Filleting your fish

[Sweetwater]

What's fascinating is that in this thread alone there is over 100 years of striped bass fishing experience represented by the people making posts and there is still a lack of clarity on the regulations.

Question for MikeP though. If I fillet fish at my domicile, but have the fillets in my cooler when I hit the beach the next day...how is that enforced both in terms of the "possession of mutilated fish" and the number of fish I can keep? I'm sure the answer is "leave the fillets at home" but is there no provision in the law for being in position of fillets for the purpose of consumption in an area one is catching fish?

[5/0]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

Question for MikeP though. If I fillet fish at my domicile, but have the fillets in my cooler when I hit the beach the next day...how is that enforced both in terms of the "possession of mutilated fish" and the number of fish I can keep? I'm sure the answer is "leave the fillets at home" but is there no provision in the law for being in position of fillets for the purpose of consumption in an area one is catching fish?

Good call,I can see that point 100%.If one decides to bring food to the grill for cooking/gathering.Or how about this,what if you had brought lobsters with you.....who's to say that you didn't buy them & you cought them there in the water right?
Must you carry a recipt for the lobsters,and for bass say hey I caught these yesturday or what ever the case maybe?


I have learned that when I fillet a fish at location and rinse it off in the salt water it taste 100% better than brinning it home and cleansing it under tap water,not to mention I can release the carcus in the water for the crabs and smaller fish to feast on,kinda like the circle of life recycling.

[Mike P]

You are running the risk of getting cited if you fillet the fish at home, and then bring them with you when fishing the next day. Common sense alone should tell you that it's a bad idea.

The lobster analogy isn't a good one, IMO. So few people lobster recreationally to start with, and lobsters don't swim off sandy beaches. Unless you had a vehicle full of lobster traps, a push pole, and buckets of lobster bait, no one is going to think that you caught the lobsters.