Private pond fish size limit?

[flyingsquirrel]

Indiana Fishing Regulations Guide 2021-2022. License Exemptions: Fishing in a private pond that does not allow fish entry or exit to public waters. An angler must have permission from the property owner to fish.

 

[chevyguy]

Indiana Fishing Regulations Guide 2021-2022. License Exemptions: Fishing in a private pond that does not allow fish entry or exit to public waters. An angler must have permission from the property owner to fish.

Have permission can’t wait

 

[dudley0]

This is my last year with my pond. I keep thinking about wetting a line because I haven't in years. The water is maybe 20 foot from my house, but life kept getting in the way.

Now I think I want to fish because that means I am not working on getting the house ready to sell.

 

[rooster]

Ok lots of incorrect advice here. Fishing regs are mostly in the administrative code and not the state code. The book that comes out every year is by no means the be all end all of fishing/hunting reg.

So the real question in this is are the fish state owned? “ The state doesn’t own the fish in MY pond!! “ oh yes they do, unless the owner of said private pond can prove that they stocked the pond from private hatcheries. Failing to prove that means the fish belong to the state. Same way the deer that wander onto your property don’t belong to you.

2nd point. “If it’s illegal then why doesn’t the DNR care?” They would care if they had the manpower/ time, same reason speed limit on 465 is rarely enforced. There are only a very limited number of officers in the state so unless they happen upon you bringing home undersized fish from a private pond with no license you probably won’t get bothered. That said if you do happen to be unlucky enough to get stopped by a CO with fish in a cooler that are size regulated and said fish are under the size and you have no license, well I would expect those fish to get confiscated and a hefty ticket/court summons to get written. Get mouthy and you are liable to end up in jail. Wave around a piece of paper signed by your buddy that says he is good with undersized fish and you don’t need a license bc it’s private all you want. Not gonna save you at that time. It may later in court but do you really want to pay thousands to lawyers to prove a point?

morale of the story: don’t be cheap and buy the 20 dollar fishing license and don’t expect to walk away keeping your fish from a CO encounter with you in possession of said undersized fish.

IANAL but I do have some education in this kind of law.

 

[tmschuller]

Let's be honest, if you're on a bicycle... red lights mean nothing.

Or all traffic laws.. especially those guys in spandex with hey I look as colorful as a tropical fish outfits on... riding 4 wide on the road refusing to get over.

 

[singlesix]

From fish size limits to spandex, gotta love the thread dift.

 

[4651feeder]

What did I learn today?

Fillet the catch at your buddies pond before leaving.

 

[AtTheMurph]

You're at a red light at 3 am. It's been 2 minutes. You haven't seen a car.

How free are you?

Pretty damn drunk, because if I wasn't drunk I would not have stopped in the first place.

 

[sheepdog697]

IANAL (nor DNR) but I dont see how Johnny Law has any jurisdiction here. Its private property and privately owned fish. Why would DNR have any say over what you can do with your private property in an agreement between two citizens?

And you dont need a license to fish private waters either as I recall, so that leads me to believe further that you can do what you want here.

But do seek out other opinions. Ive been wrong before on stuff that otherwise seems a slam dunk based on facts. Some laws just dont make sense and are overreaching.

I fish a large private lake in Wisconsin, I believe all laws apply.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I fish a large private lake in Wisconsin, I believe all laws apply.

Not here. There are references to when it applies if you read the whole thread. You can have a private pond out of reach of DNR here. No need for a boat registration, fishing license, etc.

 

[sheepdog697]

Not here. There are references to when it applies if you read the whole thread. You can have a private pond out of reach of DNR here. No need for a boat registration, fishing license, etc.

I always thought it was weird we have to buy license to go fishing at that lodge up there.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I always thought it was weird we have to buy license to go fishing at that lodge up there.

Their laws may be different. Ours are proper. DNR shouldnt be able to tell me what I can/cant do with my private property not connected to any public waters. If I want to mismanage my stock and harvest too many too small, its my problem. Not theirs. If I overfish and destroy my pond, thats my problem, not theirs. Its not hurting anyone but me.

But alas, some states overreach and dictate things they have no business about.

