New WV 2021 DNR Regulations

[Dave A]

Looks like the public is getting tired of wanting to go boating or fishing on Sat./Sun. and getting to the lake and find every parking spot taken by tournament fisherman. Not sure how this is going to work, will there be a DNR officer there on Sat. mornings asking if you're fishing a tournament or just a working man going fishing then telling you where to park, who came up with only leaving 25% of parking to non tournament boaters? or maybe the larger originations with 50-75 boat tournaments have gone to the DNR/COE and are trying to shut out the small clubs from being able to have a tournament on that lake and forcing them to have to go somewhere else.

[WVBullet]

I read all of it and listened to the interview. Mark Scott said no major changes except all tournaments regardless are required to get a permit. They’ll use this to control tournament activity on the water so it’s not as congested and gather fish data in the process. I’ve been in tourneys and another club shows up right on top of us. Now that’s a pain. Actually this way, should help tournament fisherman as well as non-tournament fisherman by limiting clubs on the water at the same time. I fish more as a non-tournament fisherman than I do tourneys and I welcome the thought of going to the ramp and not seeing 872 tournament fisherman from 8 different clubs. They are also setting regulations on fish care with size of holding tanks, oxygenation, treatment and maintaining a good water temp. That’s a plus for fish survival and we all want that. I think the permits will be a good thing.

[Dave A]

I think it will be tough on clubs, each one has to send in a request for five tournament dates and location at a time then have to sit and wait to find out if you get the permit, being first come first serve on getting your request in and getting approved I believe a lot of clubs are going to be disappointed. Take for example, if trail of dreams or the federation get a permit and with them drawing so many boats there want be any parking spots left. I agree something needs done but i'm not sure about this idea.

[WVBullet]

The efficiency of most departments may be a major issue with permit return or notification. That I agree. I don’t think there will be an issue with member limitations. There will be “X” amount of boats regardless of permit. We’ll see the normal show up of members. Parking, depending on the lake and parking area size will determine the aggravation level. Which ever lake you frequent, you know the normal fishing pressure and parking allowance. If you fish the weekends and it’s tourney day, it’s a crowded situation. I think the purpose of the permits is to keep order with all clubs, big or small and not to let multiple clubs hit the same ramp at the same day. That’s when it gets ridiculous. I’m sure they’ll have to make some amendments to this new ruling. I’d say they’re going to run into some unforeseen issues.

[Dave A]

If a club puts in for 5 permits and only gets one somebody is going to be pissed.

[WVBullet]

I’m not disagreeing with you at all. The application only allows for 5 slots/tournaments for each permit. They “shouldn’t” have any reason not to fulfill the request. If they do, they’ll end up having a mob on their hands at the dnr office. As long as they fulfill all the requested tourneys, hopefully this will just regulate some of the congestion. Whether or not I’m in a tournament or just fun fishing, I hate not having a parking spot.

[Dave A]

I read it as a club has to be approved for a permit for each tournament with the number of boats coming, how else will they be able to control how many clubs can fish that day. I wish them luck but i think it'll be a mess.

[bassfisher444]

They need to stock more Bass also.

[JohnnyO]

This has been done in NC for a while. The permit is for 15 boats.

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) issues fishing tournament weigh-in and special use permits for each NCWRC Boating Access Area (BAA) to ensure that only allowable activities occur and that multiple large events do not concur at any site thereby helping to manage congestion and user accessibility. These permits are issued at no fee, and mailed or emailed to the permit holder.
Permits are first come, first serve and will be issued when the requested boat numbers are less than 80% of a requested BAA's trailer space capacity. To guarantee that a BAA site is available, it is recommended to call early, up to a year prior to an event. For weigh-in permits authorizing fewer than 15 boats, the request period begins on November 1 and the authorizations remain valid until December 31 of the following year. These permits are issued as blanket authorizations and do not require an event date nor location. If you have several events within the same year, it is best to combine all the dates onto one permit when applying online.

[13tzx190]

The way I see it is it will be tougher for the large (50 plus boat ) tournaments. There are very few places in the state where you could have a tournament with 50-75 boats and still leave 25% of the available parking for non tournament boats. I run a small tournament (15-20 boats ) on the Kanawha and I really don’t see it affecting us much. We have been getting permits and doing the paperwork already.

[bassfisher444]

How much weight does it normally take to win on the Kanawha?

[13tzx190]

How much weight does it normally take to win on the Kanawha?

took 8 pounds to win last Sunday

[Dave A]

How you going to do the weigh in's?

[13tzx190]

How you going to do the weigh in's?

Same as we’ve always done. Weigh them at the ramp and return them back to the water. We will have to require everyone to use live well treatment to be on compliance but other than that nothing should change. At least the way I read the new rules

[Dave A]

Well look out, if clubs can't get permits for Sat. they may move to Sun.

[13tzx190]

We fish on Sunday. The dnr has actually been granting multiple permits for the same pool on the kanawha last couple years for small tournaments. They have contacted me several times to let me know that there was another tournament out of a different ramp on the same pool.

[Dave A]

That's nice of them, what ramp you use?

[13tzx190]

Nitro now. We use to use St. Albans but there’s no dock now

[bassfisher444]

Nitro now. We use to use St. Albans but there’s no dock now

The dock at Poca is gone also, why did they take them out?

[13tzx190]

The dock at Poca is gone also, why did they take them out?

I saw that too. I have no idea unless that barge they had docked there a couple weeks ago destroyed it