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How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country #10830598 05/09/15 04:44 PM
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big10 Offline OP
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After seeing the article on the top 10 states for catfishing in the country I did a little research, just to compare how WE (Texas) compares to the rest of the top 10. Heres what I found.

#1 Alabama - It is illegal to possess more than one (1) catfish over 34 inches in total length.

#2 Arkansas - Channel catfish, blue catfish and flathead catfish, combined. 10 per person, per day.

#3 Illinois - I have no clue what the laws are. If anyone else does, please fill me in.

#4 Mississippi - No creel limit, only 1 fish over 34" per person per day.

#5 Missouri - Blues Daily Limit 5, Channels Daily Limit 10, Flats Daily Limit 5.
Special laws for Truman Lake and Lake of the Ozarks. Release immediately unharmed all blue catfish between 26 and 34 inches long. Daily Limit 10 blue catfish, but only 2 may be longer than 34 inches.

#6 Nebraska - 1 Blue, 10 Channels, and 5 Flats Daily limit. Only 1 fish over 30" per person per day.

#7 Ohio - No limit on channels under 28". Only 1 Channel over 28" per person per day. No limit on blues and flats under 35". Only 1 over 35" per person per day.

#8 South Carolina - Statewide, no bag limit with the exception of no more than 1 catfish over 36" per person per day. Effective April 1, 2015 25 fisher possession limit and only 2 fish larger than 32" for Lakes Marion and Moultrie. Also effective April 1, 2015, there will be no possession limit and only 2 fish larger than 32 inches may be taken on the Congaree and Wateree Rivers.

#9 Tennessesse - Only 1 catfish over 34" per day. No limit on catfish under 34".

#10 Texas - Channels & Blues 25 combined, minimum 12". 5 Flats, minimum 18".

Take some time to look over this and see if you can find any similarities in the harvest restrictions from the states with the best catfishing in the country.

Last edited by big10; 05/09/15 04:45 PM.

Jerry Dillard
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Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10830671 05/09/15 05:13 PM
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ChuChu1 Offline
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What I see is one persons opinion on best catfishing. I would argue that Tennessee and Mississippi are the top two states. And if you notice, no limit except only one fish over 34". Even this list has Alabama as the top, and it has no limit except the 34" one fish limit. On this list, three of the top four have no limits on catfish under 34".

Illinois has no regulations for catfish. Catfish are not considered sport fish.


Snowflakes and entitled brats will be the doom of America!


Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: ChuChu1] #10830809 05/09/15 06:30 PM
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big10 Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: ChuChu1


Illinois has no regulations for catfish. Catfish are not considered sport fish.


Thanks for clearing that up. I thought that may have been the case.


Jerry Dillard
Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10854109 05/19/15 02:02 AM
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big10 Offline OP
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Chuchu. You partially stared the exact point I'm trying to make. 3 of the top 4 lakes have no limit on catfish under 34". But what about fish over 34"?

7 of the top 10 states in the nation have some type of law restricting the harvest of big fish. Texas being one that does not have a statewide harvest restrictions on trophy fish.


Jerry Dillard
Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10854644 05/19/15 11:49 AM
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Drawout Offline
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I agree we need some better laws protecting big fish but the reason Texas was number 10 is because the list was in alphabetical order

Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10854822 05/19/15 01:22 PM
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Alabama may restrict you to one catfish over 34 inches, but there is no limit to the number you can keep under 34 inches. The Tennessee River is considered one of the best places in the US to catch trophy catfish.


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Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: Drawout] #10854827 05/19/15 01:26 PM
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Originally Posted By: Drawout
I agree we need some better laws protecting big fish but the reason Texas was number 10 is because the list was in alphabetical order


lol, I didn't even notice that. What a chicken-[censored] list. Either the magazine was too afraid to actually rank them or they didn't have the data to back anything up.

Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10854833 05/19/15 01:28 PM
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Originally Posted By: big10
Chuchu. You partially stared the exact point I'm trying to make. 3 of the top 4 lakes have no limit on catfish under 34". But what about fish over 34"?

7 of the top 10 states in the nation have some type of law restricting the harvest of big fish. Texas being one that does not have a statewide harvest restrictions on trophy fish.


I have said many times, I would support the restricting keeping fish over 30 inches. But would not support any further restrictions on smaller fish. In fact, I would lower that 30" to 20" just leave my 14" catfish alone.


Snowflakes and entitled brats will be the doom of America!


Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: Fishin' Nut] #10854841 05/19/15 01:30 PM
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Originally Posted By: Fishin' Nut
Alabama may restrict you to one catfish over 34 inches, but there is no limit to the number you can keep under 34 inches. The Tennessee River is considered one of the best places in the US to catch trophy catfish.


I make trips to Pickwick to fish below the dam for trophy blue cats. A good day is 15 to 20 over 30". Half the fun is catching skipjack for bait first thing in the morning.


Snowflakes and entitled brats will be the doom of America!


Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10854856 05/19/15 01:35 PM
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redchevy Offline
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Texas and many other states don't have a Mississippi river or a Tennessee river etc. its hard to compare "Best" we are a couple rungs down because of that no matter what.

Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10854864 05/19/15 01:36 PM
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redchevy Offline
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When you see people that keep more than 1 fish over say 34 inches what do they commonly look like?

Its probably either a bunch of guys or a family. They have enough people to keep however many they want and still will.

Re: How does Texas Compare to the Rest of the Country [Re: big10] #10857990 05/20/15 02:57 PM
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I like the rules we have in Texas But Arkansas has some good rules in place to control The Rough fish.Also on the Red River,Sulphur, and the Little River below Millwood,no limit on Blue & channel cats

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