Alabama Administrative Code › Title 220 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 220-2 - GAME AND FISH DIVISION › Section 220-2-.35 - Seasons, Creel And Size Limits For Fish On Public Waters Or Banks Thereof

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) The following seasons for taking fish in
			 accordance with the below stated times, places, manners and restrictions are
			 hereby established. Unless noted below, the seasons for all designated game and
			 commercial fish are open continuously.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 take or have in possession more than the daily limit for any fish as
			 established herein. This shall not apply to fish held live for release by the
			 sponsor or its designated agent after a bonafide fishing tournament provided
			 they are released unharmed to the public waters from which they were taken as
			 soon as reasonably possible on the same day they were taken. This does not
			 obligate the sponsor or its designated agent to release dead or dying
			 fish.
(3) Except as otherwise
			 noted, it shall be unlawful to possess any fish less than or greater than size
			 restrictions as established herein. Size restrictions on all fish are
			 determined by measuring from the front of the mouth to the tip of the tail with
			 both mouth and tail closed. Except as otherwise provided for certain State and
			 Federally owned and/or managed fishing lakes and ponds, the daily creel,
			 possession limits and size restrictions for fish in all public waters of this
			 State shall be as follows:
Daily Creel and Possession
				Limit
(a)
Black
			 Bass
.....................................10
Includes combinations of largemouth, smallmouth, spotted,
				Alabama, shoal and those species formerly known as "redeye" bass, which are now
				known separately as Coosa, Warrior, Cahaba, Tallapoosa and Chattahoochee bass,
				based on their respective drainages. The Alabama bass was formerly known as
				spotted bass in the Mobile drainage. No more than 5 of the daily creel limit of
				10 may be smallmouth bass. See exceptions for shoal bass in specific
				tributaries of the Chattahoochee River.
(b)
Walleye
.......................................2
It shall be illegal to take or attempt to take walleye by any
				method from Sweetwater Lake located in the Talladega National Forest, Cleburne
				County, from White Plains Lake (also known as Whitesides Mill Lake), Calhoun
				County and from Shoal Creek upstream of White Plains Lake, Calhoun and Cleburne
				Counties. It shall also be illegal to take or attempt to take walleye by any
				method from Lake Mitchell on the Coosa River between Mitchell Dam and Lay Dam
				or from its tributary streams, Walnut Creek in Chilton County, Hatchet Creek in
				Coosa and Clay Counties, Weogufka Creek in Coosa County, the Mulberry Fork
				River and the Sipsey Fork River or any of their tributary streams in Blount,
				Cullman, Lawrence, Walker, and Winston Counties or the Duck River Reservoir in
				Cullman County. Any walleye taken in these lakes or streams shall immediately
				be released back into the waters from which they were taken with least possible
				harm.
(c)
Sauger
.........................................5
It is illegal to possess any Sauger less than 15 inches in
				total length.
(d)
White Bass
....................................15
(e)
Yellow
			 Bass
...................................15
(f)
Saltwater Striped Bass, and Hybrids
			 or Combinations
. 15
No more than five of the 15 may exceed 22 inches in total
				length. See exceptions for Lewis Smith, Inland, Yates, and Thurlow reservoirs
				and Lake Martin.
(g)
Crappie
.......................................30
It is illegal to possess any crappie less than nine inches in
				total length taken from Alabama public waters, including Aliceville Reservoir
				and effective October 1, 2001, Pickwick Reservoir. Waters exempt from the
				nine-inch crappie limit include impoundments less than 500 surface acres, and
				the reciprocal waters of the Chattahoochee River and Impoundments and their
				tributaries, Bear Creek Reservoir (Big Bear Lake of the B.C.D.A. Lakes), Lake
				Jackson at Florala and Weiss Reservoir.) See exception for Weiss
				Reservoir.
(h)
Yellow
			 Perch
............................No Limit
(i)
Catfish (under 34
			 inches)
...............No Limit
(j)
Catfish (34 inches or
			 greater)
................1
This size limit shall not apply to catfish harvested from the
				Perdido, Conecuh, Blackwater, Yellow, Choctawhatchee, Chipola, and
				Chattahoochee rivers basins. It shall be unlawful to transport live catfish 34
				inches in length or greater beyond the boundaries of this
				state.
(k)
Bream
.........................................50
(l)
Rainbow
			 Trout
................................5
It shall be unlawful to fish with more than two rods or to cull
				from the creel any trout caught from the Sipsey Fork from Lewis Smith Dam
				downstream to the confluence with the Mulberry Fork. (See Paragraph 5 for
				definition of culling).
(m)
Alligator Gar
.................................1
All alligator gar caught with commercial fishing gear must be
				immediately returned to the water with the least possible
				harm.
(n)
Sturgeon
..........................Closed Season
All sturgeon must be immediately returned to the water with the
				lease possible harm.
(o)
Paddlefish or Spoonbill Catfish
... Closed Season
All paddlefish must be immediately returned to the water with
				the least possible harm.
(p)
Skipjack Herring
...........................50