Fishing regs question

Minnownite

Well-Known Member
I was reading the fishing regs all over and can't find where it says how many hooks a angler can have or how many lines an Angler can have. I was taught that you can have 2 hooks. Doesn't matter 1 line 2 hooks or to lines 1 hook on each. Anyone have government documentation to confirm or rebuke this?
 
You can have up to 3 hooks per line. This means that on a single line you may have up to 3 hooks on it period. A treble hook is considered 1 hook. Example: Main line with a body bait lure having 2 treble hooks - This is 2 hooks. You can then run a cheater down that line provided it is not another body bait with more than one hook. Normally you run a spoon. I had a conversation with a CO officer one time for clarification and he confirmed this scenario.
 
Actually, you are allowed 4 hooks per line (see page 8 of the regs, snippit below). As JFU pointed out, a treble is considered a single hook. If you look at the Zone 19 & 20 exceptions (see snippit from page 91 for Erie below), it explains where you are allowed to use two lines when fishing from a boat on Lakes Erie & Ontario.


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@G.Mech So we are only allowed ONE line when fishing inner bay ? Have seen many people fishing two lines trolling and perch fishing.
 
Yes @Red Fisher only 1 line allowed in the inner bay as listed n the section above under exceptions/waterbody. Two lines are only allowed from a boat in open water in most of the Great Lakes except for the exceptions listed in the regs and the inner bay is one of those.
 
Something else for those (like myself) who primarily fish from shore. Using Pt. Bruce as the example, because 1) that's where I go most, and 2) there has been confusion and many arguments about which zone (16 or 19) how many lines, how many hooks etc, last year I called and asked the MNRF, and what they told me was, "in Pt Bruce, the north end of the break-wall as you head south out into the lake is the zone divider between zones 16 and 19 because if the break-wall was not there, that is where the creek ends and the lake begins. Technically, you park in zone 16, but the body of water you are fishing from the pier, is Lake Erie, (zone 19.) and the daily catch and possession limits for that zone are applicable according to the license you hold. You are permitted to use 1 line with up to a total of 4 hooks attached, but because you are on land, not fishing from a boat in open water, use of 2 lines is illegal and NOT permitted."
 
Trevor anytime on shore no mater where in Ontario = one line.

Yes I know that, but my post was passing on of general good to know information, and I was very specific about location for a reason. I used the pier in Pt Bruce because that's where I go and I have been witness to some arguments on the pier in Pt Bruce, some of them VERY heated about what zone you're fishing in, daily catch and possession, number of lines allowable, number of hooks allowable. The only reason I mentioned the zones specific to Pt Bruce, is because there has been some confusion and arguments about it. I don't know about anyone else, but when I go fishing, the last thing I want to see or hear is people having a heated argument over things covered in the regs. We all know at times those regs are a little confusing or poorly worded, so when I need clarification on anything in the regs, I call the ministry and get it straight from them.

In the past, (I haven't been yet this year) some on the pier have thought because they are parked and on shore in what is technically "by the map" zone 16, the regs for that zone apply when fishing off the pier. That is incorrect. The body of water you are fishing from the pier in Pt Bruce for the purposes of MNRF zoning and enforcement, is zone 19. Catfish creek north of the break-wall is zone 16. The regs for each zone apply accordingly. That's good to know information, so I shared it.

Some have thought that because they are fishing in Lake Erie, they are allowed to use 2 lines from the pier. That is incorrect. I've heard those using 2 lines off the pier tell people, including myself, who have mentioned it to them, that when fishing in Lake Erie the regs say you can use 2 lines and then tell them to mind their own business, where to go and how to get there. That is incorrect, you can't, not from shore.

Last year I was challenged to prove it. I carry the regs with me when I go fishing, so I produced them, showed them, and was told off again and told I was interpreting the regs wrong. So in that instance, zone did matter because of how that person was interpreting the regs. Don't know if they got caught or not, I was heading home, but the CO does visit the pier in Pt Bruce on a fairly regular basis, and I have seen them sit and watch before heading out to check buckets, licenses etc. I have also seen them sit and wait for someone who walked off the pier for over 2 hours and when they came back give them a ticket and confiscate that person's catch for using 2 lines off the pier. I've also seen them sit and wait for a person who left to go home to get their license and then give them a ticket for fishing without a license anyways. They had one, but they didn't have it on them when they were asked to produce it while fishing. So it does matter, and if anything I share or pass on saves someone a ticket, because they didn't know, or as is easy to do, they misinterpret the regs, maybe without ever knowing me, I've done someone a favor.
 
Trevor M my point was simple. It doesn't matter what zone (either 16 or 19) as far as # of hooks, # of lines(on shore), daily catch limits there is no difference. Posssesion limits increase if caught in Zone 19.
 
