on ky lake, are the crappie creel limits the same for ky waters and tn waters? thanks.:)
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on ky lake, are the crappie creel limits the same for ky waters and tn waters? thanks.:)
Nope.....I believe it is 30 over 10 in TN. and 20 over 10 in KY.
Ky's daily Crappie limit is 20/person .... for KY/Barkley Lakes
Tenn's daily crappie limit is 30/person ... for KY/Barkley Lakes
Sounds a bit unfair, don't it :confused:
Well ... take heart !! And don't let the extra 10fish/day send you running for Tenn, just yet. Here's why :
KY's Possession Limit is 2days creel limit, after 2 or more consecutive days afield ... BUT, processed (cleaned) fish do NOT count towards your possession limit.
Tenn's Possession Limit is 2days creel limit, after 2 or more consecutive days afield ... BUT --- well, no "but's" about it :p ... that's it, you're done. AND, this applies to fish that are in your home freezer (Tenn residents).
Now, you "can", in both states ... clean & EAT some of the fish you catch, while "afield" .. and those fish do not count towards your possession limit (though they must be taken from your legal possession limit), and you can continue to fish & catch fish to replenish the ones you ate (as long as you don't have more than your 2days creel, in your possession, in TENN ... while in KY, your cleaned fish don't count towards your total possession limit, and neither does the fish you have in your home freezer !! )
Kinda makes that 30/day -60/possession Tenn law sound a little less inviting, now .... don't it :p
... cp :cool:
thanks, for the info. I bass fish most of the time, and never keep any bass. I do keep and eat striper, walleye, and a few cats I catch on limb lines. was thinking of fishing ky lake again, for bass and one day for some crappie, haven't been their in a very long time. will be staying at the hillmans ferry campground. so I have another question. how does it work when you move around on the lake fishing, say part of the day in ky waters and part of the day in tn waters. say if you catch your crappie limit in the big sandy area, and you get checked back down around the dam while bass fishing in the after noon. you are in trouble even though your crappie came from tn. if you can clear this up for me. thanks, in advance. :):)
You are good with a Kentucky fishing license on any fishing done to the North side of the 79 bridge at Paris Landing, regardless if it is in Kentucky or Tenessee. But if you go South of the bridge you have to have a Tennessee license. It is called the reciprocal agreement. Here it is:
Section 4. The Kentucky Lake. (1) Pursuant to a reciprocal agreement, Kentucky and Tennessee shall recognize the sport fishing licenses of the two (2) states on the portion of Kentucky Lake south of the Eggners Ferry Bridge (U.S. 68 and Hwy 80) in Kentucky and north of the Governor Ned McWhorter Bridge (U.S. 79 and Hwy 76) in Tennessee.
(2) Embayments and tributaries within this portion of Kentucky Lake, except Blood River embayment, shall be included in the reciprocal agreement.
(3) The Blood River embayment shall be defined as a straight line between opposite points where the embayment connects to the main body of Kentucky Lake.
(4) A sport fishing license holder from either state may fish from the bank or attach legal sport fishing trot or limb lines in the reciprocal portion of Kentucky Lake.
(5) Sport fishing license holders shall abide by the administrative regulations of the state in whose waters they are fishing.
(6) Wildlife enforcement officials of either state shall have the right to inspect the licenses, permits, catches and equipment of any person on the reciprocal portion of Kentucky Lake subject to the laws of either Kentucky or Tennessee.
I would say that you'd be fined, but I bet the conservation officers would get a big laugh out of you trying to explain. Why not just drop your fish off on your way north? Oh and by the way, the reciprical agreement only goes from bridge to bridge so unless you have FL from both states, someone is in trouble.
thats what I thought, but how would it work. if I'm camping at hillmans ferry, and run the lake to crappie fish at big sandy. and catch my limit in tn waters. do I need to travel without stopping back to hillmans ferry, and unload my crappie. then go bass fishing in ky waters. would this work. I really don't know how to ask, what I need to know. try this, I will be camping and lunching my boat in ky water. but will be crappie fishing in tn water. if I catch my limit in tn water. when I leave tn water heading back to camp. I will be in ky water with 10 crappie more than ky's limit. if I should get checked, say at the boat ramp. and the limit of crappie was from tn. and me being checked on ky water. it would look as though I caught 10 over the limit. hope you see the mess, I'm trying to not get into. thanks, for the info.:):)
... than just "drop off" your Crappie !!
Re-read the rules I posted. Both states have rules that conflict with the other state. Your licenses only "allow" you to FISH in those states, as long as you abide by that state's laws. The conflict comes in the creel/possession portion of those laws.
As I understand it ... this would be the best case, legal scenarios :
... you camp/launch in KY, motor to TN waters, and catch a TN limit each. Transporting them back to KY would put you in violation of the KY daily creel, according to KY law. Best bet - cull your 20/ea best, & release the others (while you're still in TN waters).
... you camp/launch in TN, motor to KY waters, and catch a KY limit each. Transporting them back to TN would still leave you under the creel limit ... so you "could" continue to fish (in TN) and catch 10 more each.
