across the river
Senior Member
It is the same here, people just want to argue that it isn’t when they haven’t actually read the laws. 27-4-30 for those interested in the actual law.
Last edited:
Welcome Guest!
Private Lake Limits
- Thread starter Woods1994
- Start date
twoheartedale
Banned
To answer your question: NO (in Georgia)!
Bigbendgyrene
Senior Member
Laws aside for a second (and I'm not advocating breaking them), the truth is that for a private pond of much size to be managed for trophy fish it either necessitates keeping large limits and / or fishing constantly.
Numerous articles I've found on bass management recommend taking as much as 20 pounds of fish per acre annually from a pond. I happen to live on a 25 acre pond shared with two other landowners who rarely fish. So theoretically we (the landowners) should be harvesting about 500 pounds of bass a year. Instead, when we do get the chance to go due to busy work lives we are much more likely to have fun catching and releasing them, only occasionally keeping a decent mess of fish. Managed like that before you know it you've got a pond filled with small fish that can't gain significant weight due to tremendous competition for limited food.
Again, laws aside, I bet there are FAR more private ponds overpopulated due to busy owners / limited time and desire to clean large messes of fish than there are overfished private ponds. Could be wrong, but that's my experience with several private ponds I've fished over a period of about 50 years.
Live in North Florida and I've been under the impression / understanding that private waters in Florida still are held to regulations... but that said, also know of quite a few other private ponds where I'd bet money regs are ignored in efforts to help the waters hold trophy fish.
Numerous articles I've found on bass management recommend taking as much as 20 pounds of fish per acre annually from a pond. I happen to live on a 25 acre pond shared with two other landowners who rarely fish. So theoretically we (the landowners) should be harvesting about 500 pounds of bass a year. Instead, when we do get the chance to go due to busy work lives we are much more likely to have fun catching and releasing them, only occasionally keeping a decent mess of fish. Managed like that before you know it you've got a pond filled with small fish that can't gain significant weight due to tremendous competition for limited food.
Again, laws aside, I bet there are FAR more private ponds overpopulated due to busy owners / limited time and desire to clean large messes of fish than there are overfished private ponds. Could be wrong, but that's my experience with several private ponds I've fished over a period of about 50 years.
Live in North Florida and I've been under the impression / understanding that private waters in Florida still are held to regulations... but that said, also know of quite a few other private ponds where I'd bet money regs are ignored in efforts to help the waters hold trophy fish.
Limbhanger2881
Senior Member
Private waters do not follow state laws period. Private lakes are owned by the owner. Public water is controlled by the government.
Limbhanger2881
Senior Member
Also, for every pound of Bass that you keep you need to keep 3-5pounds of bluegill to keep the lakes balanced. For the most part you can NOT keep enough people out of a pond
It’s clear as muddy water now. ?
across the river
Senior Member
Here are the actual laws in red if any of you are interested.
Notice Bass, Bream, Catfish, etc.... are considered a game fish, unless they are domestic fish as defined below. That is the determining factor as far as whether a licenses or state creel limits are applicable.
Basically, if you have a stocked pond on your farm(or your buddy has one) that was dug out, built in the side of a hill, and stocked with fish from hatchery, you don't have to have a fishing license regardless of who you are, there are no limits, and you can catch th fish however you would like to. Those fish are considered "domestic animals, so wildlife laws do not apply. It is your pond and those are your "domestic" fish to manage as you see fit. Now, if you have a big pond or lake built on a creek that is full of fish that came from the creek it was built on originally, those fish are considered wildlife and technically anyone who fishes that pond (other than the owner, immediately, family, and tenants living on the place) cannot fish the pond without a fishing license. Those fish are game fish because they didn't originally come from a hatchery and they could technically swim upstream to someone else's land, so creel limits would apply to those fish since they are considered wildlife.
