# If the fish is going to die but illegal.



## PandaBearJeff (Aug 19, 2013)

I caught a flounder and it was way to small to keep. But it got hooked so deep and all sideways, the hook was in its stomach and the point came back up and into his gills. Since thats the way how flounders are. Flat and sideways. 

That little fish, got messed up. But i didn't want any trouble with the cops, so i just threw it back. Let the crabs eat. 

I remember watching a man catch a tautog, too small but it was so messed up from a deep hook it was going to die. So he got close to the rocks to push it away into the jetty water and some marine police came outta nowhere, even surprised me. And accused the man for having an illegal fish, and thought he was discarding it since the cops were coming. All the nearby fishermen came to help the guy out and said the fish was good as dead. Probably bled out half of what its got. And the cop checked everybody's license, and really gave that fisherman a hard time. Giving him a quiz, and asking why did you try and keep it, and trash it when the cops were coming? If its dead, why didn't you just keep it? Fisherman said he didn't want it. Cop said, well its dead, so its yours now. 

Im not sure what the law is, on throwing back dead fish into the ocean. I read up on chumming and throwing back carcasses and its against some clean water act and junk but nothing on wholesome fish. 

So what would u do, throw back a 16 inch dead red fish? That you hooked so deep, you had to rip its stomach out. And it bled out everywhere. Or would you use it as bait? Or if your a white male that looks quite handsome and atleast 5'10 and looks like you have a white collar job and a very kind persona, would you put it in the ice? and have a nice conversation with the police about the NBA finals and the cop would believe you?


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## seemoreglass (Jul 19, 2012)

PandaBearJeff said:


> I caught a flounder and it was way to small to keep. But it got hooked so deep and all sideways, the hook was in its stomach and the point came back up and into his gills. Since thats the way how flounders are. Flat and sideways.
> 
> That little fish, got messed up. But i didn't want any trouble with the cops, so i just threw it back. Let the crabs eat.
> 
> ...



Technically, the best thing to do with a gut hooked fish is to cut the line and leave the hook in the fish. The survival rate isn't high but it's a lot higher than ripping out its guts.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

I kept a small muskie once that died. Inhaled a plug and the hookset basically shredded his gills. Tried to revive it for about an hour. Brought it home and ate it.
Rubs me the wrong way with the whole "gotcha" game the enviro cops play. 
Actually got a ticket last month in NY fishing. Drove up Sunday, tried to get my 1 day license that night. Their fancy new website was down or did not work. At 11 I quit and went to bed (went fishing at 3:45 am Monday).
Sure enough, DEC came around. I told him the new website sucked and didn't work. He shrugged and wrote me a ticket. I am gonna plead guilty and ask for a dismissal. If it doesn't get dismissed, NY will lose out on my $240 per year in out of state licenses (fishing and hunting) from here on out. I was in the wrong and fully accept my consequences. They have to accept theirs as well though.


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## PandaBearJeff (Aug 19, 2013)

seemoreglass said:


> Technically, the best thing to do with a gut hooked fish is to cut the line and leave the hook in the fish. The survival rate isn't high but it's a lot higher than ripping out its guts.


Yea, i heard these hooks dissolve in saltwater, but who knows how long that will take. 

I guess i will just start doing that than.


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## PandaBearJeff (Aug 19, 2013)

pods said:


> I kept a small muskie once that died. Inhaled a plug and the hookset basically shredded his gills. Tried to revive it for about an hour. Brought it home and ate it.
> Rubs me the wrong way with the whole "gotcha" game the enviro cops play.
> Actually got a ticket last month in NY fishing. Drove up Sunday, tried to get my 1 day license that night. Their fancy new website was down or did not work. At 11 I quit and went to bed (went fishing at 3:45 am Monday).
> Sure enough, DEC came around. I told him the new website sucked and didn't work. He shrugged and wrote me a ticket. I am gonna plead guilty and ask for a dismissal. If it doesn't get dismissed, NY will lose out on my $240 per year in out of state licenses (fishing and hunting) from here on out. I was in the wrong and fully accept my consequences. They have to accept theirs as well though.


Yea that does suck. I would have quit after 5 mins on the web and gone straight to Wal mart though. Yea that fisherman was just really at the wrong place at the wrong time and the cop was in the right place lol. Those moments are the worse, when you are accused of something you never did, but it really looks like. 

Like those commercials, a dad dropped off his teenage daughter at a 7 - eleven to go buy some water for the continuous road trip. She comes back, says she needs money, dad passed her a 20 dollar bill from the car. Cop Lights and the dad looks back like, huh? ... oh... 

Just one of those moment man....


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## jigmeister (Feb 23, 2013)

PandaBearJeff ?


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## PandaBearJeff (Aug 19, 2013)

jigmeister said:


> PandaBearJeff ?


I know, you hate me. But if we go fishing together, i'll win you over with love and you can never hate me again.


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## mepps3 (May 18, 2007)

PandaBearJeff said:


> Yea, i heard these hooks dissolve in saltwater, but who knows how long that will take.
> 
> I guess i will just start doing that than.


If it is just in the gut, I will cut the line and hope for the best. I have caught fish with hooks in them many times, so it is possible they can survive. If the gills are messed up and they are bleeding, i will likely keep it if I know I won't get checked by DNR. I think it is better then wasting the fish.


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## transamsam98 (Sep 21, 2009)

It sucks putting back a dead fish but can y'all imagine the amount of people who would take advantage of a law where dead fish or dying fish were legal to keep regardless of size ?


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## Hooked4Life (May 30, 2014)

transamsam98 said:


> It sucks putting back a dead fish but can y'all imagine the amount of people who would take advantage of a law where dead fish or dying fish were legal to keep regardless of size ?


Yup. Poachers would be using undersized hooks to gut-hook them on purpose. There are already enough newbie fishermen who do that unintentionally. 

A few years back, a friend of mine caught a just barely keeper fluke and only threw it in the icebox(we left our stringer at home) because it swallowed the jig. Of course, when the Rangers came by it had shrunken below limit, so he just tossed it back in the water. Didn't issue a ticket though, since he was aware of the situation.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Bottom line is that an undersized fish in your possession is illegal no matter what the reason.


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