Flounder Limit Rules

[Root Canal]

The flounder fishing and gigging are just beginning to start the best time of the year for harvesting. With the shortened amount of daylight and the water temperature dropping.
I felt it is important to make sure nobody does something illegal, and go over the rules.

First on the list would be the 24 hour/ midnight rule. Several years ago when the limit was lowered to 5 fish and 2 in November.
A special rule was put in effect the was for Flounder ONLY. "The possession limit is equal to the daily bag limit"
This rule means that you cannot get a limit before Midnight and then get MORE after Midnight.

Once November gets here the limit on Flounder drops to 2 fish per day, and NO gigging is allowed.
After your first 2 fish are caught you must release that fish. That rule comes from the general fishing regulations.

Flounder

All species, their hybrids and subspecies

Special regulation: Daily bag is 5 fish except for the period Nov. 1-30 when the daily bag is 2 fish and flounder may be taken only by pole and line. Possession limit is equal to the daily bag.
Daily Bag:5/2 (in any combination)Length in Inches (Minimum - Maximum)14 - No limit

[plugger]

THANKS FOR THE REMINDER

[walkinwader]

I was curious on the two fish limit and how it worked....was out at Seawolf couple years ago and asked gw to clarify. He told me i could cull fish if i had no more than two in my do-net at any moment. They had pulled right up to us as we were wading...so i figured i would ask the question of him. If different than that now please someone clarify this...

[Root Canal]

I was curious on the two fish limit and how it worked....was out at Seawolf couple years ago and asked gw to clarify. He told me i could cull fish if i had no more than two in my do-net at any moment. They had pulled right up to us as we were wading...so i figured i would ask the question of him. If different than that now please someone clarify this...

Good question. The first year they went to the 2 fish limit in November I was also at Seawolf walking back to my truck and was stopped by a GW to check my Do-net. I asked him the same question about culling because I saw people doing it.
He said it was Not legal and showed me the rulebook.
Here is what he showed me.

__________________________________________________ ______________________________________
Possession of Fish Taken from Public Water

Any fish caught must be taken by legal means and methods.
Fish caught and immediately released are not considered to be in your possession. Any fish not immediately released that are retained by using any type of holding device such as stringer, cooler, livewell, or bucket are considered in your possession and must adhere to established protected length and bag limits.

__________________________________________________ ______________________________________

I think I will contact TPWD and ask. I would think that if you had a livewell or do-net the fish would survive if it
was culled. Certainly Not if it was on a stringer.

[Root Canal]

I just emailed TPWD asking for a ruling since we have 2 Game Wardens saying different things. I would like to be able to cull if I know the released fish would survive. But don't want to be breaking any rules if I do. I will post their response.

[Swells]

The way it was explained to me ... and this is probably wrong ... it that the Reds have a possession rule offshore which is exactly like you say ... can't have more than the limit in any way, even a livewell. However, Texas has a landings rule. In other words you can catch all you want but the minute you hit dry land, you'd better be legal.

This created a lot of confusion to say the least. There's nothing special about flounder except for the November regulations and the "midnight rule" which never bothered me anyway. Suffice it to say a game warden can ask to see your fish and if you're over the limit, the officer has the discretion whether to write you up or not. If you appear to be honest and are high-grading from a do-net, and have kept the fish unharmed and alive and can "get right" with the law, he or she can let you go.

Or write you a big ole ticket.

Typically, the word "possession" under Texas law was how many fish you could keep over multiple days, slightly different from a daily bag. If you processed the fish into fillets and such in your home, like freezing them in your freezer, that didn't count as far as possession. This was to prevent fishermen from landing a legal limit and then going right back out to fill up another cooler of fish. Fortunately, many species have a No Limit designation for possession.

Flounder does. The daily bag is equal to the possession limit.

To me that means if the regulation says 5 flounder or 2 in November, and you are over, you could be fined $500 a fish. I don't like taking the chances of having a "nice" game garden in a good mood that day.

[walkinwader]

please post reply thanks rc

[Weekend Warrior]

If culling is illegal for saltwater species, you would think it would be clearly described or defined somewhere in the saltwater regulations. Seems like a grey area in the regs.

Check out the the freshwater reg below for white, striped, and yellow bass:
For striped bass and hybrid striped bass, there is no minimum length limit. Daily bag limit = 10; possession limit = 20, and only two striped or hybrid striped bass 20 inches or greater may be retained each day. Culling of striped bass and hybrid striped bass is prohibited.

I think that's the only reg that mentions "culling".

[JT]

I know now that I'll be a lot more cautious and careful about "culling".

[troutwader]

From what I was told, stringers harm the gills and do nets remove slime. Not safe either way to cull a flounder unless using a livewell.

[walkinwader]

Never thought bout that troutwader with do net....good point

[GregG]

If it is in the do-net, cooler, bucket, stringer then it is considered in your possession if not immediately released and that fish counts toward your bag limit. However, if you remove it from the cooler, bucket, stringer, do-net, and set it free, then it is no longer in your possession. Therefore, it does not count toward your bag limit since it is no longer in your possession.

The key here is that you must release a fish prior to adding the just caught fish to the retaining device to avoid having above your bag limit in possession at any time.

You cannot add a sixth flounder to your do-net even if you intend to pull the smallest flounder out immediately afterward. The fifth has to come out of the net and be released prior to putting the larger fish caught in the retaining device.

[single prong]

Root Canal & GregG explained it well and I work at TPWD in HQ. Great reminder and always something to go over before aactually going fishing and then it might be too late if you don't know.

[Curmudgeon]

Thanks for all the good info guys. Y'all mentioned a couple things I'd never considered.


Curmudgeon only pawn in game of life.

[Root Canal]

Root Canal & GregG explained it well and I work at TPWD in HQ. Great reminder and always something to go over before aactually going fishing and then it might be too late if you don't know.

Thanks for that answer single prong.
walkinwader said as long as no more than 2 were in the do-net it was legal.
GregG made the answer clearer with a more detailed procedure.
Hopefully the email reply will say the same.