With different slots and number of fish than can be kept,.how does it work if you travel to several lakes on one trip?
e.g St Louis river with a 2 fish limit over 15″ and then to Mille Lacs for a protected slot and 4 fish limit. Could 6 fish be legally kept if in the slot or just 4?
How about the same trip with 2 fish from each lake that were legal and then to a lake where 6 fish could be kept?
Thanks,..several walleye anglers from the office and got to talking about “what ifs”
Think of it this way… every walleye caught in MN, counts toward your limit. On each body of water, each caught there, count specifically towards that bodies limit. So 2 on the river, 4 on Mille Lacs, then you are done. You caught the limit on each body, which took you to your daily state limit. Don’t quote me, but I believe that unless you are checked leaving the lake over the lakes limit, the DNR will look at a state limit. They will ask you where you were fishing, you best have that limit or less, but unless they seen you or are suspiscious, they really can’t tell very easily where you were fishing. When you filet fish, you have to leave the 1″ patch of skin on the filets. I always like to label the bag too, what, how many and when and where caught 
Could sure help when needed.
big G 
Big G > that is a great explanation.
A good shore lunch fish dinner will help eliminate the confusion too… 
keep in mind if you bring 2 fish from another lake to Mille Lacs the CO will count those as fish from ML. -Mark
Isnt there a daily bag limit and a possesion limit ? Couldnt I go to the river catch my daily bag limit then fillet them throw ’em on ice and head to another lake or back out on the river for another daily bag limit ?
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Isnt there a daily bag limit and a possesion limit ? Couldnt I go to the river catch my daily bag limit then fillet them throw ’em on ice and head to another lake or back out on the river for another daily bag limit ?
Jesse check out:
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/fishing/fishing2010.pdf
It says “Daily and possession limits are the same unless otherwise noted”.
Rootski
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Isnt there a daily bag limit and a possesion limit ? Couldnt I go to the river catch my daily bag limit then fillet them throw ’em on ice and head to another lake or back out on the river for another daily bag limit ?
Possession limit and daily bag limit ARE THE SAME for walleye in MN. Take it from me, I learned that with first hand experience. 
Some of you guys may remember a time when possession was TWICE the daily bag limit. I can’t tell you how many MN fisherman have debated this with me as they remembered it being that way.
Point is, read the regs book diligently EVERY year. Things change. Thankfully the CO that educated me was kind, generous and professional.
and that’s the difference between buying a MN or WI license on the Mississippi.
If you have a MN license 6 fish and that’s it.
If you have a WI license (and not from MN) you can have 12 walleye/sauger (if you’ve fished for two days).
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keep in mind if you bring 2 fish from another lake to Mille Lacs the CO will count those as fish from ML. -Mark
Are you saying, if a person has 4 filets (2 fish) in the back of his truck, frozen(Iced) that a CO will assume you caught those in Mille Lacs, no questions asked ? I can understand, you can’t take them in the boat, or have in your livewell. (livewells have to be drained) I know there is verbage such as “on your person” and “in your posession” but how can they tell if the fish in the cooler in your truck are from Mille Lacs, anymore than they can tell the ones in your fridge across the road ? I don’t doubt this could happen to someone, but has it ???
big G 
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keep in mind if you bring 2 fish from another lake to Mille Lacs the CO will count those as fish from ML. -Mark
Are you saying, if a person has 4 filets (2 fish) in the back of his truck, frozen(Iced) that a CO will assume you caught those in Mille Lacs, no questions asked ? I can understand, you can’t take them in the boat, or have in your livewell. (livewells have to be drained) I know there is verbage such as “on your person” and “in your posession” but how can they tell if the fish in the cooler in your truck are from Mille Lacs, anymore than they can tell the ones in your fridge across the road ? I don’t doubt this could happen to someone, but has it ???
big G
I guess the way I look at it is, “Would I want to take that gamble?” You have to remember, the CO’s only have the facts at hand. Regardless of what you tell them.
I think all of us (as the CO) would believe that your scenario above is a person who is breaking the law with an over limit. At least I would as I don’t lake jump very often if ever.
This topic has come up many times when talking about ice fishing LOW and Red. It has been explained that if you have fish from LOW (for example)that those fish need to be kept on shore before fishing on Red. So I would think the same would apply on open water no matter the 2 lakes in question.
