2010 Sportfishing Regulations Passed During October TWRC Meeting
Friday, October 30, 2009 | 04:13am
KNOXVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission approved the 2010 sportfishing regulations on Friday during its October meeting held at the Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff. The TWRC serves as the governing body of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency changes by region and statewide for 2010: The new regulations will become effective, March 1, 2010.
Changes-Region III:
*Dale Hollow Reservoir
Increase muskellunge minimum size limit to 50 inches, 1 fish per day creel
*Fall Creek Lake, Fall Creek Falls State Park
Remove black bass minimum size limit
Establish 20 fish aggregate creel limit for redear and bluegill
*Falling Water Lake, Burgess Falls SP
Remove all fisheries regulations- statewide regulations apply
*Cordell Hull
Largemouth Bass-17-23 inches Protected Length Range (PLR), 1 fish over 23 inches, 2 fish under 17 inches
*Caney Fork River
Rainbow and brook trout-14-20 inches PLR with 1 fish of each species over 20 inches
Brown Trout-24 inches Minimum Length Limit (MLL) with 1 fish over,
(changed from 18-inches MLL with two over)
*Also, on the Caney Fork, the daily creel limit has been changed from seven to five trout per day, per person
Changes-Region IV:
*Cherokee Reservoir - remove paddlefish size limit. Replace wording: "Culling, the releasing of harvested fish, is prohibited" with “Paddlefish: 1 per day. Season is open from March 1-15. Fish may not be released when caught.”
*Melton Hill Reservoir – Increase the muskellunge minimum length limit from 44 to 50 inches, 1 fish per day creel
Extend the striped bass PLR (32-42 inches, 1 over) to Hwy. 61 bridge at Clinton
*South Holston Reservoir- Remove the closed trout season (Dec. 1 to Feb. 28)
*Norris Reservoir – change smallmouth bass size limit from 18 inch minimum length limit to a 17 to 22 inches PLR-1 fish under and 1 fish over the PLR
Other changes-Statewide:
Sport trotlines, limblines, and jugs: To read –"Sport fishing trotlines, limblines, and jugs must be tagged and/or marked with the angler’s name or current TWRA identification number.
Bait Proclamations- Live Bait, Commercial and Sportfishing:
The regulation changes include: 1) adoption of the Live Bait Proclamation 09-20 will regulate the sale and use of live bait for fishing; 2) Proclamation 09-21 which amends Commercial Fishing Proclamation 08-01 to allow commercial fishers to use live bait and provides guidelines for bait dealers who harvest live bait from the wild for the purpose of sale; and 3) an addition to the previously proposed Sport Fishing Proclamation 09-22 which would remove live bait regulations from the Sport Fishing Proclamation (because they will now be in the Live Bait Proclamation).
The live bait proclamation includes an amendment that allows bait dealers to sale and anglers to use goldfish for bait. Bait dealers will be allowed to harvest inland and brook silversides and sell these species as dead bait.
In other business at the October meeting, the TWRA presented its awards for the 2009 wildlife biologist and fisheries biologist of the year. Chris Simpson, from TWRA Region III was honored as the Wildlife Biologist of the Year. Jim Habera, from Region IV, was tabbed as the TWRA Fisheries Biologist of the Year.
The TWRC also heard from Charles “Chuck” Flynn from Rockford. Flynn was the first hunter to harvest an elk in Tennessee’s first-ever managed elk hunt which came on Oct. 19.
Doug Peckam of the Volunteer Muskie Hunters Club presented a donation for Melton Hill Reservoir and other Tennessee waters.
The TWRC will next meet Dec. 3-4 in Nashville. The first meeting of the 2010 calendar year was scheduled during the October meeting and will be held Jan. 20-21 at Reelfoot Lake State Park.
---TWRA---