Fish went right back in the water, just put them in the well to have them weighed at CFR and get a pic. No harm done. They swam off alive and healthy

Not the boat ramp, the cabins and campsites. There are employees that work at night in normal times.

The below is directly from TPWD website. It's always fun to get that picture of a successful day but getting a ticket could really end your fun day on a sour note.

Possession of Fish Taken from Public Water

Fish caught and immediately released are not considered to be in possession. Any fish that are retained by using any type of holding device such as stringer, cooler, livewell, or bucket are considered in an angler’s possession and must adhere to established length and bag limits. While fishing, it is illegal to be in possession of more fish than the daily bag limit or fish that are within a protected length limit.

Or how about they keep the staff working to keep an eye on things from a distance, but not have them man the office. Just let people use the self pay box. That'll cover the salaries, keep the staff socially distanced, and let people get out and get some fresh air. Like I said it should be criminal to close the ramps at a time like this. If anyone knows the name of the 3rd party company who runs the parks pleas let me know.

I would guess 1000 Trails operates the concessions.

Oh I don't care if you take some home and do as you want. Just don't want you getting a ticket. That picture can get you a ticket. You have illegal fish in your possession in the photo. Just giving you a heads up.

Got ya, didnt know! So how are you supposed to fish a tournament and have a weigh in? And why is it I've seen multiple people bring bass out of that lake to CFR to have them weighed? I just thought it was okay to keep them for the day to see what kind of fish we could pull

The only tournaments are paper tournaments or you obey the slot limit. Your allowed to keep/retain one over 24" I think it is. You can do as you like with it. I caught one back in 2010 I think it was that was between 10-11 on my scale bouncing all over place that I wanted to get on certified scale but was only 23.5" long. Had to call it a 10 and let it go.

dk2429, if you have a tournament on a lake with a slot limit, you aren't allowed to keep & weigh-in any fish within the slot limit. I would imagine MBoehm is making his statement with an accurate assessment that the fish falls within the slot. Put a fish from the slot in your livewell, and you can expect a citation. How's the officer supposed to know when you intend to release the fish? ....maybe when it gets to your fillet board?

If it’s with in the slot, immediately release, no live well time for pics allowed! It’s illegal.

First, it shouldn’t be criminal. Government parks close down all the time. Completely legal. Second, while it should be safe, I’ve witnessed the following in the last week at different boat ramps in different parts of the state:

People congregating at the ramp because a walking trail goes right through the parking lot and people stopped to rest, people were fishing from the area, people were laying on blankets, people were swimming

A one lane ramp, the only one on the lake, had 100 people trying to use it in the afternoon - everything from people launching bass boats, pontoon boats with 10 people on them, and kayaks. The pontoon boat got stuck on the bank while trying to load all of the passengers in, and they had everyone gather in the back of the boat, then the front, trying to distribute weight so they could get unstuck and get off the bank.

The loan dock at the boat ramp had four guys fishing on it in the morning, standing shoulder to shoulder, walking around each other, etc.

Groups set up on the bank to fish near each other.

A bass boat launching with two older gentlemen, a middle aged guy and a teenaged girl, plus a dog, all arriving in the same SUV, commingling at the ramp for 10 minutes, then hopping in a small bass boat and taking off.

For someone who has been swearing up and down in the OT there is only one way to combat this virus and more data is needed, you sure seem to not have a handle on what the issue is or how people are handling this. In theory, being on the lake is safe, but when you get to the lake, you’ll see what a catastrophe it is when everyone is cooped up for weeks on hand. Maybe not your lake at 7 am, but at plenty of lakes and throughout the day.

You can’t have it both ways. Being in a bass boat isn’t social distancing, unless you have one guy drive and one guy sit on the back deck and idle around. But that’s not what I’m witnessing at ramps in north and east Texas. This is real data. Lakes and green belts are going to be more crowded than ever.

It’s probably busier than normal, because people are bored and the weather is nice. And that’s going to be the downfall. You can be sure that you’re “the lake is the safest place to be” argument just because you want to go fishing by yourself isn’t going to fly, just like Dallas is now threatening to shutdown trails around the city because people aren’t staying six feet apart.

Just read the park web sites of Oak Thicket and Park Prairie. Oak Thicket closed until further notice. Park Prairie is still open. According to their respective web sites.

I witnessed tournaments on both Toledo and Rayburn Saturday. Lakes were packed. Thatll get it shut down quick. Also Abbott just closed down traffic from Louisiana so it's starting. Get ready

Got ya.. thanks everyone. I'm headed back up there Tuesday if no one seems to have a straight answer about Fayette. Also thinking Coleto Creek but no one seems to know if it's open either. It's alright, Houston County I know I can do something at

Knock, knock,....Who's there?
Texas Game Warden!