Other members of my club and I are having a discussion. If we hold a tournament in which we are allowed to weigh five bass in the morning, RELEASE THEM ALIVE back into the lake, and then weigh five more bass in the evening I say that is legal because once the fish are released ALIVE they are no longer in our possession and not part of our daily bag.

Other members have read the rule and disagree. Their interpretation is that once a fish is placed in the livewell it has to be counted as part of the daily bag, even if it is released alive later.

I know if we have dead fish they are part of our daily bag. That's not what we're asking. I am talking about legal bass retained long enough to weigh, then released alive back into the lake from which they were caught.

So...what is the ruling?

Thats a good question.

If I have the right idea of your tourney idea, I like it, it's something different.

Write TP&W and ask.


https://www2.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/feedback/webcomment/?p=%252Findex.phtml

If that were true, culling during a tournament would be illegal.

I believe you are not allowed to have more than 5 in your possesion at anytime.

Thanks. I tried the link. Maybe I'll get a reply before long.

+1 to this... Good Point!

Check out section about possesion of fish from public waters.

TPWD FISHING REGS

i would think if that were the case of putting one in the livewell, then when you cull- you are breaking the law.

also, to note, you would only be allowed to catch 5 bass per day then stop fishing for them...

no, that is not the law. 5 bass per person per day in possesion(whether it be in your hand, livewell, or freezer/cooler). its pretty black and white.

I'm pretty sure someone told me that you can catch your limit, take em home and go back out and catch one more limit.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/limits_freshwater/

Call this number this is tp&w (281) 842-8100.

I agree and all of that makes sense to me. But...the law doesn't always make sense.

That is true for an individual and most tournament rules, however, if this would be a team tournament, State laws state 5-per person, so legally you have have 10-bass in possession for a two-person team....if you modifies tournament rules.

The way the law reads on the books, if you catch and release the fish immediately, it is not considered in your "Possession". However, once that fish is retained in your livewell or other holding device, it is in your "Possession" and part of your daily bag limit of 5. Technically, having five in the well and having a sixth on board is a violation, but I've never heard of it being emnforced UNLESS the angler shows up to weigh-in or the ramp with six fish in his livewell. In that case, he is in violation of the law and probably tournament rules, too.

The TOTAL possession limit is twice the daily bag limit and frozen fish at your residence do not count toward that total. But you MUST have fished at least two days to have 10 in your posession, or you are in violation of the law. It IS NOT legal to come to the lake, catch 5, go home and clean them and come back to the lake and catch and retain 5 more within the same calendar day. You would be exceeding the daily bag limit in doing so and again, are in violation of the law.

As you can see, these regulations leave open many "what if" scenarios and that is why so much of the Code is left up to the discretion of the Game Warden in administering the law in field situations.

I'm not a warden but have studied TPWD codes for years, and this is my best understanding of the law related to retention of largemouth bass in Texas public waters.

Obviously, this law does not necessarily apply to slot lakes or those with "Exceptions to Statewide Harvest Regulations" which can be found on TPWD's website.

. Ummm negative!!

Daily is the key word