Me too! Usually I get 5 or 6 blue catfish and may a couple of hybrids, my cooler is already full, my fishing is done for the WHOLE WEEK.

That's a good discussion,I always thought possession limit was unless your a guide,no matter how many people in a boat or truck on the way home, you can have only twice the legal limit of fish.Never worried about it because I normally fish alone. So if myself and 3 others go to Choke Canyon for a week of trotlining,how many can be in our coolers? Game Warden long ago said to put your name on your cooler and not to have more than twice the limit in each to be ok.It could be confusing.

You can catch one bag limit per person per calendar day. You can possess two times the daily bag limit per person. And yes, you really should keep them in separate coolers/stringers from your buddy.

Your buddy being there has no bearing on what you or him can keep.

Hey Ren - just want to make sure you don't get ticketed but in your example above, it is illegal what you described. You caught 3 before midnight, then you caught 5 more after midnight. Nothing wrong with that as you are under the possession limit and bag limits per day. But when you said to go home, throw them in the freezer and come back for 5 more hybrids... that is when you are in violation. While the possession limit reset after you threw them in your freezer, your hybrid count for day 2 is now 10 hybrids. The bag limit is only 5... which means you are now in violation. Just pointing it out that's all so you understand.

As others have mentioned, the law isn't as convoluted as most think.

LMAO! Keep reading to the end of the thread, then you understand the discussion in full!

One thing that you (and two others) misstated is that the "possession limit is reset", which adding even more confusion to the discussion. And I'm going to correct that right now once and for all. NO, THE POSSESSION LIMIT DOES NOT RESET! AND NEITHER THE DAILY BAG LIMIT! YOUR FIRST CALENDER DAY BAG LIMIT IS HALF OF YOUR POSSESSION LIMIT OF TWO BAGS POSSESSION LIMIT. ON THE SECOND DAY OF FISHING YOUR SECOND BAG LIMIT IS ADDED TO YOUR POSSESSION FROM YESTERDAY, AT THIS POINT YOU NOW POSSESS TWO DAILY BAG LIMITS. 1+1=2, get it? NO RESET!

For example, if you start fishing at 12.01 AM today (Thursday), your hybrids daily bag limit is max at 5 fish, but your your possession limit 10, so you still have room for 5 more fish the next day! Between 12.01 AM to 12pm midnight, if you catch 5 hybrids, you reached your daily bag limit but not yet max out your possession limit for this fishing trip. Got it? Good!

Now, let say you're a fishing maniac, and you continue to fish pass midnight, YOU BETTER LABEL YOUR 5 FISH FROM YESTERDAY CLEARLY AND SEPARATELY FROM ANY CATCH TODAY. The law does not prohibit you to fish on the second calender day. So, from 12.01 Friday to midnight you can catch another 5 hybrids (your daily bag limit for Friday). What you confuse in your terminology is when you say "the possession limit is reset". Reset to what? No, you possessed 5 fish from yesterday, and that's in your possession, you just added more fish to your possession today. if you catch 5 more fish on Friday, it's 5+5=10. You added more fish to your possession. NO, THAT'S NOT A RESET!

THE LAW ALLOWS YOU TO POSSESS UP TO TWO DAILY BAG LIMITS WHEN YOU FISH AT LEAST TWO DAYS. YOU NOW POSSESS 10 FISH (5 FROM THURSDAY AND 5 FRIDAY), WHICH TAKES YOU TO THE MAXIMUM POSSESSION LIMIT ALLOWED BY LAW. YOU'RE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO KEEP ANY MORE HYBRIDS DURING THIS FISHING EXPEDITION! THE POSSESSION LIMIT, WAS NEVER RESET, IT MAX OUT AT TWO DAILY BAG LIMITS PER GAME FISH!

Get it! May be?

Using my example above, if you want to keep any more fish, you have to go home and dump your fish in the freezer at your permanent residence (or give away to your relatives, friends and/or neighbors, etc.), then take a nap then you can head back... but you have to wait until 12.01 AM Saturday to start harvesting another 5 hybrids then go home (scenario A)

Scenario B: I'm going to make it more interesting, 5 hybrids on Saturday + 5 hybrids on Sunday, then go home.

Any one want to challenge the legality of both scenarios?

Multiple choice test for you:
(a) scenario A is illegal, because...
(b) scenario A is legal, because...
(c) scenario B is illegal, because...
(d) scenario B is legal, because...

To Kepi, just to make sure you understand... (just keep the tradition of beating the dead horse going... ) J/K, just to clarify to make this thread more useful, may be?

