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Fisherman Learns 52 Lessons

Trout Record Flap

Caught — and released to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

Rob Scott, Crane Lake, Minn., is an angler who caught a potential 52lb world-record lake trout in February 2014 fishing a lake near the US/Canada border. The fish was 45 inches long with a 32-inch girth, Rob said.

Worried he may lose his Candian fishing license, and possibly access to fish Canadaian water again, Rob got lucky with a hefty fine plus court costs, The angler won’t get to keep the fish or enter it as a world record catch. The current record is 29 pounds, 6 ounces. so he would have won by a considerable margin. The fisherman did not contest the charges.

But because Rob’s lake trout limit was one fish and he had already kept a 4-pounder earlier in the day, he was over his limit when he kept the big lake trout. He later gave the 4-pound trout to his nephew, he said, but according to Ontario law, he had possessed both fish. “He killed two fish. You’re only allowed to kill one,” the MNR’s Elliott said.

A prime example of why to respect your local regulations and catch limits.

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Working Together

Here is a letter I received from the MNR:

Hello Al,

Your Fall-Winter 2012 Journal was sent to me because of its enforcement content, but of course I couldn’t stop there – a very interesting and informative read.

My first comment is to thank you for your support of MNR’s field Conservation Officers. It’s the public’s participation through our TIPS-MNR violation reporting line that keeps our officers effective. Given Ontario Steelheaders obvious support for our enforcement work I would like to connect your group with another Ontario volunteer organization that provides tremendous support to us by focusing attention on specific illegal activity and then sharing the resulting information with us – information that leads to many successful convictions. The network of Crime Stoppers programs in Ontario has been an active supporter of MNR enforcement since 1991.

You will no doubt have noticed their “Unlawful sale of trout and salmon roe” ad in the 2012 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary. That ad, which was collaboration between Crime Stoppers and Trout Unlimited Canada, placed a spotlight on an important issue of concern to all law abiding anglers – the illegal sale of our fishery resource.

As the MNR Enforcement Branch representative to the Ontario Association of Crime Stoppers I would be happy to put you in contact with a member of the OACS executive to discuss running the ad in you next Journal edition – the timing couldn’t be better!

Regards, Mark Robbins Provincial Enforcement Specialist Enforcement Branch Ministry of Natural Resources