What would you do

Here is somthing I would like to get your input on. I know a guy who knows a guy that has a friend who has inlaws up on Mille Lacs who feel that because the have spent their lives there they do not need to follow the slot limits.
He says they Keep about 25-30 a year out side the slot most in the 6-10 lbs. classes. They eat all these fish and don’t let them go to waste.
He don’t want to see them get caught and he tells them what they are doing is wrong but they feel they have it coming to them because they live there.
None of them do it when he is there becuse they know how he stands on this subject. When he states his views they agree but still do it.
Should I tell him to call T.I.P. or should he just do what he thinks is right, even if it may be wrong?
I will be glad to pass on any input that will help him with his problem.

Turn ’em in. They are breaking the law. No “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts”.

I have to agree with Blue on this one. I can’t stand this whole ‘entitlement’ attitude that people seem to have more and more. Turn them in!!!

Well..I guess i’ve lived on the mississippi now for 16 years….i think i’ll just start doing whatever I feel like…I’ve earned it…

Don’t think so….Roast him!!

Nobody is “entitled” to break laws established for everyone. Period. Since they’ve already received the talk from your buddy about what they’re doing being wrong it’s time to take it that next step.

Wouldn’t it be something if everyone felt that way!
Turn em in. Let the dnr decide if they deserve special privileges.
Slop, 16 years ain’t gonna cut it bub.

How am I ever going to hang a 10# Eye (replica, of course!) if they are eating all of them???
My solution: Give them a fair trial, then hang ’em!! If your are pressed for time, I recommend omitting the trial!

GUESS THEY DON’T KNOW THAT THESE ARE NOT THE BEST ONES TO EAT UNLESS THEY LIKE SOFT FISHEY FLAVOR.
T.I.P. SHOULD BE ANONYMOUS PLUS THE DNR SHOULD KNOW, THIS COULD BE A BIGGER PROBLEM THEN JUST THEM.
CALL!!!

MAKE THE CALL!

If they admit to keeping 25-30 out of the slot, you could probably guess that the figure is more like 75-90 per year. I’d certainly give the DNR a call.

Sucks to be in that position. What does a guy do when it is family or friends??? Sure, the easy answer is to “burn em at the stake”………….But that also means turning on your brother (is a fish more important than blood???), or destroying a life-long friendship over a stupid fish………There are alot of people who get behind the wheel of a vehicle after a couple of beers at a family function, who are borderline drunk…..probably not drunk, but “maybe” to the point of getting a dui…..did you ever turn your brother or friend in for drinking/driving? How about when “your best friend” in the boat, kept that one walleye on the river that was 14.9″….did you ever just say “good enough”……..The law is the law, you should have called TIP on him when you guys got to shore……..

Point is, saying burn them is alot easier when you don’t know the people. But when it is family or friends, it is a different ball game. We all have “friends” and family that do things we ain’t so proud of…….but we don’t execute them……

Besides, these people consume their catch right away. How are you going to catch them in the act??? How are you going to turn them into TIP when the evidence has already been eaten? The friend of the friend of the friend doesn’t do it when the friend of the friend is there……………

I had the same predicament a few years back with my uncle (75 year old guy) keeping his limit of sunnies every time he went fishing on the lake he lived on………..He probably had 200 sunnies in his freezer. Which, over the course of the week would get consumed by guest who would come to visit. The man eats fish with his family probably 3 or 4 times a week, which 20 or 30 sunnies would be needed to feed 6 people at the dinner table. Plus, when people went home, he always packed a bag of sunnies for them to take home with them. The fish were getting eaten on a very fast pace. No wanton waste. Just consistent harvesting which is fine and legal.

He got to the point, where one day, he claimed he cleaned 1500 sunfish one summer……

When you hear the numbers, it sounds horrifying……….However, to a degree it is borderline legal/illegal.

That is when we had a “chat”. I informed him that keeping 200 sunnies in the freezer is acceptable, if you have enough people with license to support that volume. I also informed him that cleaning 1500 sunfish equals to 100 days of fishing and eating 15 fish on those 100 days. Now, when I also showed him that he was only at his cabin for 90 to 110 days per year………….that he wasn’t in the parameters of the law, is when he could get in big trouble.

All this was a “good debate” about what is the difference if he catches them each day, or a bunch in one day, to feed the family and friends for a fish fry. What is the problem if he has those fish in the freezer if people are going to eat them.

The turning point was explaining the law to him and how his big mouth and peoples eyes on the water are going to get the game warden knocking on the door. And knocking on the door at the wrong time, will be putting his fishing career out of commission………

It is tough when you have “old timers” or “veterans” who just can’t comprehend selective harvest. They got to “get them now, or they won’t get them ever again”, or it is “my lake” mentality.

