Looking at all the fishing reports has me researching and unable to find the answer. When fishing with a guide, do customers get to keep the guide‘s limit as well? As if the guide may donate their portion of the total boat possession to the customer?
Wisconsin Fishing Discussion
Fish Limits with a guide
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I would not be averse to barring guides from gifting their catch while they are working, a lot of folks wouldn't. I'd also like to see mandatory creel surveys for guides to see the true impact on the resource. It's minimal effort to record size and qty of fish kept per outing per person. That data would help the DNR to better manage limits and slots. You could even go so far as to have them fill out a form like some states do for game (Alaska's Transfer of Possession Form for example).
Minnesota has (or had?) a rule about how to gift fish to another individual where you had to have the original angler's name, address, and license number.
What it means is that our DNR doesn't really give a rats patooty about conservation. It's up to us to change that I guess.
In MI, MN, FL guides either aren't allowed to fish while under hire, or can't gift away their limits to clients who also caught limits. I'm not sure what other states this is also true. Why Wisconsin? This should have been done away with when we made it illegal to shoot musky's with .22's.
Maybe we can work together to make some changes.
So the original gripe was a guide said that he 'had to' give his limit to his clients or the client would not book with him. People thought that was shady. Seems like you guys proved that to be the case since he pretty clearly hinted at being compensated, but its long deleted from here now.
All this stuff is hard to really follow or prove if you really dig into it. Like I said earlier, if I keep a limit every day and go over my possession, I'm a poacher. But if I give them all away, then I'm either a guide or a really good fisherman. End result of fish taken is the same, one gets shamed and the other glorified. Its all perspective and that's because the law as is, allows it for one case and not the other.
Everyone has a possession limit, whether holding a fishing license or not. The license just gives you the option of fishing for the fish, but there's nothing about keeping the fish if they're gifted to you. And everyone has the same possession limits, even children. Technically (and I DO say technically) a newborn also has a possession limit!
I agree, there is just so much grey area that is almost impossible to address. If the guide isn't fishing, technically the clients are overbagging or fishing past their limits potentially. Like on Green Bay, running a 9 or 12 line trolling spread. Are the clients manipulating their own 3 rods and only reeling in fish on their own 3 rods? Should it be legal for the guide to have his 3 lines out if he's not technically fishing? The list could go on and on. I take my daughters out slip bobber fishing for walleyes. I very rarely every catch a fish, I let them do it. I suppose that could be deemed illegal.
Do possession limits apply to someone that hasn't purchased a license? I know this doesn't directly correspond to the guide gifting, but here is a scenario.
Guy fishes with a guide two days in a row on multiple lakes and they each keep 5 Walleyes total each day. The first day, the guide gifts the client his 5 fish in which the client turns around and gifts all 10 to his wife who doesn't possess a license. The next day they do the same. Now the guy has 20 Walleyes in his freezer, but technically has 0 in his possession. Everything I have found in the regulations say it like (the angler this and that). Technically the wife is not an angler and doesn't even carry a license. Does she still have a possession limit or can the client now go out on say his 3rd day of vacation and keep more to give to his wife as he isn't in possession of any? I totally get this is a way crazy scenario, but not really if you think in terms of someone that may be on their once a year fishing trip in early June.
From the DNR it appears as though it is legal for the guide (or any licensed angler) to gift their fish to another on the same day, even if that person receiving the fish has their total daily bag already that day.
Basically as long as the guide has not exceeded their total daily bag and gifted amount would not put the receiver over their possession limit, it is a legal practice, provided compensation is not explicitly exchanged for the fish.
"I have a question regarding possession limits and daily bag. NR 20.03(8)(8) states daily bag means the maximum number of fish that may be reduced to a person's possession from a specified waterbody or portion of a waterbody in one day.
If I am with a guide and catch and keep my daily limit, can I legally accept fish from the guide on the same day? I.e., I am walleye fishing and keep 5 walleye, can the guide gift me his 5 on the same day to total the 10 fish possession limit (2x daily bag)?
Hi Aaron, thanks for your questions.
Assuming a daily bag limit of 5 walleyes for the waterbody and a total daily bag limit of 5 (number of walleyes that a person can take in a single day from all waterbodies fished), another person could only gift additional fish to the angler if the person gifting the fish is still under the daily bag limit and total daily bag limit, only if the fish are gifted away from the water, bank or shore of the waterbody and only if the angler has not yet reached the possession limit of 10 for walleye (the possession limit includes all fish in the angler’s possession regardless of where the fish are being stored). Additionally, no type of compensation may be exchanged in return for the gifted fish.
Hope this helps!"
I have fished with a couple guides who have done just that and even encouraged C&R for me as well. I was perfectly fine with that but I also know that many people fish to keep when they go with a guide so it's a tough spot. A lot of guides are very resource conscious but there are some who are less scrupulous.
Scenario: You and your best friend show up to fish with a guide that is known to be excellent. You are on a new lake and very excited. You show up at the launch and the guide says, right away, "I'll fish with you, but everything I catch gets returned to the water. You can keep your limits, but my fish will not be given to you."
Anyone going to cancel their trip? ( I would not)
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