Rethinking catfish limits
TPWD is looking to simplify, improve angling of a favorite with fewer regulations
One of America’s favorite food fish, which also ranks high on the hit list with freshwater fishermen all across the South, is at the center stage of ongoing discussions between Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologists and the state’s tightly woven catfish angling fraternity.
Still in its infancy stages, the friendly debate is aimed at whittling down a long list of daily bag and length limits currently in effect on channel and blue catfish in Texas waters to a suite of regulations that is significantly shorter.
The general idea is to simplify catfish regulations and help eliminate unnecessary confusion among anglers while managing Texas’ diverse catfish fisheries for optimum quality without infringing on anglers looking to fill the bill for a weekend fish fry.
Currently, there are nearly a dozen different sets of regulations governing channels and blues on Texas waters, including a statewide rule that allows anglers to retain 25 fish daily with a 12 inch minimum length limit. The statewide regulation applies to about 85 percent of Texas’ public waters. The remaining waters are governed by a series of “special limits” that in some cases can be confusing to understand.
TPWD is looking to take a more standardized approach in its catfish management strategies by combining regulations for channels and blues where possible, and reducing the number of catfish regulations on the books from 11 to four.
The suite of possible options includes a revised statewide limit that would do away with the 12 inch minimum length but still allow anglers to retain 25 daily with no more than 10 fish 20 inches or longer. The remaining “special” options are geared toward trophy fishery management, large reservoirs where harvest is abundant, or waters with a history of excessive harvest and/or limited recruitment.
The potential changes would not impact current regulations on flathead catfish, community fishing lakes or interjurisdictional fisheries (Texoma, Toledo Bend and Caddo) shared with Oklahoma or Louisiana. A graduated trophy bag regulation implemented a few years ago at Lake Tawakoni, one of America’s best catfish lakes, also would remain in place.
Catfish rank No. 2 in popularity behind largemouth bass among more than 1 million Texas freshwater anglers. It is TPWD policy to check the pulse of the angling public before moving forward with such regulation changes.
Earlier this spring, TPWD gathered names and contact information for more than 100 avid catfish anglers to create an informal catfish advisory committee. The group — comprised of guides, trotliners, jug liners, bank fishermen, trophy hunters and tournament pros — was formed to engage in discussions and provide constructive feedback to a team of TPWD fisheries biologists who have spent the last two years building a plan to simplify current catfish regulations and make them more biologically relevant.
In mid-June, those anglers were invited to participate in a series of online webinars and hear presentations from TPWD staff regarding possible changes to the state’s catfish management plan. The fishermen were given the opportunity to ask questions and offer feedback in what TPWD fisheries biologist John Tibbs of Waco called the first step in presenting a suite of new regulations to Texas catfish anglers for consideration.
Tibbs said about 30 anglers actively participated in the webinars. He added that their feedback was almost uniformly positive.
“If there was anything they were critical of, it was that they wanted to see more reservoirs with a quality/trophy regulation,” Tibbs said. “The take-home message there is just because you slap a trophy regulation on a lake doesn’t mean it will be a trophy lake.”
Tibbs added that an online presentation with narrative to illustrate the possible changes should be available for public viewing
by mid-July. The presentation will appear on youtube.com, he said.
“It should be quite helpful to people in understanding where we are headed,” he said. “We’re talking about a whole lot less regulations, so automatically there would be
fewer regulations to know. I think that will make it easier for wardens to enforce the regulations. Plus, we believe the regulations will be more effective as far as managing for quality and trophy fish down the road. It will definitely make things better.”