Shooting Fish Legal Anywhere in America?

[Adventurer 2]

I just got back from a trip. One evening, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, flyfishing for dinner, I couldn't get the trout to strike anything I had. They would come up to the surface, look the flies over, then meander along. I know I could have taken a few for the frying pan with a 22LR. I didn't because I'm pretty sure it is illegal and I can go an evening without eating.
I do remember an article I read a long, long, time ago about people in MN shooting northern pike with rifles (Outdoor Life, Sportsman Afield, Field and Stream???). I know people that currently hunt fish with bows and arrows but I don't know anyone that does it with a rifle. Is it legal to hunt fish anywhere in the U.S with a rifle?

 

[T-Ray]

it might be legal, but it's a waste of ammo, b/c bullets penetrate less than about 2' in water, plus putting lead into water isn't a good way to keep fish alive... and if the trout don't bite on top of the water, try using a wet fly...

 

[bclark1]

Bowhunting fish might be more effective, no idea if and when it's legal. More of a pain to lug that gear than a .22 though.

 

[davlandrum]

.....wait for it......IN A BARREL

I think it might be OK for invasive species, but this is a question for your state regs, but then you get into the whole lead bullet thing....

 

[crowbeaner]

Yes it is! Over in Vermont you can shoot fish in season; the guys that do it are called the brass bullets and hipwader bunch. Seems like a waste of ammo to me; one stick of dynamite would do a better job. BOOM! GRAB THE NET!

 

[blackhawk45]

One Of The Ten Commandmants Of Firearm Safety--- Never Shoot At Water, Or Hard Objects !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[johnwilliamson062]

One Of The Ten Commandmants Of Firearm Safety--- Never Shoot At Water, Or Hard Objects !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exodus 20:2-17

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Sometimes I covet my neighbors ox, and sometimes I shoot at water.
Sometimes I shoot at water, see the massive splash, and think that I am God.
The shooting water part is the least of my worries.
Seriously though, does the no shooting at water rule make any sense?

 

[dipper]

Seriously though, does the no shooting at water rule make any sense?

It does if you don't like ricochets ---bullets very often come off water the same way they would off a paved parking lot.
In my younger years, I was trapping with a friend who got hit by a ricochet while we were checking traps.
Another trapper was claiming the river for his own and was messing around and shot his 22 rimfire in the water near us, it hit my friend above the knee.


Dipper

 

[Sidetracked]

The states I care(d) about in 2001 didn't have any laws I could find, refering to discharging a firearm into water. Most did, however, have regulations about using lead around water, and discharging lead into water.

Depending on your state, you might be somewhat legal, mostly illegal, or in a gray area.

 

[.300H&H]

Ricochets... I was once many many moons ago walking by a local lake<more like a vast swamp> when I heard something buzz by in the air and thump a tree... I then heard the distant sound of a rifle... and another buzzing sound... It was some lad shooting<most likely a .22> at some object on the water.
He was too far away to see or hear me. It was a rather disgusting situation.


On the other hand, when I was about 13 years old I'd sometimes shoot a carp with my .22 Benjamin air rifle. The carp would swim close to the bank with their fins sticking out of the water...and I could scoop'em up... but some of those things that seemed fascinating and really neat to do at age 13...are thankfully outgrown.

 

[rem870hunter]

you can use a bow and arrow for carp and maybe catfish in NJ. firearms no.

my father told me once of a guy that was fishing in a boat in the ocean. kept having sharks get to close to his boat. carried a rifle with him in the boat. he apparently took a shot or 2 at the sharks. a bullet ricocheted (spelling?) off the water. went several miles and killed someone driving down a road. i supposedly came in through an open window and hit them in the neck or the back of the head and killed them. i forget how they determined who did it. much less if they did. could just be a far fetched story to keep me from shooting at water. but. i don't shoot at water or hard surfaces anyways.

 

[B. Lahey]

Hemingway said the only proper tool for dealing with sharks is the Thompson SMG.

Some artist that Hunter Thompson knew used to fish for trout with a shotgun out by Owl Farm in Colorado, but it probably wasn't legal.

 

[johnwilliamson062]

.22lr bounces ricochet off of dirt also. If you hit almost anything at a low angle you will get a ricochet, and it is possible at much higher angles.

 

[scottycoyote]

ive kept the secret all these years but now is time to admit it......ive shot fish before.
After a long night of fishing i arrive home with a cooler full of catfish.....i dump them out and to my horror......the little freaks are still breathing and looking at me lol. I was young and didnt no any better......nearest thing handy was a 22 autoloader so i let em all have it execution style. Man i feel better now

 

[steveno]

in Nebraska I think if you are caught by a game warden shooting fish with a firearm it would have the effect as using dupont spinners. you are going to be in trouble.

 

[xm21]

It is legal to shoot spawning suckers from bridges in Scott county Virginia,I think it is on the Clinch river.If the trout are refusing dries,put on a soft hackle and Gink the leader about a foot above the fly.