Can someone explain to me the difference between possession limit and daily bag? The TPWD manual says, "Possession limit is twice the statewide daily bag", so if the daily bag for bass is 5, what does it mean to "possess" 10 bass?

that means you cant have more in your home then 5 others. plus the 5 you have when he checks your fish at the lake or river.
Like crappie is 25 daily 50 in possesion so if i have my limit at the lake i cant have more then 25 at my house in the freezer

This has been discussed many times on the forum.
bottom line , If you are camping or staying away from home, you can have 2 days catch in your cooler at the camp or temp. residence. You can NOT have 2 days catch in your cooler in the boat, at any time .
Any fish at your permanent residence are not counted as "
in Possession" You can have as many fish in your freezer
as you can cram in there.

If you go to Lake X for a week, and get stopped on the
way home , no more than two days limit is what you
should have in your cooler.
Good luck

MO

Mo, thanks for clearing that up for everyone.

Possession limit does not apply to your permananent residence.

My mistake i thought it meant total possesion as in what YOU have in your boat and home MY MISTAKE!!!!

the possession limits remain twice the statewide daily bag limits listed below. Fish stored by a person at their permanent residence do not apply to their possession limit.
This is a quote from tpw so yes you are right and i was wrong on this subject.
Just wanted everyone to see what tpw says on this I WAS WRONG! dont listen to me lol I stand corrected
Mark

You can go back and edit your previous post if you want to remove the conflicting information

So I can catch as many limits per day as I want to....as long as I transport each "limit" to my home freezer.

I live next to the lake.....I catch a limit of bass, crappie, catfish...whatever. Wifey meets me at the shore and hauls the fish to the trailer. I go out and catch another limit and repeat the scenario.

Now, this is completely legal? No matter how many limits I bring in during a 12 hour fishing day, as long as I catch ONE limit of each fish at a time and transport them to my trailer...I'm ok? I can go back on the water and do it again and again and again and again as long as the fish are biting?

Just want to know if it is legal to do this. Seems like me and Wifey could load up a bunch of stripers when they are running good.

I do not believe you can catch as many limits per day and move them and be legal since the daily limit for instance trout is 5. I can't catch 5 at 9am run home toss in the freezer back out at 11am catch 5 more and keep going. If a game warden is watching you will likely get fined.

from tpwd

1 Daily bag is the quantity of a species of a wildlife resource that may be taken in one day.


2 Possession limit is twice the daily bag on game and nongame fish, except as provided in this guide.


3 Possession limit does not apply to wildlife resources in the possession of or stored by a person at their permanent residence.

you will noticed that in rule 1, it says taken. no matter what you do with the fish after you take it, it is still a taken fish.

so.. if you live at the lake, you can catch your daily bag every day, and since you store it at your permanent residence, then you never run into the "possession limit" question.

possession and take are two very different words in this regard.

Not unless you want to be a criminal.

But I do see where the confusion factor comes in with the wording. I really think the regs should be worded in a simpler fashion, but I guess that's what happens when you get lawyers involved with writing the rules.

If a game warden observed you taking more than one limit in a day, you would get ticketed for exceeding the daily limit. It is a matter of enforcement. Our fish and game laws work in America because most sportsmen are honest. If we only obey because we're afraid we'll get caught, then we've reached a sad state of affairs!!!

But ya gotta admit.....that "fear factor" is a BODACIOUS encouragement for doing the right thing!!

Yes, law enforcement is necessary. It both deters those who would cheat and provides the honest with assurance that, at least in part, justice will be carried out against the violators.