Recently Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) released the changes that they are putting into place this upcoming season. This is to include the following fishing regulations:

• The reduction of the speckled trout limit on the upper coast to 5 fish in accordance with the rest of the state
• Anglers are now required to report all alligator gar harvests within 24 hours on the My Texas Hunt Harvest app.
• A maximum length limit of 4ft for alligator gar on the Trinity river. This is to include a nighttime ban on bow fishing and create a drawing to allow a limited number of anglers to harvest one gar over 48″.
• TPWD now manages the private recreational red snapper season in federal waters.

All of these changes sparked a lot of controversy on the forums and different Facebook groups. Bow fishing guides, fishing guides, weekend warriors, everyone and their moms! (If you saw me share my post about it into any Facebook group, you know exactly what I’m talking about) I’ll break down my thoughts on each of the ones listed.

5 Trout limit for the upper coast: I think this one is past due. People complain about the quantity/quality of fish they catch these days and in the same breath talk about the “Good ol days” when they’d load up a 125qt ice chest with 20+ inch trout. Not seeing that actions such as those played a part in what they see today.  The rest of the Texas coast has seen this limit for a number of years now and as a result the fishery has improved. Laguna Madre has seen larger fish become more plentiful as has Matagorda. East Matagorda is quickly becoming a must fish bay if you are chasing large trophy trout, especially those over 26”. With saltwater fishing becoming even more popular over the past few years and will likely continue the trend, I think this change was inevitable. Some weekend warriors will continue to be upset as well as some guides but if you look at the rest of the Texas Coast, everyone has figured out that it isn’t such a bad thing.

Alligator gar changes: From the start, I’m a fan of all of this. I think Alligator gar are some of the least understood fish in the state and are by far the oldest in the state. It was such a shame to see 6-7ft gar, that can be over hunted every single night knowing that most of them would just be 100 years old, wasted for a picture. This is quite common in bow fishing tournaments where they would be dumped into a pit and covered in dirt. The Trinity is well known for its monster gar and recently TPWD has started to do more to protect the species such as closing the harvesting of them when the river reaches a certain level. As far as the reporting goes, think of it as a boat ramp survey. The data collected through this reporting will be a great way to get a handle on actual harvest rates, average sizes and an overall view of the species.

TPWD managing Private recreational Snapper Season in Federal waters: This is a HUUGE step in the right direction. You remember a few years back when snapper season was super super short? That was all thanks to the federal government, the past few years the State has attempted to take control of the season and show that they can more effectively manage it than the federal government. Which if you have paid any attention to the last couple seasons, you can see that clearly is the case. Just this past season, though it was cut short, was proof that the state can effectively estimate populations, track harvest rates and close the season when the quota is reached all without the overreach of the Federal government.

All in all, I guess you could say (in my opinion) that in these cases, change really is a good thing. TPWD is tasked with managing the state resources in a way that will allow future generations of Texans to enjoy them such as we have.