A little different twist to your question , but I called TPW and ask if you could throw the remains after cleaning your fish off of your dock and was told NO.

oh oh

I caught a big catchfish at this guys slip, wonder why. LOL

There is cleaning stations on piers and marinas all over the state. A (normal) GW is not going to bust you for cleaning your days catch at the lake in a marina on a fish cleaning table. No it is not legal but neither is speeding to 31mph in a 30mph zone.

people throw remains in the water...I know it is so "illegal"...but never seen anyone get a ticket

Good Info: "If you are going to break the law, do it when no one is looking

It is my understanding that the shrimp boats in the gulf were tossing fish remains close to shore and creating a problem so the state made a law that classified fish remains as a hazardous waste. Since it is unlawful to throw a hazardous waste material into any lake, it is now unlawful to throw your fish remains into any lake in TX. On Texoma, It would be legal to clean your fish on your boat while on the water THEN motor out across the river channel and dump them into the OK. side of the lake. In Oklahoma, it is okay to dump your fish remains into the lake, IF THE LAKE ALLOWS IT, and Texoma does on the OK side.
But here is the next problem. It is also against the law to transport fish fillets by boat on the TX side of Texoma so motoring out to dump your remains with fillets would get you into trouble also. Oklahoma is going to outlaw fillets on the water also, if they haven't already. (That's what I hear)
The concern of the wardens I've heard over the years is that they will ticket you if you make a mess of your fillets by dumping them close to shore or by the boat ramp and will make you clean up your mess. As they should.
Legally it is illegal to throw fish remains in TX waters. If the GW are not enforcing it doesn't mean they won't or shouldn't. They are just being nice and have better things to do with their time. Of course I am not speaking for any official and you should follow the letter of the law to be safe.
This is just what I've seen over the years.

J Allen - Great points. The key thing to remember is you can't transport fillets and you'll probably get a ticket, if caught, because the warden can't get an accurate count of your fish. I've seen guys cleaning at the dock and made a mess.

Your right, but didn't Lewisville's fishing barge get shut down for a short time by the Game Warden for having the Fillet Stations in use?

The marina asked that the remains not be thrown back into the water, so law or not I won't do that.

I suspect that it's going to somehow come down to the marina being private property. But as soon as I catch the GW at the dock I plan to ask.

Michial, I've actually had to ask this of a GW before, similar scenarios (cleaning table on a public pier + the cleaning station at Lewisville barge). Basically it comes down to this; clean the fish at the table and walk the cooler off the dock (pier, whatever) up to your vehicle. "Land" in this context seems to mean no more travel by boat.

IF you transport the filleted fish by boat then you're up your own creek. Also, I've seen the GW cite someone for being over the limit by continuing to fish while they were cleaning at LL.

It sounds to me like what ever the GW thinks in the area. The laws are probably against it but, I have never seen a GW say a word about cleaning fish on a pier as hundreds of people do each year. I know 3 GW's fairly well and they make judgement calls all the time. Some GW's write several tickets and make everyone follow the rules accordingly. Some are more laid back.

Nothing against any GW's.

I have delt with several grey areas in the past and called one of the GW's. Most of the time, they give you a very logical answer stating "the law says this but, it does not exactly apply to this situation and/or dont worry about it"

And was the guy at the public cleaning table with over his limit?...."here's your sign"

He was continuing to fish - catching & keeping catfish on two rods at the rail - while he cleaned fish. The GW's rationale was that since he could not identify what KIND of fish were already filleted in the bag, he was going to assume they were also the same kind of fish that the guy was continuing to keep.

Total count of fillets with whole fish ended up being more than the legal limit for cats - I don't know if he had previously cleaned some crappie, bass etc in that pile, but he had no way to prove one way or the other.

A good reason to either fish or clean fish. Wait 'til you're done fishing before cleaning. DOH!!!!!!

OOPS!

i use the "remains of fish" to bait hog traps. They LOVE rotting fish!

My brother has a lake lot at Palistine. When I fish with him it is always a challenge to get rid of the fish waste. His lot is not large enought to bury the waste. There are no disposal areas inside his lake lot area. The best means we have is to dispose of the waste in a public trash can. You know what that does after a day in the sun. I can never bring myself to dump the waste back into the lake. We do that in Louisiana, but you got gators and stuff that take care of it there, at least where we fish we do. And, it is the norm there, don't know if legal or not.
I never thought about the cleaning issue though. Always waited until I got onto land to clean anything, then pack them to camp or home. But, certainly something to keep in mind when on a fishing trip away from home.

I usually wait to get home to clean the fish...I freeze the waste until trash day. That keeps the smell down.

Another thing I do is line a bucket with a plastic trash bag and then line the inside of the trash bag with news paper...this keeps the bones and gills from tearing the plastic bag.

R