Trout limits?

[trophytroutman]

Do you think we need to change the limits or not?I see no problem with the trout population and dont need to change the limits.

[coachlaw]

I think the trout are fine. What REALLY needs to be done in my opinion is to make a change on redfish. The slot needs to be lowered to 16 inches.

[trophytroutman]

Iagree with you on the redfish.

[reeltime]

I don't think they need to change it but i hear it's a done deal!I'm with you on 16inch reds.I had my limit of those about 10 times saturdayThey were stacked up like cord wood!

[Tejasreds]

Is there a new limit?

[reeltime]

not yet!

[patwilson]

I don't mind the limit being lowered. There are more and more people getting into fishing. I think if we wait too long, it could get bad like the reds did at one time.... Just my $.02 Most of us get to fish often enough that we should not have to even freeze much of our fish. I like eating fresh fish!

[Moonpie]

IMO, the trout population is stressed in some locations(LLM for example).
IF THE SCIENCE shows specific populations declining then those areas need to be addressed with modifications of the regs.
I wouldn't have an issue with certain areas having different bag limits/length limits.

Can't say I agree with y'all's redfish length of 16". Maybe 18".
I would like to see the bag limit increased to 5 fish tho.

Always have thought a 5-5-5 bag limit on trout-reds-flounder would be good.

[SUPER SPOOK]

it wouldnt hurt to lower them

[Robalo]

I think 5 with one over 25" is a fair limit-10 trout is almost excessive (plus AP and Capt. Glenn and Thomas would have quicker days on the water!!). As far as reds, go back to 18" and shorten the max to 26" (plus 1 oversized tag), leaving limit at 3. Reds over 26" are not the best table fare anyway and reds 18-22" make good eats!

[patwilson]

I agree with you!

I think 5 with one over 25" is a fair limit-10 trout is almost excessive (plus AP and Capt. Glenn and Thomas would have quicker days on the water!!). As far as reds, go back to 18" and shorten the max to 26" (plus 1 oversized tag), leaving limit at 3. Reds over 26" are not the best table fare anyway and reds 18-22" make good eats!

[SUPER SPOOK]

x2!

[aqua pimp]

I'm fine with what ever TP&W decides. But in my opinion the Trout fishery is very healthy in Galveston Bay. Unlike the Flounder the Trout have been doing just fine and I really have not noticed any delcines in the Trout population. Seems like it has been very steady for years. Now with that being said, we could have a massive freeze hit and change everything very quickly. We have been very lucky the last few years. My question is why 5? Why not start at 7 and see how it goes for a few years then make changes according to thier surveys they do.I think 5 is a little too much as of right now. But if they want to go to 5 and they feel like that will help keep our Trout population strong and healthy I'm all for it. TP&W does a fine job and I trust what they say and do.

AQUA PIMP

[Sneekypete]

I like the 5 trout with 1 over 25 and limit how many tournments that can be held on a bay per year pro and am.In my opinion there are way to many tournments both on redfish and trout.

[shallowist]

I agree with Pimp, populations aren't at a bad level. Nothing like they were when all the old timers talk about it, but we won't ever see that again. My only issue with the population is what they said they were addressing years ago when they wrote the one over 25 inch rule. We don't have great populations of trout making it over 25 inches. Really, they would need to improve enforcement at this point to make a big impact. It's not so much the people that are concerned about the regs that we have to worry about. It's people who are over harvesting.

I still see tons of people who fish and kill everytime. There is a lot of waste that goes on in fishing. The overall fishing population has gotten much better at catching fish than years ago. I think that if more people that fished, thought about what they would actually eat, and the people that can influence in fishing taught more about conserving what we have, we wouldn't need much input from TPWD. Ten years ago, you would have had a hard time finding a guide in Texas that spoke much about catch and release, today it's common.

I have no problem with keeping only 5 trout and if there is a problem with the populations or one develops in the future, we will certainly be told to do just that. I haven't kept over 5 trout personally in a day in years. I encourage catch and release and retain only fish that will get eaten. I can't think of any reason to kill a trout larger than 5 pounds when the little ones eat so much better.

If 5 trout limits make the populations better, then bring it on. I certainly don't want to wait until that's all that I can catch in a day. My view is probably slightly skewed by the fact that if I'm trout fishing, it's almost exclusively for a big one, rarely ever for numbers.

Maybe TPWD should invest more money in trout breeding, since they get a fairly large some of money from all of us annually.