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keep in mind if you bring 2 fish from another lake to Mille Lacs the CO will count those as fish from ML. -Mark
Are you saying, if a person has 4 filets (2 fish) in the back of his truck, frozen(Iced) that a CO will assume you caught those in Mille Lacs, no questions asked ? I can understand, you can’t take them in the boat, or have in your livewell. (livewells have to be drained) I know there is verbage such as “on your person” and “in your posession” but how can they tell if the fish in the cooler in your truck are from Mille Lacs, anymore than they can tell the ones in your fridge across the road ? I don’t doubt this could happen to someone, but has it ???
big G
It has something to do with possession limit, while being on that particular body of water. It doesn’t have to be caught directly while being on the body of water.
One thing that happens alot… for people who don’t fish Mille Lacs regularly, they go to a lake further north, fish, then “hit” Mille Lacs on the way home… my brother in laws do it all the time. I don’t know why a CO would not believe you, if you have fish that are cleaned and frozen, while you are actively fishing ???
big G
Possession limit alone, will not affect how many you can keep on Mille Lacs, the Mille Lacs specific limit will also. In other words, I can catch 4 fish on Mille Lacs on friday night, clean and freeze, then catch 2 more on saturday, clean and freeze. If my wife is at the cabin too,(licensed angler) now I can catch 4 per day, until I reach 12 in our possession. Make sense ???
big G
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Possession limit alone, will not affect how many you can keep on Mille Lacs, the Mille Lacs specific limit will also. In other words, I can catch 4 fish on Mille Lacs on friday night, clean and freeze, then catch 2 more on saturday, clean and freeze. If my wife is at the cabin too,(licensed angler) now I can catch 4 per day, until I reach 12 in our possession. Make sense ???
big G
BG, that makes perfect sense. I don’t think a CO would give you grief for fish in the freezer at the cabin or camper. However I wouldn’t want to take that chance with unfrozen fish in a cooler in your truck.
Who’s to say you didn’t come back to shore, clean the fish, put them on ice, then go back out?
Just another reason I keep just enough to eat that day and don’t worry about stocking the freezer.
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Possession limit alone, will not affect how many you can keep on Mille Lacs, the Mille Lacs specific limit will also. In other words, I can catch 4 fish on Mille Lacs on friday night, clean and freeze, then catch 2 more on saturday, clean and freeze. If my wife is at the cabin too,(licensed angler) now I can catch 4 per day, until I reach 12 in our possession. Make sense ???
big G
This seems like a grey area to me…..
If I am staying at a resort on Mille Lacs for the weekend, and I get checked by a CO and tell him that I only have the 2 walleyes in my livewell plus 4 more from the day before back at the cabin……. I thought that would be a ticket in the making????? I know the state limit is 6, but it sure seems that having 6 in possession while staying there would be asking for a ticket??? Or am I just being too cautious?
T
I’m not sure. Here is a DNR Mille Lacs Letter
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/fisheries/regs/20100707_MilleLacsReg.pdf
Looks to address BAG LIMIT
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However I wouldn’t want to take that chance with unfrozen fish in a cooler in your truck.
Who’s to say you didn’t come back to shore, clean the fish, put them on ice, then go back out?
Just another reason I keep just enough to eat that day and don’t worry about stocking the freezer.
That is one thing that really rubs me the wrong way. The whole attitude in general of “why take a chance at getting a ticket”….. If you are not breaking a law, you shouldn’t have to worry about getting pinched. Whatever happened to being innocent until proven guilty? It seems that everybody pretty much accepts the fact that the DNR will find you guilty and you’ll have to prove your innocence…… Seems awful wrong to me. I like keeping fish and I don’t like having to worry about staying below limits and slot sizes just because a CO will assume I am a violater. Hence my deep seated mistrust of our DNR.
T
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Possession limit alone, will not affect how many you can keep on Mille Lacs, the Mille Lacs specific limit will also. In other words, I can catch 4 fish on Mille Lacs on friday night, clean and freeze, then catch 2 more on saturday, clean and freeze. If my wife is at the cabin too,(licensed angler) now I can catch 4 per day, until I reach 12 in our possession. Make sense ???
big G
That is how it goes. Although I do believe you can’t catch fish for another angler, who is not there to physically fish. In your scenario, your wife didn’t do any fishing.
