If you give a fish away, you have caught and kept your limit. You can't kill deer and give them away over your limit and it is the same with other game species.

I have never heard of someone getting a ticket for fishing after a limit had been caught. I usually leave one out just in case I catch that monster, but there have been quite a few times when people I know have caught a limit of two different species using the same tactics. I do not believe a game warden can write a ticket for releasing fish that go over the limit. It is quite possible to catch a limit of white bass and then start catching crappie. You can also catch a limit of five hybrid over fifteen inches but not have the limit of fifteen total. So, technically, you can have a limit of a fish without having a limit of a fish.

Now, that being said, I was recently reading a muskie forum topic about size limit changes on fish up north. the limit was changed to something like 54 inches. The argument was whether or not taking the time to take a picture of a 50 inch fish was considered holding that fish in your posession. Some, who had consulted wardens, said the wardens responded by saying that they would write a ticket to anyone who took pictures of the fish out of the water and their definition of releasing the fish was a water release. A water release can be required for some fish like sturgeon but this was not specified for muskie. Because it is not specified for one species and specified for another, is it implied? Would this hold up if taken to court? probably not. Others responded by saying the wardens they had consulted did not care as long as the fish was released in a timely manner. So, if fishing after a limit is a concern, use a water release. You never have the fish in your possesion.

On the other hand. Taking a short bass out of the water to take the hook out would then be counted as having the fish in your possession and therefore illegal (if fishing over a limit were illegal) and no fish that is not eyeballed correctly is illegal.

I almost had this problem today (I couldn't quite catch that fifth hybrid) and asked the experienced angler next to me if fishing after a limit was illegal and his response was "h*** no." I'll leave it at that.