Bag limits and live wells

All topics related to fishing and angling in Victoria that don't fit into one of the other forum categories.
cobby
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by cobby » Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:39 pm

There is no issue with the keeping and using of live baits within the bag limit rules. The issue was for 'high grading' still live fish from within a live well. The ONLY issues with the keeping of live baits is any you have not used, either need to be killed and kept or released back into the same body of water in which they were caught. Which who in their right mind releases perfectly good yakkas or squid or other when they make great dead baits for Gummies?

This discussion outside of the bream/bass comps with high grading has been a complete non issue

smile0784
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by smile0784 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:40 am

purple5ive wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 8:22 pm
rb85 wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:26 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:07 pm
Supposedly tou have to kill your catch or release them as soon as it is caught.
So keeping them alive is illegal...
Will have to investigate this further properly
**** just break the **** ing law fisheries aren't going to book a bunch of people slow trolling live bait.
might not get booked slow trolling a livie, but if they found you with livies in the tank that could be a problem, i doubt people who do it now would stop doing it anyway.
will need to investigate it further, might not be illegal in the first place, but better to be careful.
I know someone that would put live squid in a live tank till they got back to the ramp.
Says they keep fresher then a eski

smile0784
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by smile0784 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:42 am

rb85 wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 8:35 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 8:22 pm
rb85 wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:26 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:07 pm
Supposedly tou have to kill your catch or release them as soon as it is caught.
So keeping them alive is illegal...
Will have to investigate this further properly
**** just break the **** ing law fisheries aren't going to book a bunch of people slow trolling live bait.
might not get booked slow trolling a livie, but if they found you with livies in the tank that could be a problem, i doubt people who do it now would stop doing it anyway.
will need to investigate it further, might not be illegal in the first place, but better to be careful.
Wouldn't be worried Purple your allowed 40 mackerel 40 scad I only keep about 8 of each in my live tanks.
Luckily by purples pics he never catches that many lol

ecofreak
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by ecofreak » Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:13 am

rb85 wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:26 pm
purple5ive wrote:
Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:07 pm
Supposedly tou have to kill your catch or release them as soon as it is caught.
So keeping them alive is illegal...
Will have to investigate this further properly
**** just break the **** ing law fisheries aren't going to book a bunch of people slow trolling live bait.
Yep, thats what I reckon too - I have a livewell and I keep my squid alive in it until I return to the ramp. I have been checked by fisheries and it was a non issue for them as it was not even mentioned. That said, I would only be doing it with squid and or forage/bait fish. Although on a tecnicality its not legal the person I spoke to at fisheries did tell me that only one has ever been booked for it. They had 8 snapper to 4kg with their tails hanging out and were observed highgrading. All of the fisheries officers I have encountered have been pretty reasonable so I will keep doing it.

Nude up
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by Nude up » Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:27 am

Omg does that my slimey tubes can not be used they are not 60 litres but keep slimies pumping all day greatest invention ever. Commonsense like applied by Cobby upgrading is the issue for the sake of the fish’s wellbeing. You are allowed to live bait as long as the fish is of a legal length.

smile0784
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by smile0784 » Sun Mar 31, 2019 1:04 pm

Can you be charged with having them installed with the intent of using them

April Fool
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by April Fool » Sun Mar 31, 2019 2:38 pm

smile0784 wrote:
Sun Mar 31, 2019 1:04 pm
Can you be charged with having them installed with the intent of using them
I think you are thinking about this too much!!!!!

rb85
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by rb85 » Sun Mar 31, 2019 3:56 pm

Never been inspected by Fisheries spoke to them at the ramp but they have never checked my catch. From what I understand unless your completely taking the **** they show a bit of discretion doubt they will pursue live rank rules unless your deliberately breaking the rules as in exceeding bags.

colnick
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by colnick » Mon Apr 01, 2019 10:40 am

Good day all,
I don't know whether this will clarify or confuse things.
I emailed the following inquiry to Marc Ainsworth, Communications Manager at Vic Fisheries over the weekend.
"There is some confusion surrounding the subject of upgrading as set out in the guidelines. The question is, if legal size fish are caught and held for a time in a live well but subsequently released BEFORE THE BAG LIMIT HAS BEEN HELD - that is, before the bag limit is actually in the angler's possession, do those released fish still count towards the bag limit? I understand that it is not permissible to continue to catch after the bag limit has been reached even if some of the held fish are subsequently released."

Marc responded promptly this morning, as follows:
Hi Col,
If you have 4 trout in the live well then decide to release 1, you're left with 3. If an officer inspected your catch at that moment, your catch is 3 regardless of how many you've released and regardless of the numbers you've held then later released.
It's what you have in the boat at the time of inspection.
Does that help?
Marc.

This might be at odds with some previous advice but I suppose the bottom line is that an inspector can only count what you have in your possession anyway.

purple5ive
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Re: Bag limits and live wells

Post by purple5ive » Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:07 am

Going off that reply....
Having fish in a livewell is perfectly fine, and also comps that hold fish in a livewell are fine and not breaking any laws if the fish are within bag limits.

aka - 5 bream is 5 bream regardless of whether 15 more were caught during the tournament (so its never highrading as such, since the bag limit will never be reached during a comp)

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