Question about the regs. If a pike takes my fish and i net it can i keep it?

I was fishing with my son last weekend and had a big pike grab his sunfish 3 times, i was able to get it dockside but i didnt have a net and didnt get a hook in it so i wasnt able to land it before it broke off the line off the ultralight gear i was using.

So it got me thinking would it be legal to keep that pike if I landed it? Technically I never got a hook into the pike, it just wouldnt let go of the fish, and the regs forbid you from catching a pike with a net or using gamefish as bait.

Just a hypothetical, but curious as to your thoughts

I think you have to put a hook through the pike's mouth while you are fishing. Thats my take.

Ya. I would say the pike has to go back. I realize there is the law and also the spirit of the law if u will. did u break the spirit of the law if a pike grabs your sunfish by accident and u land them both? I would say not but a CO may believe u were using sunfish for bait and may charge u for breaking the law. So in the spirit of being aware of the regulations u already mentioned I would release the pike if it were me.

I think its a catch.... Lots of hypotheticals but I think its a go/catch in my books...

I would say legal....

Nope, I don't think it's legal, I don't think sunfish is in the bait list even if there was no limit.
I also think you have to hook it thru the mouth to be legal.
Now, would I keep it if I wanted some fish to fry.....

If its not legal, post the section of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act stating so.

I would say it is legal. I highly doubt any CO would say much other than "Cool", you caught it with the fish you had just caught on the way in.

I wouldn't worry about it.

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Originally Posted by brent

If its not legal, post the section of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act stating so.

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It says you have to hook it through the mouth to keep it. Just sayin

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Originally Posted by greatwhite

I would say it is legal. I highly doubt any CO would say much other than "Cool", you caught it with the fish you had just caught on the way in.

I wouldn't worry about it.

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Yup just common sense... Maybe it's illegal technically because it wasn't hooked or sunfish is a gamefish and can't be used as bait, but I highly doubt any CO would care even if he did see it, and he would have to be there right at that exact moment... And it's not like you tried to poach it...