A possession limit violation is different than a daily bag violation. You can be in compliant with your daily bag limit but in violation of possession limit or vice versa, or you can be in violation of both simultaneously.

scenarios:
(a) after harvested two consecutive bag limits on first two days of fishing, you harvested another bag limit on the third day -- you're in violation of the two bag limits even you were in compliant with the daily bag limit.
(b) within the same day you harvested more than one bag limit (but not over two bag limits) of fish -- you're within the two bags possession limit but you're in violation of the daily bag limit.
(c) in two days of fishing you caught and kept more than two bag limits of a game fish -- you're in violation of both the daily bag limit and possession limit.
(d*) within the same calendar day, you caught a bag limit of fish, took it home and go back to catch another bag limit of fish -- you're in violation of a daily bag limit but not the possession limit on either trip.

(*) this was the milky scenario... but I have stated in more than one posts above, that it is not worth the risk/trouble with the game wardens, so every one please play it safe, STICK WITH ONE BAG LIMIT OF GAME FISH PER DAY, THEN EITHER QUIT FISHING AND GO HOME OR CATCH DIFFERENT SPECIES OF FISH ON THAT DAY.

Try CPR and you never have to worry about it

I do even better than CPR, I C&R all the time........on all the fish that got away

On a more serious note: I don't do CPR, and fortunately I'm good enough a fisherman that I can catch fish on nearly every outing...So every week I go fishing once (may be twice at most), I'll catch enough fish to feed my family for a whole week, then I stop fishing... I do something else like hiking, scouting, talking to other anglers to exchange fishing stories and techniques,etc. If I didn't bring my family with me, I'll head back home to spend time with my family. FISHING SHOULD ADD RICHNESS TO A MAN'S LIFE WITHOUT TAKING MUCH OUT OF HIS FAMILY LIFE... Yeah, there's more to fishing than catching fish, taking picture and releasing fish over and over, again and again...

I never catch a limit of any fish, period. Never have a need for it! Thank you very much!

As simple as 1-2-3

1. I catch fish to put in my cooler, catfish, hybribs, stripers, yellow bass are my main catches. when my cooler is full I stop fishing regardless if I'd not reached my daily bag limit of any fish species.
2. If the fish doesn't fit in my cooler, the fish go back in the water. I keep legal catfish up to 15lb, hybrids/stripers up to 10lb...anything bigger go back in the water (some with pics, some no just C&R.)
3. I caught and kept all legal hybrids and stripers so far (strange enough never reached the magic number 5, not even once, came close on a few trips with 4 combined hybrids and stripers), I just want to catch a few hybrids and stripers 13lb and up, CPR them and post pics on TFF (this is in part because I told B_vandy that I would release some of the big stripers if I caught them.) I don't target big catfish anymore, and if I'm lucky enough to catch one or two teen hybrids/stripers I'd CPR and post them on the forum... After that, I'm going back to my own rules (see 1&2), and I would not targeting big fish anymore. If I catch them on my 2/0-4/0 hooks (these are not necessary big fish hooks), they go back in the water right away, I would take pics only on some fish if it is safe to do so.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with every one (that is with those who care to read ) my fishing style and a little personal perspective to fishing.

Who cares! If you only kept enough fish to eat fresh you wouldn't have to worry about all the nonsense! Personally I think that catching a limit of fish right before 12am then catching a limit and keeping it right after 12am is a violation...if not legal then moral..I don't understand the macho "I gotta fill the dern freezer" attitude in Texas...frozen fish tastes like [censored]..puke! If you are a good fishermen you should only need to keep enough to eat fresh.

I think we both have similar "perspective" to fishing... fresh fish definitely tastes better than frozen fish,.. it might be legal but wasting fish is definitely a moral issue...but... (I'll add to your statements, not as a rebuke, but may be to help others understand and enjoy their fishing catches, how to store their fish and enjoy their fish ...)

1. You can buy sushi grade fish fillet, i.e. highest quality of fish fillet, from Whole Food Market or Central Market, they are fresh and good tasting, but fillets were cut from a thawed out frozen whole fish... IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE, but it would still be more expensive if you were to drive out to the lake, drive around the lake to find fish, catch them clean them and cook them "fresh" every time you feel like eating fish for dinner! Papa Deux Restaurant is the cheaper alternative!
2. Freeze fish whole,... within the first week, you won't notice any different in taste, you can keep fish relatively fresh for a month.
3. Store your fillet in ziplock plastic bags filled with water to push out air and store them in ice until you get home, then freeze them right away... stay "fresh" for a month, and can be stored up to 6 months without freezer burn.