This gets my blood pressure up (walleye related)

I don’t know if this link works, I saw this posting on fishing mn under upper Mississippi thread. This guy was there I believe yesterday fishing ” for shephead” with a jig and a ringworm, classic walleye spring lure. (see in picture) He posted pictures of bass and walleye he caught. The season is closed on the upper Mississippi for game fish. He clearly knew what he was doing. If guys want to fish for rough fish then use corn. Unbelievable.

http://fishingminnesota.com/forums/topic/132608-mississippi-river-north-fishing-reports/?page=23

I would agree that is Busch league. Yes thats a standard eye lure, but it will catch sheepheads too. And I have always wondered if any of these people ever get tickets from COs for “targeting a species out of season”

I haven’t been around a super long time, but I know a lot of people who claim they know a lot of people and I have never once heard of a ticket being issued for this.

Anyone?

I’ve fished North of the Coon Rapids dam quite a bit, and can’t remember ever catching sheepshead. I’m curious if anyone has?

Personally I use 1/8oz jig with 3″ paddle for spring crappies up this way on the river

Use corn lol.

I’d think a jig and minnow in a walleye spot would catch plenty of sheeps. Of course the fish don’t read the regs.

I’ll drag a ringworm through a school of catfish… Non typical presentation but you’d have a hard time calling me a catfish newb and I’ve certainly caught cats doing just that.

Take a breathe. Those fish are fine, and if not. We’ll stock more walleyes.
Pot stirred

Illegal…Plain and simple. If you don’t think it is ask a CO…RR

I’ll add one thing. Try going out to Mille Lacs and fishing for pout’ in a few weeks when we have open water. Use a leech or a minnow or even nightcrawler and see what happens. If it’s illegal there it’s illegal in that pool of the river. Lol to those that think it ain’t. This is basic stuff man…RR

No doubt, this could or should be viewed as unethical and contrary to the “spirit of the law”. That said, the courts say it is legal unless or until the angler reduces a fish to possession in a closed season.

“Intent” is too hard to prove in a case like this and the courts/CO’s won’t touch it. If ticketed, the angler has nothing to prove –it is all on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he was fishing for a closed season species.

I agree…it is wrong if the “intent” is wrong and in MOST cases–the “intent” is wrong. In court–another story–understandably.

CO’s have given’ out tix for less than this Steve. In their mind if they ‘judge’ the person to be fishing for a particular species that is outa’ season than he can give out a ticket. If that unethical person wants top challenge it in the courts so be it…RR

Those guys are almost COCKY about it. I noticed you were the only one to say anything about it BRAD. Good job of calling them on it. Maybe it will shame a few folks from doing it.

One time I went up to a CO , and I asked him about this very topic. It was a long time ago so its a little foggy..but He said something about “targeting” and if you catch X number of fish in a closed season with out either changing lure or moving spots.. that they could sting you for that regardless of possessing a fish or not.

But like you guys said already.. the number of issued tickets for doing this is probably incredibly low.

I have zero respect for people like that. Its just the overall principal. What happens if everyone had the same idea as him. Then there would be no point in having a season. The ironic part about is see the gentlemen lives in the St. Paul area, why doesn’t he fish pool 2? Instead he heads all the way to Monticello. to fish for sheephead

I always thought this was kind of a grey area. The ice just came off and a lot of us are going to drop the boat in and start throwing small jigs in the hopes of finding some Crappies. And of course, this is a great way to catch early out-of-season Bass. Are you fishing for Bass? Nope, but it would be hard to prove to anyone who saw you land a few of them. I once had a game warden tell me he was going to ticket me for Trout fishing without a Trout stamp, even though I wasn’t fishing a designated Trout lake. He said I was Trout fishing because I was using a fly rod! I was able to talk him out of it after I showed him a direct reference to fly fishing for Bass and Pan fish in the regulations. The guy was flat out wrong…ignorant, in fact….but I still would have had to deal with a ticket. Who do you think the Judge would side with?

Personally I think the thing to do is MOVE….If I’m catching Bass in April with little jigs, it’s time to try different water until I figure out where the Crappies are, if for no other reason than to avoid anything that could be construed as illegal.

Taking pictures of Walleyes and Bass taken out of season is pretty lame. The guy deserves the “slow head shake of disgust”.

SR

There’s those who see things black and white, and there’s those who like to dabble in the grey.

I’ve been fishing a shore spot for crappies this spring already and have been blessed with some sumo smallies that flat out hammer crappie jigs right now. The COs are aware of the smallies being present in the area and know they hit on the smaller baits. If you don’t keep them, there’s basically nothing they will do. Now if I were tossing a spinner bait and insisting that I was crappie fishing and suggested that the bass hit incidentally, I’m sure I’d be paying fines.