The rub comes with the "possession" limit laws ... Ky doesn't count cleaned fish as part of your possession limit, and TN does.
KY - day one = 20/person ....... TN - day one = 30/person
KY - day two = 20/person ....... TN - day two = 30/person
KY - day three = 20/person ....... TN - day three = 0/person
WHY ??? ..... because after you've accumulated two days creel limit in TN, you've maxed out your possession limit ... regardless of whether or not they are alive, dead, or cleaned & in your freezer/cooler. The KY law says you can have 20/person on day one, up to 40/person by the end of day two, and if you clean them ... you can continue to catch/keep/clean daily limits from day three on.
TN's draw is the 30/day law vs the KY 20/day law.
KY's draw is the rule that cleaned fish do not count against your possession limit vs the TN law that says your possession limit is 60/person ... period.
TN's 30/day creel law is designed to draw the 1-2day angler, with the 30/day vs 20/day creel.
KY's possession law is designed to draw the 2day + angler, with the idea that you can clean your fish & continue to catch daily limits past day 2. It's the tradeoff for the lower daily creel.
That's the way I see it, anyhow. If you want to know for sure .... contact Paul Rister, western district fisheries biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. 270-753-3886
30 Scenic Acres Dr., Murray, KY 42071
.... cp :cool:
Here's the thing,
It's not illegal to possess more than twenty crappie in KY. So, if you have 30 crappie that were caught in TN waters in your boat on your way back through KY waters technically you are legal and the burden of proof is on the LEO to prove where the fish came from. It is illegal to keep more than 20 crappie from Ky waters, but they would have to know where the fish came from.
I suspect the CO that checks you and your proximity to TN waters is going to have a lot to do with whether you receive a ticket.
If a CO checks you at KY dam and you have 30 crappie in your livewell, I would pretty well bet that you are going to get a ticket and can have your day in court.
At Kentucky and Barkley Lakes, the daily creel for crappie is 20. The possession limit is 40 crappie. The possession limit is two times the daily limit and excludes processes fish. Example. You are camping, on Monday you harvest 20 crappie and take them back to camp and clean them, freeze them or eat them. Legally you can not harvest any more crappie on Monday, because you have reached your daily limit. On tuesday, you harvest another 20 crappie, take them back to camp and clean them. Again, you can't harvest anymore crappie that day. On Wednesday you can do it again. The key is the word "cleaned or processed". Where you would be illegal of over possession is if you did not clean the fish. So you caught 20 on Monday and left them in the cooler at camp and then caugth 20 more on Tuesday and did not clean them. Then on Wednesday you could not harvest anymore crappie, because you already have your possession of 40 unprocessed fish. The key again, is just process your daily catch.
The recipical agree on Kentucky Lake is from Highway 68 in KY to the Highway 79 bridge in TN. However the way the agreement is written is that you go by the fishing regulations for the state's waters you are fishing in. So technically you could launch at Blood River, cross the lake an fish in TN waters and keep 30 crappie. As long as you don't stop to fish in KY on your way back to the ramp you will be legal. If you get checked at the ramp with 30 crappie, you need to be ready to prove that you caught them in TN and had not fished in KY waters.
I did check with TWRA on their possession law in TN waters, and their possession law is differnet than KY. You can not possess over double their daily limit, processed or not. So even if you process them, you can not have over 60 in more than a two day period.
One last comment. Don't go out and catch your limit every day or a lot of days, brag about how many crappie you catch, and then complain that the populations are declining. Enjoy the fishery, catch what you need, but leave a few for seed. Not to preach catch and release, but look at the bass fisheries, they do exceptionally well because bass anlgers don't harvest everything they catch. And don't catch your limit of crappie in the morning, clean them and go back to catch more in the afternoon. That is illgeal, and we are watching you.
You're correct that it's not illegal to possess more than 20 Crappie in KY ..... IF you've been fishing for two days. IF you're alone in your boat, you're daily creel limit is 20 Crappie ... so if you had 30 in your boat ANYWHERE on KY's portion of the lakes, you'd be in violation ... regardless of where/when you caught them. IMHO
You certainly don't want to catch 40 Crappie in KY waters & then go to TN, banking on telling them that you have a KY Posession Limit (2days creel) :p
Regardless of whether or not you fought it in court & won ... you'd still be out some money & time. That in itself is reason enough for me to abide by the 20/day creel rule.
... cp :cool:
for clearing that up for us. Appreciate it !!
... cp :cool:
ps ... if you have the time, could you also address the questions in the thread titled "Kentucky Lake Question". It's similar to this, but refers to the reciprocal waters area.
Who's running from Hillman's to Big Sandy and back? That is a heck of a run in my book.
[QUOTE=Quackrstackr;1085455]Hillman's to Big Sandy to KY Dam and then back to Hillman's. :eek:
the names of the different places, some in ky and some in tn. was a demonstration of how confusing, it could be. with two different creel limits on the same body of water. I have no intentions of running from one end of the lake to the other.