish, as well as the date the fish were caught.
So let me get this straight, you can't filet your own fish and freeze it in portions that you need for consumption? I don't know about you guys, but I don't eat more than a filet of a large fish in one sitting, so I package my fish so each package is one serving. I get being able to check harvests in the field, but once you are home there should be no problem doing what you want with it.
 
Agreed, Omega. Florida does a good job of this. Fish must remain whole while on the water. The one exception is for consumption immediately while fishing. Once you reach land and break down your catch, you can cut and package it any way you please.

I don't freeze fish so not an issue for me but, if I did, I would inadvertently follow the Ohio law. Scale, gut and remove head but leave the rest of the fish intact where ever possible. Leaving skin on and the fish whole helps with having your fish turn to mush like it does when it's frozen.
 
Pilchard":tw4h548a said:
Agreed, Omega. Florida does a good job of this. Fish must remain whole while on the water. The one exception is for consumption immediately while fishing. Once you reach land and break down your catch, you can cut and package it any way you please.

I don't freeze fish so not an issue for me but, if I did, I would inadvertently follow the Ohio law. Scale, gut and remove head but leave the rest of the fish intact where ever possible. Leaving skin on and the fish whole helps with having your fish turn to mush like it does when it's frozen.
I normally freeze, just due to the fact that I will keep a mess of crappie, hybrids or even a few 10# cats and can't eat them all at once. I vacuum seal them and they hold quite good done that way.
 
Omega":ixk8grdz said:
Poaching aside;

Ohio law requires a fish to be kept in a manner than it can be easily identified and counted unless it is being prepared for immediate consumption. Otherwise, the fish is required to be accompanied by a receipt from a fish processor listing the name of the person, the number and species of fish, as well as the date the fish were caught.
So let me get this straight, you can't filet your own fish and freeze it in portions that you need for consumption? I don't know about you guys, but I don't eat more than a filet of a large fish in one sitting, so I package my fish so each package is one serving. I get being able to check harvests in the field, but once you are home there should be no problem doing what you want with it.

I don't think this is usually an issue in-state. But when you start traveling out-of-state, better check those regulations closely. Obviously this only became an issue because these guys got reported as taking over the limit. LEO's had no choice but to follow up.

But when I travel to South Dakota duck hunting, I learned long ago that duck (or pheasants) must have one wing remain attached to the body when dressed. And if frozen you can only pack two birds per package. That's because if you pack size and they all get frozen in one big lump, it's impossible for LEO's to examine, identify and count.

South Dakota game wardens and Feds routinely run road blocks out there checking such things.

Again moral of the story is that anytime you travel out-of-state you better read the regs in detail.
 
So how many days were they fishing? Just not enough info in that story, apparently the rangers didn't catch them on site (otherwise TWRA would not be needed), there is no possession limit, and though it states there were 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets, it doesn't state how many fish total, ie it can be one or two filets per bag, so if they were there for a week, they could have kept 30 fish each. If the other fisherman let the TN fisherman have some of his catch, he could be well within the legal limit. I don't know about you but what I am wondering is what bait they used to catch that many in the first place.
 
Omega":3lx60305 said:
So how many days were they fishing? Just not enough info in that story, apparently the rangers didn't catch them on site (otherwise TWRA would not be needed), there is no possession limit, and though it states there were 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets, it doesn't state how many fish total, ie it can be one or two filets per bag, so if they were there for a week, they could have kept 30 fish each. If the other fisherman let the TN fisherman have some of his catch, he could be well within the legal limit. I don't know about you but what I am wondering is what bait they used to catch that many in the first place.

Hence my initial statement, "I hate news releases like this."

Sometimes LEO (agencies) like to just figuratively beat their chests to try and scare folks into following the law. This MIGHT result in some real charges, but it may also just be "chest beating."

We'll see?????
 
I remember seeing a post on Facebook about it a little while back. The post has since been taken down because of all the bashing and flaming. The biggest problem was the over the limit, but there was something about how the fish were filleted as well.
 
I remember seeing the article and accompanied photo. At first glance it was 2 TWRA guys beside a truck tailgate with freezer bags full of white looking stuff. My immediate thought was, they had stumbled onto a cocaine mule and busted them. Then the article was about walleye fillets.

Heck, if they want to get a lot of people for having over the limit and such...just send more to help in Tellico and Citico on the trout streams. I reckon there's only one officer for the entire Monroe county and he can't be every where at once. People know that and take advantage of it. There's no cell service in the mountains so you can't report anybody in real time. I've seen people up there this year with well over 30 trout in their cooler and lots of fishing on Thur and Fri in the closed sections of the river. If you give them the benefit of the doubt of not knowing the limit is 7 and try to nicely tell them, they immediately get hostile and in not so nice words, tell you to buzz off and mind your business. In other words they are well aware of what they are doing.
 
Omega":16k7kqmm said:
So how many days were they fishing? Just not enough info in that story, apparently the rangers didn't catch them on site (otherwise TWRA would not be needed), there is no possession limit, and though it states there were 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets, it doesn't state how many fish total, ie it can be one or two filets per bag, so if they were there for a week, they could have kept 30 fish each. If the other fisherman let the TN fisherman have some of his catch, he could be well within the legal limit. I don't know about you but what I am wondering is what bait they used to catch that many in the first place.

I know nothing about Lake Erie, but I can show you a lake in Canada that is no problem to catch 100 or more walleye a day and I don't know how to fish for walleye, I don't troll or use live bait.

I catch them while fishing for smallmouth bass there.
 
Headhunter":1qjdaq2t said:
Omega":1qjdaq2t said:
So how many days were they fishing? Just not enough info in that story, apparently the rangers didn't catch them on site (otherwise TWRA would not be needed), there is no possession limit, and though it states there were 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets, it doesn't state how many fish total, ie it can be one or two filets per bag, so if they were there for a week, they could have kept 30 fish each. If the other fisherman let the TN fisherman have some of his catch, he could be well within the legal limit. I don't know about you but what I am wondering is what bait they used to catch that many in the first place.

I know nothing about Lake Erie, but I can show you a lake in Canada that is no problem to catch 100 or more walleye a day and I don't know how to fish for walleye, I don't troll or use live bait.

I catch them while fishing for smallmouth bass there.
Nice, I'd like to fish there. I don't think I have ever caught that many of any species, and that's even when we fished in the ocean and black bass and pin fish were constantly biting unless you count the net catch of bait fish.
 
Omega":1h5w416t said:
Headhunter":1h5w416t said:
Omega":1h5w416t said:
So how many days were they fishing? Just not enough info in that story, apparently the rangers didn't catch them on site (otherwise TWRA would not be needed), there is no possession limit, and though it states there were 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets, it doesn't state how many fish total, ie it can be one or two filets per bag, so if they were there for a week, they could have kept 30 fish each. If the other fisherman let the TN fisherman have some of his catch, he could be well within the legal limit. I don't know about you but what I am wondering is what bait they used to catch that many in the first place.

I know nothing about Lake Erie, but I can show you a lake in Canada that is no problem to catch 100 or more walleye a day and I don't know how to fish for walleye, I don't troll or use live bait.

I catch them while fishing for smallmouth bass there.
Nice, I'd like to fish there. I don't think I have ever caught that many of any species, and that's even when we fished in the ocean and black bass and pin fish were constantly biting unless you count the net catch of bait fish.

The smallmouth bass fishing can be even better.
 

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