Tournament bass-fishing organizers planning on heading to California might just be greeted with a new and welcome set of changes to the state’s fishing regulations in the very near future. On March 17, the four-member California Fish and Game Commission voted to approve changes to section 230 of title 14, which would allow tournament anglers to posses five fish and continue fishing (culling) with special permits. Currently, tournament organizers must either agree to have their anglers keep no more than four bass in the boat at one time, or allow anglers a five-fish limit with absolutely no culling.
However, it appears that recent arguments from the general public – regarding the possibility of allowing special permits for tournament groups seeking the less-restrictive five-fish limits – received a warm reception from members of the California Fish and Game Commission at their March 17 meeting in Oakland, Calif.
“Interested parties met in front of the commission yesterday and asked that tournament anglers be allowed to catch five fish and be able to continue fishing,” said Dennis Lee, senior fishery biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. “From what I gather, they were very receptive to those requests. What’s going to happen now is that the commission will ask us to prepare the wording for the new regulations. If everything goes smoothly, the whole process could be completed in about 90 days.”
According to Lee, the commission, which is appointed by the governor of California, is the governing body over all fish and game regulations and will have the final say in the exact wording of any new laws or changes to the regulatory process.
“Now, in actuality, the process will probably take longer than 90 days, because there is going to be some more time for public comment,” said Lee, who argues that the process could drag out to 120 days or so if there needs to be extra time for public consideration. “Also, the law enforcement people will have their say, and they might not be as sympathetic, because they generally don’t like sweeping changes like this. In addition, we (the California Department of Fish and Game) are required by law to offer alternatives to the proposed changes. So, I’m not completely sold that this is a done deal. But with the commission behind this, it has a good chance of being approved.”
As the law currently stands, tournament organizations that wish to offer cash or prizes for fishing contests on California waters must receive a special permit, regardless of the size or scope of the tournament. However, due to a fairly new interpretation of the permit parameters in 2005, five-fish limits with a culling option were no longer permitted.
Don Lee, West Coast coordinator for FLW Outdoors who attended the recent meeting, appeared to be upbeat that the changes would ultimately go into effect.
“The committee estimated that it would be August or September before section 230 will reflect the changes,” said Lee. “The first step will be for the (Department of Fish and Game) to write the verbiage of the change to section 230. The commission then has to review the change and vote to accept it or recommend changes. Once section 230 has been amended, it has to go to public review for 45 days. At the commission’s June meeting, they will ask for an expedited review, which will probably take 30 days. Once the review is complete, we will be notified on how to proceed.”
Lee – who witnessed the impact of the old regulations first hand while overseeing the most recent FLW Outdoors event, the EverStart Series Western Division tournament in Clear Lake, Calif. – said the changes would be most welcome.
“We’re at the meeting yesterday, and the commission was unanimous on the need for the rule changes,” said Lee. “It’s probably going to take three to five months for the (final regulations) to filter through the system, but we’re hopeful. If we’d had these changes made before Clear Lake, we’d have broken a lot of (fishing) records.”
During the March 9-12 Clear Lake tournament, pro Sieg Taylor of Clearlake, Calif., just missed breaking the all-time, FLW Outdoors one-day catch record of 32 pounds, 13 ounces. Taylor, who was only permitted to bring four fish to the scales, ultimately netted a four-fish total of 30 pounds, 5 ounces. With a five-fish limit, he almost assuredly would have set the record. In addition, the total catch weight for the entire tournament at Clear Lake – again based on only four-fish limits – fell just short of the all-time combined catch record set at Lake Champlain a few years prior.
FLWOutdoors.com will continue to monitor this story as it progresses.