Illegal Culling 2024

Koop reply :

Does anyone have a list of the states in which culling is illegal?

Grey Wolf reply :

Quote
Does anyone have a list of the state in which culling is illegal?

Please enlighten , why would it be ill-legal in some states ?

Koop reply :

Not sure what other states it is illegal in, but I just found out a few days ago it is illegal in Wisconsin.

Any fish caught and not immediately released is considered to be part of your daily bag limit, thus making culling illegal. I have never seen someone follow this law in a tournament, I think many do not know about it as its so unorthodox.

http://www.bassfederation.com/news.php?nid=112

Sam reply :

The only culling rule I have ever known regards the Virginia tournaments which have a rule that you cannot cull a dead fish.

Otherwise, culling is expected if you have a specific "limit" such as five (5) or four (4) in a tournament.

Koop reply :

Which is why there will never be a big tournament in Wisconsin until this rule is changed.

As it stands now you can't cull but if you catch a 1#er you have to hope you will still catch a limit if you toss him back or keep him and take your chances. :

fisin green reply :

Check with your local fish and game

here based upon what you have said is correct but not in a tournament

unless you had 5 dead fish

J Francho reply :

Its a way for the state to "ban" tournaments without "banning" them. Notice they did lift the rule when the Elites dropped $1.4 mil on them....

Matt Fly reply :

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Its a way for the state to "ban" tournaments without "banning" them. Notice they did lift the rule when the Elites dropped $1.4 mil on them....

Explain if you don't mind. You saying BASS paid 1.4 just to fish a fishery????

Texas has a law in place about wasting game resources. Its illegal to throw resources back into the waters if the fish is dead.

So culling a live fish isn't illegal by law, but putting a dead fish back in the water is.

The loop hole in Texas is to cull before your fish dies in the livewell.

J Francho reply :

Matt, read the link Koopa posted. I'm saying that the state laws on culling (none allowed) reflect the public's general dislike of tournaments. If they wanted to promote modern catch and release bass tournaments, they would have a law that allows culling. The only time they made an exemption for this is when the Elite visited, allowing them to cull. You don't suppose that the estimated $1.4 Mil in extra revenue that local businesses realized was part of the argument to allow the exception?

Koop reply :

There are a lot of people working very hard to get the ban on culling modified. It has been in place here for a long time. One idea that is being kicked around is an added fee for tournament anglers to pay to be allowed to cull, somewhat like a trout stamp from my understanding. The fear many people have are joe and jimbob sitting on metal trash cans filled with water tossing back in an 18" walleye thats been in the can for 6 hours for the 18.5 they just caught.

Glenn reply :

They tried imposing that law in Washington state years ago. When all the clubs banded together and overwhelmed the fish & game meetings, they caved and compromised. Here's how it stands now:

If you keep fish and reach your limit while fishing, you're done, EXCEPT when fishing tournaments.

How can they tell whether or not you're in a tournament? Simple - each contestant has a big, fluorescent, elastic banner they slip onto their outboard that says "CONTEST" in bold letters. Anyone caught fishing with a limit in their boat and doesn't have a banner is fined. And of course, you can't cull a dead fish.

Bonus - flip the banner inside out and it's red. Anyone displaying that banner is in trouble and needs help.

Oh, our side of the compromise? If the mortality rate exceeds 10% on any given day of a tournament, game over. Go home.

We see this as a good thing that promotes proper catch and release measures. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.

Matt Jungblut reply :

iowa also has that law on culling for bass

any bass u catch and put on a stringer or in your livewell needs to be kept

we have many turneys around here i dont know how they get away with it

i thought i heard they have to get a permit or something but not sure

this law has begun this yr if not last year

cbfishalot reply :

The TBF western divisional this year was on a lake that boarders two states. The state which the tournament went out of has a no culling rule. If a fish is caught it must be released or placed into the livewell as part of the days bag limit. Once a fish is placed in the live well it must be brought to the weigh-in. Once you have 5 in the well your done fishing. It can play alot of mind games. Will I catch a bigger fish later in the day or will I not catch one at all and come in without a limit???? YOUR CHOICE!!!!

Matt Fly reply :

Public perception in most states don't have a clue and thats the truth.

I dare you to ask one hundred strangers, thats grandma's teachers and ordinary peeps.

Ask them what the bag limits are on deer and fish in general.

Most are gonna say its not there cup of tea.

Those would be the one referred to as general public?

I worked here at a hospital that is less than 45 minutes from Fork.

LOL, 95% or more, of them didn't know the State record, lake it was caught, and that Fork is the BASS capital of Texas.

I teamed up with a lady friend and fished some coed tournaments and we did okay. Most of the workers at this hospital had no clue of big bassin is in Texas, much less the rest of the country. Most don't know that Espn has fishing shows on Sat and hunting on Sunday.