Like I said, the turning point was explaining the fact that if the fine is great enough, you can’t fish anymore……….What is the point of living on a great body of water if you can’t fish?

Very well put, Gary.
True it breaks the law but is it the same as pulling up and leaving with a boat full of 1500 perch? Probably not. It’s family…is it worth it to turn them in? I would say no. Hopefully you can make the point and get them to back off a bit on their “harvest”.

There are worse cases out there than that. I know a guy who teaches his kids they can catch or kill any amount of fish or game that they want as long as there isn’t a game warden around. He also teaches them if a warden approaches they aren’t allowed to talk to them. I just figure this guy will get his someday.

In most cases, even if you turn them in to TIP, the DNR won’t do anything unless they catch them in the act. If that happens, who’s to say the DNR is acting on your tip? Who’s to say it wasn’t some else who ratted? If you want to be nice about it, give them a heads up. Now if what was said is true, that they think they deserve those fish because they’ve lived there for so long, I have to disagree.
If I get caught breaking the fish and game laws, I feel I deserve to pay, even when I didn’t realize I broke the law.

This person has mixed feelings about this because of the family issue. He knows it is wrong and wants to do the right thing, but does not want to be held responsible for the outcome. Thats all fine, and very understandable. He doesn’t need to turn them in. All he has to do is identify those people by name to someone outside the family and that person can make the call.

In my mind, if he chooses to ignore this and allows it to continue, he is as guilty as the person putting the knife to the fish.

You say he and his family do it because they live there? Excuse me, but you don’t crap in your own nest. That kind of mentality has always astonished me. Someone that lucky to live right there instead should be taking measures to protect it, not rape it. He and his will be the first to yell whatever happened to the good old days. The human race, gotta love it.

Gary, I agree this is a tough situation.
30 years ago the DNR got a tip about some buddies of mine,
they watch them for 2 years then popped them.
They all got a five year vacation for it.
That was with old time DNR officers,
I shudder to think how todays young up-wardly mobile, politicly motivated officers might handle it.

Find like the oldest officer you can in that district and talk to him about fighting the attitude thru education efforts, without fingering the specific folks.
The attitude is probably common in that area.
Maybe they could run some newspaper adds, or
do talks about it at different functions.
Maybe an ad campaign at all the bait shops.

Better education may alieviate the abuses.
Plus it will emphisise that the subject is being scrutinized.

If their thoughts were carried through…I’m 48 and with Herb and my combined age of 122 years, I don’t feel we have to wait in lines at the dairy queen.

I was reading the thread about “burn em” and turn them in. My thought was exactly what Gary wrote (aren’t you happy we think alike Gary?)…but on the other hand, the law is the law. Change it if you don’t like it..you can even whine about it…but you better follow it.

Just start calling them poacher instead of their real name!

I guess I would talk to you buddy and tell him that he needs to sit down and let them know what can happen if they get busted for doing what they are doing. I would almost bet that they won’t be bragging about it too much more after that. If he still has a hard time sleeping at night, them maybe a phone call to T.I.P would help him. I guess If I where in his shoes, I am not sure what I would want to do. I guess I would be asking everyone like you are.

shane

I like Gary’s post, but I’ve got a little different take on the whole thing.

If you intentionally break the law, you should be willing to be held accountable for your actions. Family has nothing to do with it and “shame on you” for ever putting your family members in such a predicament! When a family feels obligated to cover for a law breaker’s own personal irresponsibility and inconsideration, the offender is to blame for the whole thing.

If this causes a rift in the family, the offender has not accepted their role in creating the whole mess.

Have a conversation and point out that it’s wrong to do this and wrong to put the family in this awkward position. Their actions WILL reflect back on relation, according to the suspicions of watchful eyes. If they feel it’s right to do that to the family, it’s equally right for the family to see them cited for it.

People miscount….. make mistakes……… and sweep things under the rug once in a while. Unintentional, “once every 10 years” kind of “oopsees” aren’t worth fussing over. But intentional law breaking…… family or no family, it’s wrong and it needs to be confronted.

Give them the chance to correct their ways……… but also state a consequence if deliberately ignored.

Isn’t this how we raise our children? At what age does accountability stop?

I wouldn’t rush to the phone for a TIP call, but I would be certain to confront the situation, cover as many angles as you can muster, and then insist they stop or else action will have to be taken. And of course, ask them if creating this situation is worth a few extra fish? Is the family relationship worth less than these fish? If the answer is no, then they need to stop doing it!

It’s not right to put a family or friend in this position and it shouldn’t be their responsibility to cover for it or squirm over it. It’s wrong. Period. But handle it lovingly. Sometimes, love is discipline…….. and all you parents know what I mean.