Call the number at the bottom of the sheet like I did...and you will be told what I have been telling you. It is the volume of actual shad...not the volume of the container, not the volume of the container with water. If you leave the lake with over 30 gallons of actual shad, you need the permit.

That's alot of shad...I have trouble just catching 50 of those bastards

• Any person who is collecting shad for personal use and is harvesting large amounts (i.e., container or
containers that total 30 gallons or more in volume)

Pretty vague. 30 gallons in volume of what? Water or Shad?

Just to be clear, I'm not arguing with you.

Please re-read my response. I believe I'm correct in my analysis.

A 30 gallon container refers to the capacity of the container, not the quantity of shad. A 50 gallon drum with three shad in it is still above the 30 gallon threshold, assuming the other criteria are met.

So Uncle Zeek my understanding from the call I made to the number at the bottom of the flyer I posted, it is not the volume of the container. It is the actual physical volume of bait. Since three shad are well below 30 volumetric gallons of shad, no permit needed.

When I used to fish the Texas Striper Association with Holzer, the setup we ran was a 50 Gallon Tank Up Front and a 40 Gallon Tank in the rear. I explained this to the rep on the phone. No permit needed...since the actual shad volume is way less than 30 Gallons total. We would try to do 2 baits per gallon in the cooler months but not go over a bait per gallon of water in the warmer months, sometimes even less than that depending size of shad and how long we were holding the baits etc.

Well, if a case involving this statute hits the Texas courts, I'll post the results. The statute very clearly refers to the volume of the container, rather than the volume of shad.

In any event, the volume is irrelevant if one is fishing on the same lake you caught the shad.

Not to argure, we all have to be responsible for our actions if we don't follow the rules, even if we are honest in our mis-interpretation. However, I wanted to add some thoughts. Just something to think about.




Who needs a permit to Possess or Sell Nongame Fish Taken from Public Fresh Waters?

• Any person who wants to catch for sale, sell or offer for sale nongame fish taken from public fresh water
of the state.
• Any person who is collecting shad for personal use and is harvesting large amounts (i.e., container or
containers that total 30 gallons or more in volume)


I'm just trying to figure out if a game warden on the water is going to interpret the rule as it is written above, Or in the manor as the person who told you that it is "30 gallons of shad". [/quote]

[b][/b]
Please re-read my response. I believe I'm correct in my analysis.

A 30 gallon container refers to the capacity of the container, not the quantity of the shad.

Agree, 30 gallon is the capacity of the container or the sum of multiple containers. However, the subject is shad. So the container/containers would have to contain 30 gal of shad.



A 50 gallon drum with three shad in it is still above the 30 gallon threshold, assuming the other criteria are met.[/quote]

Do you believe 3 shad would constitute a large quantity of shad? There is a helpful chart a bit lower in the regulations which define a large quantity of shad as > 30 gallons. Note, there is no reference to "container" in the chart.

My point was that the statute is clearly referring to the volume of the container, rather than the volume of shad in the container. If you have a 50 gallon container, it's over the 30 gallon size and triggers the need for the permit, assuming the other conditions are met.

Again, there are no cases in Texas involving this law, so if one comes up, it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds.

I interpret the literature the same manner as Zeek.

Here's the language of the 2019 revision: If a person is collecting shad for personal use (for use as bait or stocking in private ponds) and is transporting the shad from the public water body in a container or containers that total 30 gallons or more in volume, they will be required to get a permit. Summary of Shad Rule Changes --Texas.gov.

OK, didn't want to post a response and then disappear. All's good. Tight lines.

Read the bottom "how much are you catching"

It does not state how big is your shad tank?

Hmm? On that note, I can see how Macdaddarino was told at the TPWD office that this rule was designed around the volume of shad caught.
But there is still alot of literature around the size of your bait tank and not the volume of harvested shad.
Well, should be interesting to see how the authorities interpret the rule if they choose to enforce this one.

Nice catch honey hole. Thanks for pointing that one out.