General perception, most don't have a clue unless its their cup of tea at some time. LOL

J Francho reply :

Matt, I was referring to the general fishing public. Yes, most think tournaments wreck the fishing.

Matt Fly reply :

Please post the polls from all states then. Its cut and dry as you say, then it will be easy to show this is not opinion and is fact.

J Francho reply :

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Please post the polls from all states then. Its cut and dry as you say, then it will be easy to show this is not opinion and is fact.

Jeez, its not cut and dry - is anything? Many non tournament anglers feel this way up here. In fact, there has been quite a bit of press about it recently. Its not how I feel. Not sure what you are debating as fact or opinion. You want to make tournaments real difficult, put a no cull rule into effect. That's a fact. The rest is opinion. So what is it you are opposing? I don't understand your tone here.

Here's a couple of stories:

http://www.wptz.com/video/20674922/index.html

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100_news/local_story_245101230.html

(Read some of the comments posted)

And read what this idiot has to say:

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0204_in_my_opinion/local_story_256224516.html

tipptruck1 reply :

Ok I read that a few times and seems like I am breaking the law every time I fish. I never keep fish unless I plan on eating it.

flechero reply :

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If you keep fish and reach your limit while fishing, you're done, EXCEPT when fishing tournaments.

Glenn,

Can you clarify this for me? So if you are fishing for recreation... if you keep your 3, 4 or 5 (whatever the limit is) you can't keep fishing for fun and release the rest?

Koop reply :

Quote

Quote
If you keep fish and reach your limit while fishing, you're done, EXCEPT when fishing tournaments.

Glenn,

Can you clarify this for me? So if you are fishing for recreation... if you keep your 3, 4 or 5 (whatever the limit is) you can't keep fishing for fun and release the rest?

While recreational fishing you have to have 1 less than the bag limit. Say the limit is 5 fish. You keep 1-4 in the live well and have to keep releasing that 5th fish until you decide your done. If you toss that 5th fish in your live well your done and can be ticketed if you continue.

flechero reply :

That's nuts. What if you keep a limit of small fish for dinner and then want to fish for another species? Hmm... Maybe I just need to stay where I am. ...lol

not that really it matters, it's extremely rare for me to keep fish, but 1-3 times per year I keep them for my elderly neighbor. Just wondering.

b.Lee reply :

Quote
They tried imposing that law in Washington state years ago. When all the clubs banded together and overwhelmed the fish & game meetings, they caved and compromised. Here's how it stands now:
If you keep fish and reach your limit while fishing, you're done, EXCEPT when fishing tournaments.

How can they tell whether or not you're in a tournament? Simple - each contestant has a big, fluorescent, elastic banner they slip onto their outboard that says "CONTEST" in bold letters. Anyone caught fishing with a limit in their boat and doesn't have a banner is fined. And of course, you can't cull a dead fish.

Bonus - flip the banner inside out and it's red. Anyone displaying that banner is in trouble and needs help.

Oh, our side of the compromise? If the mortality rate exceeds 10% on any given day of a tournament, game over. Go home.

We see this as a good thing that promotes proper catch and release measures. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.

I like that.

Bass Hole reply :

Most states that have a no culling rule make an exception for pemitted tournaments. "The Key word is permit"

Again I say most states. I do not know about all states.

Koop reply :

Quote
Most states that have a no culling rule make an exception for pemitted tournaments. "The Key word is permit"
Again I say most states. I do not know about all states.

Perhaps the exception for FLW or the likes, however local club tournaments no. At least not here.

cart7t reply :

Quote
That's nuts. What if you keep a limit of small fish for dinner and then want to fish for another species? Hmm... Maybe I just need to stay where I am. ...lol
not that really it matters, it's extremely rare for me to keep fish, but 1-3 times per year I keep them for my elderly neighbor. Just wondering.

Same rule applies in Missouri, exception being if you're in a tournament. In your scenario you've caught 5 bass and then wish to fish for crappie or catfish, that is perfectly legal to do. If you catch a bass accidently while fishing for those other species it's on you to release it.

Dan: reply :

Quote
They tried imposing that law in Washington state years ago. When all the clubs banded together and overwhelmed the fish & game meetings, they caved and compromised. Here's how it stands now:
If you keep fish and reach your limit while fishing, you're done, EXCEPT when fishing tournaments.

How can they tell whether or not you're in a tournament? Simple - each contestant has a big, fluorescent, elastic banner they slip onto their outboard that says "CONTEST" in bold letters. Anyone caught fishing with a limit in their boat and doesn't have a banner is fined. And of course, you can't cull a dead fish.

Bonus - flip the banner inside out and it's red. Anyone displaying that banner is in trouble and needs help.

Oh, our side of the compromise? If the mortality rate exceeds 10% on any given day of a tournament, game over. Go home.

We see this as a good thing that promotes proper catch and release measures. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.

that seems like a simple enough solution.

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