I can see where a ring worm and jig might be a decent sheep bait since I have caught many on just such a rig, but I also see how the rig is probably more of a walleye or bass rig. I think if people are fishing with tackle within reason of the fish they are targeting, things are fine., but this instance might not be so proper.

roosterrouster wrote:

CO’s have given’ out tix for less than this Steve. In their mind if they ‘judge’ the person to be fishing for a particular species that is outa’ season than he can give out a ticket. If that unethical person wants top challenge it in the courts so be it…RR

I agree it is wrong if the intent is not within the spirit of the laws. But I doubt there is any case law on the record that shows a conviction using a method that “could” catch multiple species of fish. It has gone to court many times over the years–been dismissed many times– and the judges virtually tell the CO’s to not bring these scenarios to the court room for obvious reasons.

Again, I agree it is NOT right! But you can not get charged for hunting deer out of season carrying a firearm capable of killing a deer–but has not done so–as long as you are stopped with a legal “hunting” license in hand.

I’m done here—right or wrong…just sayin’!

It is a gray area to talk about this topic in theory, but I would think to a CO the issue of whether or not the angler is intentionally catching a species that it out-of-season would be pretty clear.

– If the angler is observed to be catching multiple out-of-season fish while changing neither his location, fishing technique, or adjusting his bait/lure/method, then he is obviously NOT trying to target a different in-season fish.

In other words, he’s catching what he’s trying to catch and if he doesn’t try anything different, then he’s breaking the law.

– If the fish are truly interspersed, so for example crappie and bass, where it is virtually impossible to fish for one species while doing anything to avoid the occasional catching of the other, then to me it’s a legal activity that must be accepted. In these legit cases the harm to the out-of-season species is minimal anyway, if they are properly handled and released.

But this links back to my first point. If an angler is throwing spinnerbaits in the early season when northern pike can legally be caught, but bass cannot, and the angler is catching NOTHING but bass while making no adjustments to his method, lure, or location, then he’s fishing for bass illegally. If he’s actively changing locations, lures, etc, then IMO he he has a legit claim to be trying to effectively target the in-season species.

Grouse

Tom Sawvell wrote:

I think if people are fishing with tackle within reason of the fish they are targeting, things are fine.,

It’s truly amazing how many times we’ve all caught fish in non typical presentations.

But here’s an obvious cross over tactic…

Crappies have big mouthes, casting crank baits is a great tactic…. It’ll also catch every other species out of season that is also enjoying the shallow warmer water. So what

Your darn right you’ll catch crappies on any bait we fish with for eyes in the winter on p4… Ringworms.

IMO, as long as your good at practicing catch and release… I don’t care. No harm no foul.

You can challenge ethics all you want in regards to following the law, but if the root of your concern isn’t about the health of a c&r fish. Then what’s the problem?

Tom Sawvell wrote:

I’ve been fishing a shore spot for <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappies this spring already and have been blessed with some sumo smallies that flat out hammer crappie jigs right now. The COs are aware of the smallies being present in the area and know they hit on the smaller baits. If you don’t keep them, there’s basically nothing they will do. Now if I were tossing a spinner bait and insisting that I was <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie fishing and suggested that the bass hit incidentally, I’m sure I’d be paying fines.

I can see where a ring worm and jig might be a decent sheep bait since I have caught many on just such a rig, but I also see how the rig is probably more of a walleye or bass rig. I think if people are fishing with tackle within reason of the fish they are targeting, things are fine., but this instance might not be so proper.

You can defiantly tell what people like to tinker in the grey area. I understand if you catch a bass or two on a small minnow while your crappie fishing, stuff happens. But like you said I feel like this guy was using the equivalent throwing for crappies with a spinner bait to using a ringworm and jig for sheephead. Even if he truly were targeting sheephead which you know he wasn’t because you know all he wanted to do was come back and post pictures of how awesome of a fisherman he is by catching a couple of nice game fish. As stated before he knew exactly what he was doing but just couldn’t wait to catch game fish.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tom Sawvell wrote:</div>
I think if people are fishing with tackle within reason of the fish they are targeting, things are fine.,

It’s truly amazing how many times we’ve all caught fish in non typical presentations.

But here’s an obvious cross over tactic…

Crappies have big mouthes, casting crank baits is a great tactic…. It’ll also catch every other species out of season that is also enjoying the shallow warmer water. So what

Your darn right you’ll catch crappies on any bait we fish with for eyes in the winter on p4… Ringworms.

IMO, as long as your good at practicing catch and release… I don’t care. No harm no foul.

You can challenge ethics all you want in regards to following the law, but if the root of your concern isn’t about the health of a c&r fish. Then what’s the problem?

Good thing your not in charge of the DNR. What happens if every person had the same idea as this gentlemen did targeting sheepheard out of season with walleye tackle. Your telling me if you had consistently people throwing ringsworms catching walleyes while they are trying to spawn over and over and over again that it would have zero effect on them. THERE IS A REASON WHY WE HAVE REGS. Plain and simple.

I could be wrong which is quite often but I don’t think there is even sheepshead up in these parts of the sippi. I’ve fished that stretch forever with crawlers and other crap sheepies eat but never caught one. In regards to that area he’s fishing. There’s so many bass in that area and they are getting close to spawning up there(they spawn at a different time because of the plant). That they would probably hit a dogturd on a hook this time of year. still pretty bad to be throwing a ringworm out ther though. I have Been checked for license many times carp fishing with worms in that stretch in April and they watch you catch bass and say nothing when they see you release them.

