Mr. April

[Jumptrout51]

The FWC has been meeting in Tallahassee the last couple days, but I emailed the public affairs person for the law enforcement division and she said she would track down a response. Hopefully they will have a definitive interpretation by Friday.

I spoke with 2 different people in authority there on Tuesday morning.
Their personal opinion and their interpretation as it is written were 2 different opinions.
The biggest problem here is that the regulation is written so that it must be interpreted.
It is very clear if only one angler is involved.
It is unclear if more than one angler is involved.
It is not JUST about fish OVER a slot limit,it is also about the limit.
Example: 5 guys go grouper fishing and are allowed 10 grouper. One guy has the hot rod and catches all 10. Should he quit fishing after 2 fish and the others return with no fish for their several hundred dollar offshore investment that day?
The regulations say Yes. Reality says NO!
If more than 1 legal harvester(person) is on a boat,the limit should then be per vessel.

[charlie tuna]

I do not have a call into law inforcement, but have been involved with the fishing industry well over fifty years. The rules here are pretty straight forward for each angler. The limit is "the limit" for that person, like he was fishing by him or herself and the bag limit is very easy to understand. For enforcement of limits, law enforcement typically looks at bag limits by the number of people fishing from a boat. And as has been mentioned here, there aren't many anglers who mark "their" fish as it goes into a cooler, unless it happens to be a party boat. Harvesting fish for someone else use, or bag limit is somewhat common practice, but i don't think it is actually legal. The reason i posted was concerning the over slot seatrout limit. Some of the comments sounded like there could only be one over slot seatrout per boat, that was my question. I thought you could have three if there were three legal licensed people on board?

[mpa_72001]

To rocky also the one who caught the fish does normally put his breeding fish back on a normal fishing day.he is one of the main reasons for the nfgfc having more slot fish tourneys for conservation.

[Gulf Coast]

And at the end of the day this is what it boils down to, officer (FWC) interpretion of the law...BTW Good read and great job team Blind Hog, hope you write up some more stories

[rockyg]

To rocky also the one who caught the fish does normally put his breeding fish back on a normal fishing day.he is one of the main reasons for the nfgfc having more slot fish tourneys for conservation.

I'm happy to hear that conservation is important to someone who lots of people evidently look up to. I really am.

If you want to talk conservation then let's talk photo release tournaments. I have participated in a number of them over the years held all over the state. We even used to have a local "Two Fly" tournament where you where allowed only 2 flies per angler for the whole day. (not 6 flies per boat and 2 guys sit around while one guy catches the fish ) That was a challenge and one sharp-toothed Spanish Mackerel could ruin your day. The Photo-Release tournament is just as much fun, has the same fish stories told back at the dock, the same level of competition, the same everything that's enjoyable about a fishing tournament.......you just don't have to kill a bunch of big breeder fish in the process.

At this point I should go back to my "armchair" where I play quarterback. I won't tell any stories about the old days when the flats were NOT teaming with big trout and redfish.........I wonder what happened to create all this great fishing.

I wonder.......

[reelbad]

I have also been fishing for a lot of years, 60 to be exact. Back in the day as you mentioned rockyg, there were less people fishing than today and they also fished a lot less often than they do at present. If you have some great ideas for a tournament format come on out to one of the club metings and express your ideas. We, I would be glad to listen and learn from someone with your knowledge.

[Flint River Pirate]

To rocky also the one who caught the fish does normally put his breeding fish back on a normal fishing day.he is one of the main reasons for the nfgfc having more slot fish tourneys for conservation.

I'm happy to hear that conservation is important to someone who lots of people evidently look up to. I really am.

If you want to talk conservation then let's talk photo release tournaments. I have participated in a number of them over the years held all over the state. We even used to have a local "Two Fly" tournament where you where allowed only 2 flies per angler for the whole day. (not 6 flies per boat and 2 guys sit around while one guy catches the fish ) That was a challenge and one sharp-toothed Spanish Mackerel could ruin your day. The Photo-Release tournament is just as much fun, has the same fish stories told back at the dock, the same level of competition, the same everything that's enjoyable about a fishing tournament.......you just don't have to kill a bunch of big breeder fish in the process.

At this point I should go back to my "armchair" where I play quarterback. I won't tell any stories about the old days when the flats were NOT teaming with big trout and redfish.........I wonder what happened to create all this great fishing.

I wonder.......

Great response! I'm glad I have smart friends.

[grasshopper]

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Response Via Email (MFM-AP)
The recreational daily bag limits are all "individual" bag limits. This means that each individual must catch and land his or her own bag limit. In the case you described, the second fish over 20" caught by the same angler would have to be released. Thanks, Alan Peirce (850-617-9647)

Customer By Web Form
If two people are fishing together in the same boat can one person catch 2 trout over 20" and give 1 to his fishing partner as his over 20" fish or does the second over 20" fish have to be released?

[captkeyser]

[captkeyser]

[captkeyser]

[Jumptrout51]

Should have read the complete thread Keyser.
We knew that 3 days ago.

[captkeyser]

[Jumptrout51]

You funny.

[charlie tuna]

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Response Via Email (MFM-AP)
The recreational daily bag limits are all "individual" bag limits. This means that each individual must catch and land his or her own bag limit. In the case you described, the second fish over 20" caught by the same angler would have to be released. Thanks, Alan Peirce (850-617-9647)

Customer By Web Form
If two people are fishing together in the same boat can one person catch 2 trout over 20" and give 1 to his fishing partner as his over 20" fish or does the second over 20" fish have to be released?

Sounds pretty straight forward to me! Thanks for getting the actual interpretation of the law.