TOPIC:

If I have my son and grandson who is 11. Is the limit 10 or 15?

The limit is 5 per person. So if it is you, your son, and grandson, it would be 15. Just make sure anyone over 16 has a fishing license with a salmon stamp.

When I renewed my license it said 18. Maybe I read it wrong. Hope it helps

Yep - Mike is right its 18 and over, not 16.

IF you get questioned by the dnr all’s there gonna wanna see is proof that they can actually fish but I doubt that u get questioned cuz of the age of the kids my sons been with me Fishing since 2 years old by 4 years he was baiting casting unhooking fish all by himself i I did get questioned once so I handed my son a rod at the launch and had him start casting dnr smiled and walked away

Also remember it is 5 per person caught and kept. This was a question and hot debate with some officer's last year as a few wanted some type of assurance that you knew exactly which fish you caught. There is no such thing as shared or group limit allowed by the book. Meaning if like most people you like to get kids involved in fishing and want them to catch all the fish you can only keep 5 not 15 as he is the only one catching fish. You can not give him your limit to catch by the rules. You can catch 5 fish and transfer them to him but you have to reel them in and land them. Daily catch(keep) limit is 5, possession limit it double the catch limit. Which brings up a whole different can of worms.

Jeff what I am about to say is not disagreeing with you in any way bc what you said is true by the book. Having only salmon fished on Lake Michigan for 4 and a half years. I have never had any trouble with DNR. I have been checked about 4 times when all the fish were in the livewell. How often does an officer really go after someone for such between the lines nonsense. Or does that kind of thing more so happen when some one is in the wrong and gives the officer some crap. Just curious if most of us run a fine line because I know most of everyone puts all the fish in the same cooler with no tags or anything. Just looking to hear more about what was going on last year. Was this one particular officer or several.

This is an interesting topic because and keep, not shared limits. I would think everyone in this group who owned a boat is guilty of breaking this law. Let’s say you take a couple guys on the lake and they have never caught a salmon are you as the captain going to be insistent on reeling in your 5 fish or are you going to let the guests reel in all the Fish. My take on what Jeff said is that would be illegal to let someone catch more than there 5 Fish. Or maybe I am wrong and misread it. But interesting none the less

I think when it happened to me on the pier it was with a joking attitude but I am not sure if I had hesitated in my answer or said I don't know it may have went differently. I had read on a couple other sites and heard from a few people I know of similar instances and a couple didn't go so well. No tickets that I have heard of but 1 or 2 officer's out there taking the laws to the letter. I am not saying for people to do anything different but be aware of the rules and prepared to answer the question if asked.. I have fished the lake and tribs for some 40yrs in 3 different states and last year was the first time I have ever been asked or heard of that question being asked.

With all that said I see similar things happen with other audits I have been invo!lved in. A new boss or auditor comes in and emphasizes one or two points that come out of no where. I think personally this is what happened last year. If you have ever fished the Maumee for walleye in the spring you will see abuse of power and fisherman harrasment at it's finest and by no means is that happening in Indiana or Michigan that I am aware of where I fish. The officers are polite and very interested in people enjoying there time outdoors in all my experience with the officers.

Thank you for clarifying Jeff. It is definitely something to think about so that way if you run into that new officer try to make a name for himself you are not completely taken off guard. This topic is something I have to say I’ve never thought about but is very true.