TPWD Adopts Many New Freshwater Regs

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted multiple changes to the freshwater fishing regulations for the upcoming 2023–24 season at the March 23 meeting.

The freshwater fishing regulation changes focus on simplifying and clarifying fishing-related rules on waters within public parks, particularly Community Fishing Lakes (CFLs). Additional changes removed unnecessary exceptions and clarified water-body boundaries.

The new changes also include modified largemouth bass and catfish regulations on select waterbodies and the removal of fishing regulations for Gibbons Creek Reservoir due to the closure of public access to the fishery.

“Our goal is to make those angling experiences as easy and enjoyable as possible,” said Craig Bonds, TPWD’s Inland Fisheries director. “Our staff has been intentional about coordinating with city, county and state park authorities to provide quality fishing opportunities in Community Fishing Lakes, most of which reside within safe and convenient locations for families to enjoy time spent outdoors.”

The changes enacted for the 2023–24 license year take effect Sept. 1. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will incorporate the details of these new regulations into the 2023–24 edition of the Outdoor Annual.

The regulation changes are as follows:

• Modified the definition of and fishing regulations for Community Fishing Lakes (CFLs) as follows:
  • Clarified that CFLs include all public impoundments 75 acres or smaller, located totally within incorporated city limits or a municipal, city, county or state park. The new definition will exclude impoundments greater than 75 acres that are totally within the boundaries of state parks.
  • Removed special exceptions for blue and channel catfish and removed statewide daily bag, possession and length limits for other species of fish to implement a daily bag limit of five (all species combined) with one black bass greater than 14 inches.
  • Continued largemouth bass special exceptions for five CFLs.
  • Clarified the pole-and-line restrictions for CFLs, state park lakes and Deputy Darren Goforth Park Lake.
  • Changes to CFL regulations required modifications to catfish regulations for three state park lakes — Abilene (Taylor County), Raven (Walker County) and Sheldon (Harris County) — to remove special exceptions for blue and channel catfish to implement a daily bag limit of 15 and a 14-inch minimum length limit.
• Applied the CFL fishing regulations to eight water bodies for management consistency with CFLs to remove special exceptions for blue and channel catfish and remove statewide daily bag, possession and length limits for other species of fish to implement a daily bag limit of five (all species combined) with one black bass greater than 14 inches.
• Modified largemouth bass harvest regulations for Lake Nasworthy (Tom Green County) to eliminate special exceptions (14- to 18-inch slot length limit) to statewide daily bag, possession and length limits and return to statewide regulations.
• Implemented a largemouth bass catch-and-release regulation for the newly renovated Lake Forest Park (Denton County, City of Denton).
• Removed fishing regulations for Gibbons Creek Reservoir. This reservoir is privately owned and no longer open to the public.
• Modified catfish harvest regulations for Dixieland Lake (Cameron County) to remove special exceptions for blue and channel catfish and remove statewide daily bag, possession and length limits for other species of fish to implement a daily bag limit of five (all species combined) with one black bass greater than 14 inches. Dixieland Lake’s size has been reassessed, and it is classified as a CFL.
• Modified catfish harvest regulations for Bellwood (Smith County) and Tankersley (Titus County) lakes to eliminate special exceptions to statewide daily bag, possession, and length limits for blue and channel catfish and return to statewide regulations.
• Delineated the upstream reservoir boundaries for Choke Canyon Reservoir (Live Oak and McMullen counties) and O.H. Ivie Reservoir (Coleman, Concho and Runnels counties) to differentiate between the inflowing river and the reservoir where special exceptions to statewide daily bag, possession and length limits are in place.
• Corrected the upstream reservoir boundary road name for Lake Conroe (Montgomery and Walker counties).

The online version of the TPWD Outdoor Annual will not reflect any new changes until mid-August. Find more information regarding these amendments and all fishing regulations on the TPWD fishing regulations website.