Private Ponds
Universal Citation: GA Code § 27-4-30 (2017)
The owner of a private pond, the owner's immediate family, or tenants with the owner's consent shall be permitted to fish within the bounds of the pond at any time and in any manner without a fishing license. All other persons shall be required to obtain fishing licenses to fish within the bounds of a private pond as provided in this title unless the fish in the private pond are "domestic fish" as defined in paragraph (23) of Code Section 27-1-2. For the purposes of this Code section, the term "private pond" shall not include ponds owned by city or county governments, the State of Georgia, the United States, or authorities or political subdivisions of such governments.
Notice it mentions Domestic Fish
(23) "Domestic species" means those taxa of animals which have traditionally lived in a state of dependence on and under the dominion and control of man and have been kept as tame pets, raised as livestock, or used for commercial breeding purposes, including, but not limited to, dogs, cats, horses, cattle, ratites, and chickens. Animals which live in a captive or tame state and which lack a genetic distinction from members of the same taxon living in the wild are presumptively wild animals, except that lawfully obtained farmed fish which are held in confinement in private ponds shall be known as and considered to be "domestic fish," but only if they are fish species which are either indigenous to Georgia or are fish species which have been recognized prior to 1992 as having an established population in Georgia waters other than private ponds; provided, however, that Morone americana, white perch, shall not be a domestic fish.
Here is where the line is drawn.
(36) "Game fish" means the following fish, except domestic fish as provided in paragraph (23) of this Code section:
(A) Bass:
(i) Largemouth bass;
(ii) Smallmouth bass;
(iii) White bass;
(iv) Striped bass;
(v) Spotted bass;
(vi) Redeye (Coosa) bass;
(vii) Striped-white bass hybrid;
(viii) Shoal bass (Flint River smallmouth); and
(ix) Suwannee bass;
(B) Trout:
(i) Rainbow trout;
(ii) Brown trout; and
(iii) Brook trout;
(C) Crappie:
(i) White crappie; and
(ii) Black crappie;
(D) Shad:
(i) American shad; and
(ii) Hickory shad;
(E) Sunfish or bream:
(i) Flier;
(ii) Spotted sunfish (stumpknockers);
(iii) Rockbass (goggleye);
(iv) Shadow bass;
(v) Redbreast sunfish;
(vi) Redear sunfish;
(vii) Bluegill (bream); and
(viii) Warmouth;
(F) Perch:
(i) Walleye; and
(ii) Sauger;
(G) Pickerel:
(i) Chain pickerel;
(ii) Grass pickerel; and
(iii) Redfin pickerel; and
(H) Catfish:
(i) Channel catfish; and
(ii) Flathead catfish.
Pay Pond doesn't follow limits either, because the owner has purchased the license.
Universal Citation: GA Code § 27-4-31 (2017)
The owner or operator of a catch-out pond operated as one contiguous unit and under single ownership, including ownership by a partnership, firm, association, or corporation, may purchase a catch-out pond license as provided in Code Section 27-2-23. Such license shall not be transferable to another owner or operator or to any other site. Persons, both residents and nonresidents, may fish in a properly licensed catch-out pond without obtaining a fishing license or trout license and without complying with the creel limits, possession limits, size limits, and seasons set forth in this title. It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of a catch-out pond not properly licensed to represent to any person that such person may fish in the pond as if the pond were a licensed catch-out pond.
Notice Bass, Bream, Catfish, etc.... are considered a game fish, unless they are domestic fish as defined below. That is the determining factor as far as whether a licenses or state creel limits are applicable.
Basically, if you have a stocked pond on your farm(or your buddy has one) that was dug out, built in the side of a hill, and stocked with fish from hatchery, you don't have to have a fishing license regardless of who you are, there are no limits, and you can catch th fish however you would like to. Those fish are considered "domestic animals, so wildlife laws do not apply. It is your pond and those are your "domestic" fish to manage as you see fit. Now, if you have a big pond or lake built on a creek that is full of fish that came from the creek it was built on originally, those fish are considered wildlife and technically anyone who fishes that pond (other than the owner, immediately, family, and tenants living on the place) cannot fish the pond without a fishing license. Those fish are game fish because they didn't originally come from a hatchery and they could technically swim upstream to someone else's land, so creel limits would apply to those fish since they are considered wildlife.