Or that lodge lake could be touching or fed by public waters. or the owners could allow the state to stock the pond. Details like that affect their reach.

Once again, details are upthread.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

Ok lots of incorrect advice here. Fishing regs are mostly in the administrative code and not the state code. The book that comes out every year is by no means the be all end all of fishing/hunting reg.

So the real question in this is are the fish state owned? “ The state doesn’t own the fish in MY pond!! “ oh yes they do, unless the owner of said private pond can prove that they stocked the pond from private hatcheries. Failing to prove that means the fish belong to the state. Same way the deer that wander onto your property don’t belong to you.

2nd point. “If it’s illegal then why doesn’t the DNR care?” They would care if they had the manpower/ time, same reason speed limit on 465 is rarely enforced. There are only a very limited number of officers in the state so unless they happen upon you bringing home undersized fish from a private pond with no license you probably won’t get bothered. That said if you do happen to be unlucky enough to get stopped by a CO with fish in a cooler that are size regulated and said fish are under the size and you have no license, well I would expect those fish to get confiscated and a hefty ticket/court summons to get written. Get mouthy and you are liable to end up in jail. Wave around a piece of paper signed by your buddy that says he is good with undersized fish and you don’t need a license bc it’s private all you want. Not gonna save you at that time. It may later in court but do you really want to pay thousands to lawyers to prove a point?

morale of the story: don’t be cheap and buy the 20 dollar fishing license and don’t expect to walk away keeping your fish from a CO encounter with you in possession of said undersized fish.

IANAL but I do have some education in this kind of law.

Ummm... the actual Indiana Code:

(b) Every person must have a fishing license in the person's possession when fishing in:
(1) waters containing state owned fish;
(2) waters of the state; or
(3) boundary waters of the state.

Fishing in a completely contained, private pond, privately stocked... no license required.

Once you leave that private property... size and possession limits apply.

IANAL

 

[rooster]

Fishing in a completely contained, private pond, privately stocked... no license required

Lots of people stock ponds the without a permit applied for with the state the state. Without records of said permit the state and game warden have a valid argument that those fish are state owned.

Like it or not unless you dug the pond and then stocked it and kept records, those fish are state owned.

Section 312 IAC 9-10-17 - Aquaculture permit, 312 Ind. Admin. Code 9-10-17 | Casetext Search + Citator

Read Section 312 IAC 9-10-17 - Aquaculture permit, 312 Ind. Admin. Code 9-10-17, see flags on bad law, and search Casetext’s comprehensive legal database

casetext.com

Edit: let’s put some perspective on this. Let’s pretend you have a 100 acre plot you put up a 10 foot deer proof fence on. Now you never haul deer in or apply for a permit to raise deer. Several deer were inadvertently caught behind the fence and grow to a self perpetuating breeding population.the game warden then finds out several years later that your hunting in June and culling several small bucks to help the population grow bigger racks.
Are those your deer? Do you legally own them? Are you subject to the game laws?

fish and private ponds are the same scenario, the only difference is that people get the impression that because those fish are landlocked on their property that they legally belong to them and they can do whatever they want without licenses.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

Not so... permit not needed for the vast majority of fish one might want to stock:

(e) Live fish of the following species, other than genetically altered fish, may be imported without obtaining a permit under this section:

(1) Black crappie.
(2) Blue catfish.
(3) Bluegill.
(4) Bluntnose minnow.
(5) Buffalo.
(6) Bullhead.
(7) Burbot.
(8) Carp.
(9) Channel catfish.
(10) Fathead minnow.
(11) Flathead catfish.
(12) Freshwater drum.
(13) Golden shiner.
(14) Goldfish.
(15) Green sunfish.
(16) Hybrid sunfish.
(17) Largemouth bass.
(18) Mosquitofish.
(19) Muskellunge.
(20) Northern pike.
(21) Redear sunfish.
(22) Rock bass.
(23) Smallmouth bass.
(24) Striped bass.
(25) Sucker.
(26) Walleye.
(27) Warmouth.
(28) White bass.
(29) White catfish.
(30) White crappie.
(31) Yellow perch.

312 Ind. Admin. Code 9-10-15