SCDNR - possible changes upcoming

[TightLip]

One of the attorneys in our club was asked to look into this for us and the following is what he has found out:

(If you would like to respond and have a voice, please contact SCDNR)


Danny,

Several folks have asked me about the further changes that are proposed to the size limits. There is a rumor that a law would be passed making the 14" limit statewide starting in April. I have looked at what is out there and that seems to be highly unlikely. I looked to see if a bill has gone to the legislator and found nothing directly on point. To get an answer, I called the chief legal counsel for DNR and his response is as follows:

DNR is recommending that the 14” 5 fish limit currently in place for Santee Cooper Lakes be extended to most of the major reservoirs (not rivers) except those in the Savannah drainage where the recommendation will mirror the GA regulations to try to be as consistent as possible with GA. The bill has not been filed. DNR had a public meeting at FMU last fall to present these proposed changes. The proposal has been on the web site. Elizabeth Osier in the Florence office can give you more information. We solicit your support. This is an attempt to modernize the fresh water fishing laws for the first time since the 1950’s. Please let me know if you need other information.

He has sent me a copy of the entire proposed bill and it shows that the effected lakes would be Lake Blalock, Greenwood, Jocassee, Marion, Monticello, Moultrie, Murray, Secession, Wateree, Wylie, the middle reach of the Saluda River, and the upper reach of the Santee River.

Changes to a 14" limit would make some tournaments tougher but I believe that I would generally support it. He has invited me to review the proposed bill and comment back to him. Before I do that I would be interested to hear if you or any of the club members have opinions either way as to the general proposal. I especially wonder what the results have been in other states that have done this. DNR has "studies" showing that it helped but for me personal observations mean more. I have the proposed bill in hard copy and would be glad to bring a copy to the meeting if anyone is interested.

Greg



Modified by TightLip at 2:21 PM 1/12/2011

[jon1637]

So far it sounds good to me. I don't see anything wrong with it.

[santee bass]

I was ask to be on 1 of the 4 advisory commities doing the rewrite of Chapter 13.There are 2 sections to this rewrite & the 1st section passed last year mostly deals with water boundries.The 2nd section will be introduced soon & has changes on other fish species also.Crappie get a size limit(I think 8 ")& creel reduced to 20 per person.There are a good many changes but should help out in the long run.

Here is what I have noticed on Santee lately.After the 2007 drought was over,the water came up just before the 2008 spawn.This was a very big spawn on all fish because of much more furtile soil & water.The bass from this spawn are now getting big enough to hit artificial lures & we had a fantastic fall.We boated & released very near + or - 1500 bass from Sept.through Nov. I would guess that the majority of these bass were 12" to 13 1/2" & there were lots of 14" bass.Our new 14" limit 5 fish creel went into place in March or April & I think that this is already showing an impact on these fish.By the way,this reminds me,a game warden caught 2 locals(near where I live) about a month ago with 15 bass (5 over the limit) & most of the fish were undersize (under the old 12" limit).He said they face some very heavy fines.With the rapid growth of native grass & the hard to get rid of Floating Heart combined with what I said above,Santee is in for some very good fishing,very soon.If mother nature or "Santee Cooper" dosn"t mess it up.Inky

[STRATOS 1]

At first I thought the new 14 inch limit was crazy, but realy hasn't been a problem and as Inky said fishing on Santee this past year has been the best we've seen in years. Even in the August and September months that normaly are very tough, we were weighing in 20 + pound bags during tournaments. I expect this year to be even better.

[reconman]

Go with the 14" limit, and improve the quality of the SC bass. If tournament anglers complain, just tell them to fish harder or stay home.

reconman

[skeet210]

We need this change in our area. Would like to see it happen sooner than later. IMO 12" is and always was to small to keep. This will make angling a lot more fun in the long run.

[Rangerman]

The 14" cut does work and improves the size of the fish Here in NC they have a 2 of any size and the rest must be 14" We need to go to all 14" also

[bassman9]

I must admit that I lived in Florida several years ago, and fishing the St Johns River around Jacksonville. At the time there was a 12" minimum size limit. But there were a lot of club tournaments that were won with one or two fish. Part of that was due to overfishing, where the big fish were take out of the fishery. DNR down there ask for and got the limit changed to 14". It took a couple of years but the fishing improved. It when from winning club tournaments with 1 fish to taking a limit of 14 " or better fish. So I must admit that I am in favor of changing the limit to 14 ". Once it happens it will take a couple of years but the improvement to really start to show, but show it will.

[PRKRANGER2]

Lake Chickamauga in TN is a 14" size limit and as a matter of fact it is 14" state wide. For Smallmouth it is a 18" limit.

[Joe Ready]

For the bank fisherman, this will be killer. Plus those that wait on the fish to swallow their worm while fishing CR rig. I for one hope this rule doesn't pass.

[Jojo_SC]

No more than you see duh rabbit sheriff it won't hurt....JimI said you'll have to get 3 more "pet" fish...LOL

.

[Joe Ready]

LOL yep got my 3 fish that I always carry.

[Jojo_SC]

Oh by duh way....Nice Hammers

.