Private Ponds
Universal Citation: GA Code § 27-4-30 (2017)
The owner of a private pond, the owner's immediate family, or tenants with the owner's consent shall be permitted to fish within the bounds of the pond at any time and in any manner without a fishing license. All other persons shall be required to obtain fishing licenses to fish within the bounds of a private pond as provided in this title unless the fish in the private pond are "domestic fish" as defined in paragraph (23) of Code Section 27-1-2. For the purposes of this Code section, the term "private pond" shall not include ponds owned by city or county governments, the State of Georgia, the United States, or authorities or political subdivisions of such governments.
Notice it mentions Domestic Fish
(23) "Domestic species" means those taxa of animals which have traditionally lived in a state of dependence on and under the dominion and control of man and have been kept as tame pets, raised as livestock, or used for commercial breeding purposes, including, but not limited to, dogs, cats, horses, cattle, ratites, and chickens. Animals which live in a captive or tame state and which lack a genetic distinction from members of the same taxon living in the wild are presumptively wild animals, except that lawfully obtained farmed fish which are held in confinement in private ponds shall be known as and considered to be "domestic fish," but only if they are fish species which are either indigenous to Georgia or are fish species which have been recognized prior to 1992 as having an established population in Georgia waters other than private ponds; provided, however, that Morone americana, white perch, shall not be a domestic fish.
Here is where the line is drawn.
(36) "Game fish" means the following fish, except domestic fish as provided in paragraph (23) of this Code section:
(A) Bass:
(i) Largemouth bass;
(ii) Smallmouth bass;
(iii) White bass;
(iv) Striped bass;
(v) Spotted bass;
(vi) Redeye (Coosa) bass;
(vii) Striped-white bass hybrid;
(viii) Shoal bass (Flint River smallmouth); and
(ix) Suwannee bass;
(B) Trout:
(i) Rainbow trout;
(ii) Brown trout; and
(iii) Brook trout;
(C) Crappie:
(i) White crappie; and
(ii) Black crappie;
(D) Shad:
(i) American shad; and
(ii) Hickory shad;
(E) Sunfish or bream:
(i) Flier;
(ii) Spotted sunfish (stumpknockers);
(iii) Rockbass (goggleye);
(iv) Shadow bass;
(v) Redbreast sunfish;
(vi) Redear sunfish;
(vii) Bluegill (bream); and
(viii) Warmouth;
(F) Perch:
(i) Walleye; and
(ii) Sauger;
(G) Pickerel:
(i) Chain pickerel;
(ii) Grass pickerel; and
(iii) Redfin pickerel; and
(H) Catfish:
(i) Channel catfish; and
(ii) Flathead catfish.
Pay Pond doesn't follow limits either, because the owner has purchased the license.
Universal Citation: GA Code § 27-4-31 (2017)
The owner or operator of a catch-out pond operated as one contiguous unit and under single ownership, including ownership by a partnership, firm, association, or corporation, may purchase a catch-out pond license as provided in Code Section 27-2-23. Such license shall not be transferable to another owner or operator or to any other site. Persons, both residents and nonresidents, may fish in a properly licensed catch-out pond without obtaining a fishing license or trout license and without complying with the creel limits, possession limits, size limits, and seasons set forth in this title. It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of a catch-out pond not properly licensed to represent to any person that such person may fish in the pond as if the pond were a licensed catch-out pond.
across the river
Senior Member
I just posted it all for you, since you obviously didn't read any of it before posting this.
across the river
Senior Member
For the purpose of fishing regulations, yes. From a nomenclature standpoint a lake is deep enough at some point light cant reach then bottom, but people typical call bigger ponds or bodies of water lakes based on size.
Similar threads
- Locked
