I take my wife and kid out ice fishing often. Will set the tip ups and when its cold will go out to clear the ice and check the shiner etc. The question is can I mess with “their” tip ups or just “my” two. I think I read in outdoor news of someone getting tagged for this. Want to keep it legal
Zoomer
I would think that’s fine. How would the warden know who’s is who’s anyway? Besides that, every parent that ever had a bobber in the water and then went to help his kid reel in a sunnie on their snoopy pole would also have to get a ticket, right? I think the wardens know who’s fishing multiple lines and who’s helping another family member get in the water, and have to believe most would use good judgement. 
The problem is more than one warden has been know to sit in hiding with a set of binocs, he watches you work more than 2 lines…busted!! They can be sneaky! And sometimes, real
!! During pheasant season we watched a warden(he thought he was hidden)in full camo hiding alone side a popular road for road hunting. We passed him as he sat motionless, the next pass my cousin rolled down the window and told him “shadowgrass” would be a better pattern for the terrain! 
We laughed our butts off! He still sat motionless. Of course now my rig is marked for the season!! 
BIRDDOG
Just an FYI, I was fishing in open water last spring with a group of 5…maybe more. We had one expert 4 year old with us…as far as 4 year olds go. Baits own hook and reels them in.
To CO’s came up and after checking the group…went over to th boy and ask to my amazement …and I quote, “which is your rod?” The boy pointed to his rod and all was good. I don’t know what would have happened if he would have said..I don’t know.
I don’t know if that’s standard practice. But if my kid couldn’t fish…I wouldn’t have a line out for them…to be on the safe side.
There is an email address at the DNR site for asking questions just like this. Might want to give it a try. 
I have always made the assumption that if the child is old enough to understand the baiting and drop of the line and then reeling in the fish, he could have his own rod. When my kids, and now grandchildren, are with me they share a rod with me.
Even checking lines can be a stickler. If you have four tip-ups out and it is just you and the wife, she had better determine which of the four are in her charge. Going out and lift/checking all four lines by one person will get you a ticket.
Seems pretty strange CO’s would target this. But I remember years ago when the kid was about 4 getting checked by one in Winona. He didn’t think the kid could handle a tipup and wanted to ticket me. Told him to show the guy what we do when the flag goes up. He grabbed the tipup and ran with it dragging the minnow out of the water. I tried not to be disrespectful but the CO still questioned it. I said fine write me up and we’ll see what the judge has to say. Only had one fish in possession. He just walked away. Considering that party fishing is allowed in the MN regulations, why should it be an issue?? 
Quote:
Just an FYI, I was fishing in open water last spring with a group of 5…maybe more. We had one expert 4 year old with us…as far as 4 year olds go. Baits own hook and reels them in.
To CO’s came up and after checking the group…went over to th boy and ask to my amazement …and I quote, “which is your rod?” The boy pointed to his rod and all was good. I don’t know what would have happened if he would have said..I don’t know.I don’t know if that’s standard practice. But if my kid couldn’t fish…I wouldn’t have a line out for them…to be on the safe side.
There is an email address at the DNR site for asking questions just like this. Might want to give it a try.
I remember that. I, too , was amazed byt it!
I was out with a friend and his young son one day, only boat on the lake. (small lake) Anyways, the CO comes motoring up, first trying to be stealthy, then hammering it, until he was 50 feet away. The lake was glass, and we seen him put in at the access, straight across 
Any ways, he says my buddy has been fishing with 2 lines, cause he had his sons mickey rod in his hands. He had been watching from the landing with binocs. We kind of really rolled our eyes and gave him the old “you gotta be kidding me” look. He didn’t like that and said, ” I can write you a ticket right now ” and my buddy snapped right back and said ” well hurry up, your scaring all the fish away ” I about fell out of the boat when he did this, but the CO then said to let the kid tend his own line and he will let it go. Must have been a slow day for him, as he put the boat in, when he knew we were the only boat on the water.
big g 
Rock….I think party fishing only goes toward the total number of fish the party can have in possession, not the number of rods that can be used in the party. No angler in Minn on the ice can tend to more than his two.
Oh Boy! I guess I’d better let my 10 y/o daughter tend my 15 y/o son’s tip ups. This along with some other stories I have heard, some even went to court, just make me shake my head. I like it when they think they are being sneaky. Had a c/o boat pull up next to us on Mille Lacs a few openers ago. Not to check us, but to hide next to us out of site from someone they were trying to sneak up on. I asked what they were catching them on, b/c what we were using wasn’t working. They did take off after the boat, we then moved right on in.
Tom: I know what you are saying. It just seems pretty lame that if several of you are sharing a shack and one goes out to check all the tipups that it is a major violation. Especially if doing it with kids. I guess I’ll admit that I’ve been a violator in this case.
I think they should look at changing the regs but until then I guess if I am in my house with someone else and one person goes out to check the tip ups and they want to write me a ticket then fine. After that happens then I will worry about it. To me 4 lines between two people (Minnesota) should be the law and it should not matter if someone else checks your tip-up as long as you are with-in the 100 yards of that tip up.
Also if I was out with a buddy with 4 tip ups we take turns on who gets the next flag not on who’s tip up is who’s. That would get me a ticket too. Does not seem right to me. Just my 2 cents.
When laws make no sense I use common sense. I never knew this was the law. I have never followed it and never will. When I am tip-up fishing with more than one person we take turns on flags. We dont hog rods. And kids get preferential treatment. Especially if the action is slow. What a freakin joke!!!!! Catch me if you can………
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