Possessing Fish From the Regs Books
1. Daily and possession limits are the same unless otherwise noted. Fish are in an angler’s possession
whether on hand, in cold storage, in transport, or
elsewhere.
2. Once a daily or possession limit of fish has been reached, no culling or live well sorting is allowed.
3. While on or fishing waters with size restrictions it is illegal to possess any fish outside legal length limits.
4. If legally taken from a connected water or having been packaged by a licensed fish packer, a person who is in transit and taking the most direct route back to their lodging or docking, and not fishing, may possess fish outside of or in excess of the limits for that water body.
Numbers 1 and 4 seem to contradict each other. I read #1 to say once you catch your 4 on Mille Lacs, you cannot have 6 fish in your possession at the Cabin on Mille Lacs. Possession Limit is the same as Daily Bag Limit. So Big G and his wife can only have 8 in possession as long as she fishes with him.
I guess I didn’t read that the cabin is connected to the boundaries of the body of water or on a resort associated on the boundaries of the body of the water or something. All too often I think it’s a place away from the body of the water. So I too will read that your 4 possesion still holds as for being on a cabin on Mille Lacs.
While actively fishing, I cannot catch her license limit, unless she is with. Once they turn from Bag Limit (active fishing limit) it doesn’t matter who caught them. I cannot catch 4 fish on friday, freeze and go back out until saturday… one the other hand, if she goes with, we can get 4 more. The license allows you to fish or not fish, but you can still legally have a possession limit of all species licensed for. Unless something has changed recently..
big G
G, if you are only fishing Mille Lacs, you can only posses 8 fish. (Assuming 2 licenses) Once you have 8 fish in the freezer you can’t fish Mille Lacs until you have a fish fry.
-J.
I can tell you guys it’s been a huge complaint of mine for years how Montana, Iowa, and NoDak write their big game laws/regs. Very confusing. Now MN and other states are making the fishing regs similar.
Who would have thought you need a PHD in literature to interpret/understand the fish and game laws.
1. Daily and possession limits are the same unless otherwise noted. Fish are in an angler’s possession
whether on hand, in cold storage, in transport, or
elsewhere.
It is noted “elsewhere” that possession limit for MN is 6 walleyes, per licensed angler. They are in your possession, whether in your livewell, truck, cabin, back home, whatever, they are in your possession. When in your freezer, they are “not” in your daily bag limit(unless caught that same day)…. it is written very confusing, but is crystal clear to me. I can legally have 10 walleyes in my freezer at home and can then catch 2 more anywhere in the state, that 2 are allowed. I can have zero in my freezer at home, 6 at the cabin in the fridge (across the road from Mille) and can catch 4 more on Mille Lacs, provided the others were caught at least a day prior and could get the other 6 if I take another licensed angler with. You just have to get past what a Daily LImit is, a Bag limit and a possession limit. They can all be the same and all different, depends on the water, depends on special regs and depends on how many licensed anglers you have in your household, once they hit the fridge/freezer.
big G
I guess I cannot comprehend the combined husband and wife license other than saving a few dollars. Since my wife doesn’t really fish, so I can never count on her to ever get her limit when I rarely get a limit myself.
Do we ever have any CO’s who frequent this site and can offer professional input? James, it might be a nice feature for this site. “ASK A CO” forum.
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G, if you are only fishing Mille Lacs, you can only posses 8 fish. (Assuming 2 licenses) Once you have 8 fish in the freezer you can’t fish Mille Lacs until you have a fish fry.
-J.
Where is this law written Jon ? Is it actually spelled out that Mille Lacs walleye possession limit is different than state limit ? I know the bag limit is different, but possession ? If I have 8 walleye in my freezer at home (St Cloud), I cannot fish Mille Lacs again, until I consume them ? Why would they have a law they cannot enforce ??? This is a good conversation as there seems to be alot left to the imagination of each individual.
big G
Bag and possession are the same. Mille Lacs is 4. Other lakes are 6. If you only fish Mille Lacs your limit is 4. (It don’t matter where the fish are kept.)
-J.
G, try calling one of the Mille Lacs CO’s. See if you get a different answer.
Scott Fitzgerald 320-684-2440 Malmo
Mike Lee 320-676-1847 Isle
Greg Verkuilen 320-692-5777 Garrison
Dan Perron 320-495-3961 Onamia
Luke Croat 320-927-6453 Wealthwood
-J.
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