I don’t know what everyone is getting all wound up about??? The pictures I seen in the attached link are from 10/23/15

Jesse Krook wrote:

I don’t know what everyone is getting all wound up about??? The pictures I seen in the attached link are from 10/23/15

the ones posted 13 hours ago. Last post.

bradl110 wrote:

What happens if every person had the same idea as this gentlemen did targeting sheepheard out of season with walleye tackle.

Your talking about the time of the year where almost no one is fishing

I guess I moved to a location where the season never ends so I don’t need to worry about these things anymore because I don’t really believe in not having a catch and release season, rather than a closed harvest season with the implication that catch and release is such a terrible thing only where waters are regulated by closed harvest.

… I’m out

Jesse Krook wrote:

I don’t know what everyone is getting all wound up about??? The pictures I seen in the attached link are from 10/23/15

Scroll down…….

I know from past posts like this one, someone out there in the on-line world will forward this link over to DNR enforcement. They will come knocking if they think they have a case.

-J.

This is an age old issue for muskie fishermen — guys go “pike” fishing in May with some regularity. Spirit of the law aside, I’ve never heard of an actual ticket for this. Unethical? Yes. Illegal? Tough one at best.

I’ve mentioned this before but my Father got ticketed at the Coon Rapids dam throwing small plastics for crappies, caught two smallies and got ticketed from a CO glassing him from afar. He’s still POed to this day.

But that’s the only time I’ve heard of a ticket, and that was about 20yrs ago so….

This is probably more of an ethical issue than a legal one since we cannot control what hits the bait, short of not putting a bait in the water. All of my tackle is crappie specific and I feel entire right in fishing even though a smallie might come chomping. I know I am not targeting smallies. While a 3″ bait might be a decent crappie bait, it also could be misconstrued as a bait for smallies or walleyes so why invite a headache by using a 3″ inch bait when a 1.5″ bait gets more crappies?

Someone mentioned “playing in the gray” in another post. I don’t need crappies so bad that I am willing to push the limit into this gray area. A ticket isn’t worth it. The challenge is not worth it. I’m of the opinion that those who do push the limits of what is a reasonable bait for your target fish are less than ethical….they know what’s right or wrong, but they still put their toes right to the line when they really don’t need to.

Curious of what the peanut gallery opinion is on this. Say you are fishing a lake like Mille Lacs after walleye opener but before bass opener (in previous years). And you start catching a bunch of nice eye’s in a spot, and soon after start catching a large # of smallies in the same spot on the same bait. Should you move or change tactics due to the accidental catch?

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

It is a gray area to talk about this topic in theory, but I would think to a CO the issue of whether or not the angler is intentionally catching a species that it out-of-season would be pretty clear.

– If the angler is observed to be catching multiple out-of-season fish while changing neither his location, fishing technique, or adjusting his bait/lure/method, then he is obviously NOT trying to target a different in-season fish.

In other words, he’s catching what he’s trying to catch and if he doesn’t try anything different, then he’s breaking the law.
what the grouse said i double it.
– If the fish are truly interspersed, so for example <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie and bass, where it is virtually impossible to fish for one species while doing anything to avoid the occasional catching of the other, then to me it’s a legal activity that must be accepted. In these legit cases the harm to the out-of-season species is minimal anyway, if they are properly handled and released.

But this links back to my first point. If an angler is throwing spinnerbaits in the early season when northern pike can legally be caught, but bass cannot, and the angler is catching NOTHING but bass while making no adjustments to his method, lure, or location, then he’s fishing for bass illegally. If he’s actively changing locations, lures, etc, then IMO he he has a legit claim to be trying to effectively target the in-season species.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

It is a gray area to talk about this topic in theory, but I would think to a CO the issue of whether or not the angler is intentionally catching a species that it out-of-season would be pretty clear.

– If the angler is observed to be catching multiple out-of-season fish while changing neither his location, fishing technique, or adjusting his bait/lure/method, then he is obviously NOT trying to target a different in-season fish.

In other words, he’s catching what he’s trying to catch and if he doesn’t try anything different, then he’s breaking the law.

– If the fish are truly interspersed, so for example <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie and bass, where it is virtually impossible to fish for one species while doing anything to avoid the occasional catching of the other, then to me it’s a legal activity that must be accepted. In these legit cases the harm to the out-of-season species is minimal anyway, if they are properly handled and released.

But this links back to my first point. If an angler is throwing spinnerbaits in the early season when northern pike can legally be caught, but bass cannot, and the angler is catching NOTHING but bass while making no adjustments to his method, lure, or location, then he’s fishing for bass illegally. If he’s actively changing locations, lures, etc, then IMO he he has a legit claim to be trying to effectively target the in-season species.

Grouse

I double what grouse said. but not on purpose, DK