I've found few activities that are more relaxing than spending an hour or even a minute casting a line. Even while typing, I can hear the rustle of the river and see a lure breaking the plane of water and sinking toward my next catch.
Goldeye, drum, bullhead, to me it doesn't matter what bites, or if anything bites. The key is just getting out and enjoying time fishing – alone or with friends or family.
If you've spent any appreciable amount of time fishing, chances are you’ve had a question or two about what you can or cannot legally do. Some anglers pick up the phone and call a local warden or game and fish office, other's spend a few minutes reading the fishing guide. And some, unfortunately, just continue to wonder and don’t try to find an answer.
For all of us, here’s a few common questions that I answer frequently.
You might be surprised that one of the more common sequence of questions is who needs a fishing license, and if I have kids along, do they need a license and can they catch their own limit?
I should first clarify the act of fishing when it comes to adults, “helping” youngsters fish. Adults helping kids fish must understand that if you, as an adult, are casting the rod or “helping” the youngster reel in a fish, that is considered fishing and you'll need a license.
Helping by putting on bait is fine, but when the helper begins casting and reeling, that crosses the line. If I may suggest, a resident fishing license costs $10, which is a small price to pay.
Back to the question of who needs a license. Anyone age 15 and younger does not need a fishing license in North Dakota. Once you reach age 16, you need a fishing license. That’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t allow much room for confusion.
The next part of that question deals with limits. Legal anglers may each catch and keep their own limit. Other states have different rules and regulations which may add to confusion, but for North Dakota waters if you have kids under age 16, they don't need a license, and they each may legally catch and keep a daily and possession limit of fish.
The key here is that it must be the kids who catch the fish. As an adult, it would be a bad example to catch your own limit of fish, then catch and keep more fish as part of a child’s limit. That’s also illegal in North Dakota.
The difference between daily and possession limits is also a common question. A daily limit is a limit of fish taken between midnight of one day and the following midnight. Essentially, no matter what time you begin fishing, the time frame for you’re daily limit ends at midnight. That means it's not legal to catch a limit of walleyes in the morning and then head back out for another trip in the afternoon or evening to catch more walleye.
The possession limit is maximum number of each legally taken fish species an angler may have in his or her actual possession during any phase of any single fishing trip of more than one day. Let's walk through this scenario, as at times can cause confusion.
Say you head out for an extended fishing trip. The limit on walleye is five daily and 10 in possession. No matter how many days you’ll spend on the trip, you can only keep five in one day and have 10 walleye in possession. You can eat some of the first day's catch, but the fish do count in your daily limit. If the fishing trip is planned for three days, you'll only be legal to transport 10 walleyes home.
Adjustments on panfish limits the past few years have served to raise questions, too.. Panfish are perch, bluegill, crappie and white bass. They each have their own limit. You can catch 20 of each daily.
That’s not the same as largemouth and smallmouth bass, for which the daily limit is three, regardless of species. You can’t keep three largemouth and three smallmouth. Same goes for trout. The daily limit is three, and can include a combination of rainbows, browns and cutthroats, but not three of each.
Fishing can and should be an enjoyable hobby. Before your next fishing trip, take a few minutes to review the regulations. Understand that some lakes have special regulations such as fish size or bait restrictions. Local signs are typically in place to help remind anglers of these special rules, and they are also listed in the pocket sized 2006-2008 North Dakota fishing guide, available wherever licenses are sold, and also online at the Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov.
Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Dept. He can be reached via email: dleier@state.nd.us
