Fish Fry

[KLR1968]

Is it legal in Montana to catch em and cook em right out there on the ice? I assume it would be legal as long as you keep the heads to to verify that you are not over the limit. Anyone ever done this before? Would make for a really great trip to have dinner out there and keep fishing till the next day.I cant seem to find any info on this.

[MTsGrumpyIceMan]

I believe once they are ingested, the fish caught are no longer part of any limit.  I will try to look this up further to verify, but that is what my understanding of the regs and talking with some individuals has yielded.

[Born Late]

“While a person is fishing, or while on the water or on the ice:
• All fish in possession must be visibly identifiable to species.
• All fish in possession must be whole with head, skin, fins and tail attached. Gills and
entrails may be removed.”

[PerchPounderMT]

There ya go,cant eat them on the ice.

[Lsranger406]

So lets say I go perch fishing and catch 15 eaters on a Friday. Can you eat those fish on the ice on Saturday?

[PerchPounderMT]

"ALL FISH IN POSSESSION"....thats pretty clear

[flatgo]

Once they are ingested I don't think they are part of your possession limit.  If you eat them the same day i'm sure they go against your daily limit.  I would do a fish fry on the ice with out hesitating I'm sure the only thing a warden would ask about is if he could have some.

[crlogging]

There is no limits on a lot of fish in some places like pike and perch I say eat them and offer the f&g warden some if he asks about it.

[njoy]

What species and where may be involved. No limit on perch in many areas. We have fried perch fillets on the ice once. Kept the carcasses in a bag to haul off the ice.

[PerchPounderMT]

There is a limit on everything around here except trash fish.

[Tinker]

I think it is best to consult the regs and/or FWP for yourself and not depend on what us internet jockeys tell you.  But I'm still going to tell you what for   

I believe daily limit is from midnight to midnight. 

The all fish in possession while on the water would be pretty easy to get around.  Go to shore, clean the fish, then come back out to the shack and cook/eat the fish.   Just please don't take more than your daily limit for that day.  Oh wait I just re-read it , it states "once off the water or ice, fish may be dressed and filleted for transport to your permanent residence, unless size limits apply, under the following conditions" ( I am not going to type it all out, but the transport to permanent residence could get you )

So I guess you have to bring fish from home to eat on the ice    Good grief, I swear every time I read the regs I become more and more convinced that they try to make it difficult to write more tickets    Then I realize that I have been checked by a warden like 3 or 4 times in 20+ years in MT so maybe not.     

[Fortpeck1]

Just talked to fish and game,
You can eat the fish on the ice, counts against your daily limit.
if you catch on Friday and eat on sat, only count again Friday daily limit, can still catch your limit for Sat
Your possession limit stays the same

[PerchPounderMT]

And so how does this reg get tossed out?
"All fish in possession must be whole with head, skin, fins and tail attached. Gills and
entrails may be removed.”
As usual the F&G doesnt know their own regs and depending on who you ask they change,nothing new.

[Fortpeck1]

if you eat it, it is no longer in your possession
, but still counts against your daily catch limit

[PerchPounderMT]

Just called the enforcement division in Helena,they told me they had never been asked that question and they would get back to me....exactly what they have told me the last two times I asked them about a reg.

[hoofer]

its still in your possession until you get rid of it. in one end out the other.

[fridayfish]

And so how does this reg get tossed out?
"All fish in possession must be whole with head, skin, fins and tail attached. Gills and
entrails may be removed.”
As usual the F&G doesnt know their own regs and depending on who you ask they change,nothing new.

this is for fish with size limits. perch don't have size limits. trout do. cook trout with the heads on.

[Tinker]

Just called the enforcement division in Helena,they told me they had never been asked that question and they would get back to me....exactly what they have told me the last two times I asked them about a reg.

Don't call FWP, e-mail them, there is a contact us section on the website and has almost always resulted in a response within a day or 2 for me.  That way they have time to talk to a supervisor, study the written regs and best of all they e-mail the answer back which you can print and keep with you in case of an argument with a warden or judge.   

[lundin-loading]

this is for fish with size limits. perch don't have size limits. trout do. cook trout with the heads on.

Perch in several reservoirs have size restrictions relative to harvest.

[PerchPounderMT]

Don't call FWP, e-mail them, there is a contact us section on the website and has almost always resulted in a response within a day or 2 for me.  That way they have time to talk to a supervisor, study the written regs and best of all they e-mail the answer back which you can print and keep with you in case of an argument with a warden or judge.

Good Idea,they called me basically told me its going to be up to the local wardens discretion,regs for that piece of water,ect.Nothing concrete even though she contacted three wardens.

[WilleyBooger]

When people go backpacking in summer, catching and eating fish for their breakfast, lunch, or dinner is a normal occurrence. Also, it seems to be a Montana tradition to cook and eat caught fish as part of the fishing experience, to eat the fish streamside or lakeside. Eating fish the same day they are caught is very common. I don't understand why FWP doesn't have a clear policy about it.

[PerchPounderMT]

Because they like to leave grey areas in all matters,leaving things like this up to a wardens discretion is basically throwing out the regs.

[jms5580]

I don't think it's a situation that's easily defined. The process of cooking fish obviously makes it difficult to enforce many of the regs and I don't think there's a very good solution. I think you are fine as long as you're polite and cooperative.

[RuralMT]

Hopefully someone can obtain a concrete answer to this.  Came across this video the other evening.  The fellas in the video assumed a surf-and-turf meal on the ice was within Ohio regulations, as they'd partaken in such meals in other Great Lake states and even in Ontario...but such was not the case in Ohio.  A member of their group was handed a $90 citation.  Leaving it up to a warden's discretion seems a bit risky!

On a side note, regarding wardens...I had the pleasure of being checked by the Flathead County warden last weekend on Lower Stillwater of all places.  I was definitely in panic mode, as I'd left my license in my fly-fishing vest and made the terrible assumption that there was little chance of the warden showing up there.  Anyway, he couldn't have been a nicer guy and was willing to give me every opportunity to prove that I had a license.  He took my name and ALS number and tried to check via radio (couldn't get a response) and then asked if I had a photo of my license on my phone.  After digging through all of my photos I found a picture which, according to that warden at least, suffices.  Will I rely on that photo in the future? Not a chance, but it's good to know it can work in a pinch.

[missoulafish]

that's great info RuralMT and a good tip...just in case:)

[RuralMT]

Happy to help.  This forum's provided me a wealth of information over the past two seasons (my first two on the ice), figured I'd return the favor with whatever advice I can provide...however little, haha.

[PerchPounderMT]

Unless they put it in writing that it is acceptable you wouldnt be able to fight the ticket in court,not worth it in my book.Wasnt there a post in here a few years back about someone getting written up for filleting perch on CF?

[MTviking]

Unless they put it in writing that it is acceptable you wouldnt be able to fight the ticket in court,not worth it in my book.Wasnt there a post in here a few years back about someone getting written up for filleting perch on CF?

Not True... The fact that it is not specifically written to be not acceptable would help you in court.  Mr. Prosecuter... Please show me the clear cut written law that I broke.  If they cannot show you the written law in the regulations that you violated, it's pretty much case dismissed.

For the most part.  Laws do not tell you what you can do but rather what you cannot do.

[PerchPounderMT]

You better have deep pockets if you thing your getting out of any wildlife violation.It is specifically written that your fish must remain WHOLE.Thats all they need.