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The points I was making are simple too. I didn't say anything that was factually wrong. It does matter when people are misinterpreting the regs. and I don't think you disagree with that. ie the incorrect argument that because one is fishing in Lake Erie off a pier or a beach, in what they think is or consider to be "open water" use of 2 lines is permitted. You know and I know that is incorrect. You must be in a boat, but, even then there are exceptions that must be considered depending on where in the zone you are. ie the Detroit and St Claire Rivers or the inner bay at Long Point where only 1 line is permitted. Then there are the other exceptions in the zone around and east of Long Point. You have to know those as well if you fish in those areas. I personally don't fish those areas, but I still am required to know that information if I were to do so. Ignorance, "I didn't know" is not a valid defense if you get a ticket or they charge you with a serious offense.

Although it is primarily the possession limit that changes between the two zones applicable in Pt Bruce depending on species, ie in zone 16 the daily catch limits for walleye depending on your license are 4 and 2 with size limits, not 6 and 2 without any size limits as they are in zone 19 and the exception areas listed for zone 16. You still have to know which zone you are fishing and the exceptions, even if nothing changes. I shared what was told to me by the ministry when I called and asked where the zone boundary was in Pt Bruce because people had been arguing over which zone they were fishing in, and even though I knew I was fishing in zone 19, I didn't know where the boundary was and wanted to know. The rest of what they told me in that quoted statement about # of lines and hooks permitted as well as limits etc, I knew.

I've shared that information I posted with many people on the pier, and they have found it useful and beneficial, especially those who are fishing the area for the first time or visiting from out of province and considering it. I've met a lot of people sitting on that pier who didn't know because they aren't from the area. Last year I met a nice older gentleman who had brought his 2 grandchildren to the lake to do some fishing. He was setting up 6 rods, 2 for each of them, because he thought that was permitted. I explained to him that it wasn't, so he only set up 1 line each. An hour later the CO showed up. If you find it useless and irrelevant, then ignore it, but don't tell me it doesn't matter because I know from the many conversations I've had with people, that it does matter, because quite often, they didn't know and were thankful and appreciated that between myself and others, they were provided that information and they didn't find themselves getting a ticket or being charged with a more serious offense. It may not matter to you because you have lots of experience but to others, who don't, it matters.
 
Long time ago, as little outlaw kids, we would sneak into Krinklaw's pond and scoop bass and sunfish? You were only allowed one pole and 2 hook's? One bamboo pole and a spare hook, thats all we could scrounge.
Regs were stay low behind the cattails, and if old man Krink came out yelling and sicking his dogs on you, grab what you could and run? That was known as the possession limit?
When did fishing get so complicated?
 
I hear ya can't miss. I remember when I was a kid just learning how to fish, and the days of someone else baiting the hook, casting out, and taking any fish caught off the hook until I learned how to do all the above properly and safely myself and the adults who accompanied me trusted me to do so on my own without being a risk of harm to others or self. Everything was so much less complicated back then lol.

Back in those days, the regs were, pass dad or grandpa the bait to be put on the hook, (usually a worm, sometimes a minnow) wait until everyone is well out of the way before you cast, and let dad or grandpa take the fish off the hook so you don't catch yourself. Once I was old enough, they changed to not before the sun comes up, and not after it goes down, you clean what you catch yourself, or don't bring it home. It wasn't until I was much older (in my early to mid teens) that I learned how complicated fishing was with all the government rules and regulations that had to be followed and by that time we had moved away from here and lived in the NWT where the rules and regs are considerably different than they are here.

For example, in the NWT, a license is required for anyone 16-65. No live bait is permitted anywhere. Only 1 line with 2 hooks maximum is permitted during open water season. When fishing through the ice, 2 lines with no more than 2 hooks each is permitted. What it will cost to renew your outdoors card and get a 1 year tag here, approx $43, that is the cost for a 1 year non resident (non resident in this case meaning anyone who is not a resident of Canada) license in the NWT. A non resident Canadian pays $20 for a yearly license. There is no 3 year license option, but there are 3 day options for non resident Canadians that is $15 and $30 for non residents. A resident of the NWT pays only $10 for their yearly license. From Yellowknife, the best walleye fishing was an hour and half away then a 45 minute walk into the bush. The year after we moved there, the ministry closed that location year round to all species. It never reopened while I was there (17+ years.) The next best place half an hour closer and much easier to access being right off the highway, but that was still an hour long drive in each direction, and the year they closed that other location, they lowered the catch and possession limit for walleye to 1. Long drive for 1 fish.

It's the regulations that turned my dad off fishing over 30 years ago and he sold the boat. He's only now just starting to take somewhat of an interest in it again since he no longer is required to purchase a license because he's over 65 and has been for "a few" years. (He didn't know that he didn't need a license anymore until I told him last year,) and last year was the first time in over 20 years my dad put a line in any water. It was the first time in over 30 years that he and I had gone fishing. When I asked him why he hadn't gone in so long, especially since he retired, he said "less of a hassle to just buy it in Pt Stanley when I want fish. Too many rules and regulations to remember and licenses are too expensive"
 
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