Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 12, March 26, 2025
(a) In
accordance with Table A in subdivision (b) of this section, except as provided
for in sections
10.2 and
10.3 of this Part, and Parts 11,
19, 35, 36 and 40 of this Chapter, no person shall:
(1) have in possession, take or attempt to
take fish of a species listed other than during the open season specified for
such species; or
(2) have in
possession or intentionally kill or unnecessarily injure fish of a species
listed of sizes other than those specified and allowed for such species;
or
(3) possess, kill or
unnecessarily injure fish of a species listed in excess of the daily limit
specified for such species except that fish caught and returned to the water
immediately without unnecessary injury will not be counted as part of the daily
limit.
(b)
Table
A-Sportfishing regulations.
|
Species
|
Open
Season |
Minimum length or slot
limit |
Daily
limit |
(1)
|
(a) Brook Trout
|
April 1 through October 15
|
Any size
|
5
|
|
(b) Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Splake in
lakes and ponds |
All year
|
Any size
|
5 with no more than 2 longer than 12"
|
|
(c) See 10.1(f) for inland trout streams
|
(2) |
Lake Trout |
April 1 through October 15 |
21" |
3 |
(3) |
Atlantic Salmon |
All year |
15" |
3 |
(4) |
Black Bass |
June 15 through November 30
|
12"
|
5 |
| |
Dec. 1 through June 14 |
Catch and release only; Artificial lures
only |
|
(5) |
Muskellunge |
June 1 through November 30 |
40" |
1 |
(6) |
Walleye |
May 1 through March 15 |
15" |
5 |
(7) |
Tiger Muskellunge |
May 1 through March 15 |
30" |
1 |
(8) |
Northern Pike |
May 1 through March 15 |
18" |
5 |
(9) |
Pickerel |
May 1 through March 15 |
15" |
5 |
(10) |
Lake Whitefish |
All year |
Any size |
5 |
(11) |
Crappie |
All year |
10" |
25 |
(12) |
Atlantic Sturgeon, paddlefish,
sauger |
Closed Fishing for and possession prohibited
|
(13)
|
American eel
|
All year
|
9"
|
25 for individuals 50 for party/charter boat
captain and crew
|
(14) |
American Shad-in the Hudson River and tributaries
north of the George Washington Bridge |
Possession prohibited |
| |
|
American Shad-all other inland
waters |
All year |
Any size |
2 |
(15) |
Sunfish (bluegill, pumpkinseed and redbreast
sunfish) |
All year |
Any size |
25 |
(16) |
Yellow perch |
All year |
Any size |
50 |
(17) |
All endangered or threatene fish
species |
May not be taken or possessed at any time, except
pursuant to a special permit. |
(18) |
Bullhead, Catfish, Carp, Cisco, Rock Bass,
Sucker, White Bass, White Perch, and all other fishes not listed in this table
|
All year |
Any size |
Any number |
(19) |
Striped Bass (in the Hudson River and tributaries
north of the George Washington Bridge and all inland waters) |
April 1 through November 30 |
23" to 28" TL (total length see ECL §
13-0339) |
1 |
(20) |
Hickory shad |
August 1 to November 30 |
Any size |
5 |
(21) |
Anadromous River herring (Alewife and Blueback
herring) |
See section
10.9 of this Part |
| |
Note:
See Parts 11, 12, 19, 25, 26 of this Title for additional
special fishing regulations.
(c)
Additional special fishing
regulations.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part:
(1) no person when fishing in waters of the
State other than the marine and coastal district may use or possess gaff hooks,
except when fishing through the ice;
(2) a single, uninjured black bass that is
being landed, measured or is in the process of being released from a
recirculating or aerated livewell will not be counted as part of the daily
limit;
(3) no person when fishing
in the waters of the State shall use or possess as bait round goby,
Neogobius melanostomus;
(4) no person shall possess more than one
quart total of fish eggs from trout, lake trout or Atlantic salmon while on the
waters of the State or the shores thereof. Fish eggs, which are still inside
the carcass of an intact legally caught and possessed fish, shall not be
counted towards the one quart total; and
(5) no person shall take or attempt to take
any fish by means of chumming with fish eggs. For the purposes of this section,
chumming means depositing fish eggs, not attached to a hook,
in the waters of the State of New York other than in the marine and coastal
district;
(6) any snakehead fish,
as defined in section
180.9(b)(1)(iv) of
this Title, caught while angling shall not be returned to the water, and shall
be immediately euthanized and reported to DEC;
(7) incidentally caught threatened or
endangered fish species, or species caught during closed seasons, must be
unhooked and released immediately. Such fish may not be removed from the water
or otherwise handled for any purpose other than removing the hook and placing
the fish back into the water. Intentionally angling for threatened or
endangered fish, or for fish during the closed season for that species, is
prohibited;
(8) catch and release
angling (
i.e., catching and returning a fish to the water
without causing it harm) is only permitted during the open season for a
particular fish species. Measuring, weighing and photographing the fish are
permitted as long as the fish is not removed from the water for an extended
period or handled in a manner that could cause harm such fish may not be held
on a string, or placed in a bucket, tub, livewell, or any other holding
device;
(9) a non-offset (inline)
circle hook, as defined in paragraph (a)(4) of this section, is required when
fishing for striped bass when using any marine or aquatic organism or
terrestrial invertebrate, live or dead, whole or parts thereof. This
requirement shall not apply to artificial lures with any marine or aquatic
organism or terrestrial invertebrate, live or dead, whole or parts thereof
attached. Striped bass caught on any unapproved method of take must be returned
to the water immediately without unnecessary injury.
(d)
Special regulations for the
cleaning of fish.
No person, while upon waters of the State, excluding the
marine and coastal district, shall possess:
(1) walleye, black bass, brook trout, lake
trout or landlocked Atlantic salmon that have been dismembered or otherwise
prepared for cooking or consumption beyond removal of the gills and
viscera;
(2) other species of fish
that have been dismembered or otherwise prepared for cooking consumption,
except that the gills and viscera may be removed and such fish may be filleted,
provided the skin is not removed from the fillet.
(i) if filleting striped bass, the rack
(remains of fish after fillets have been removed) must be retained and
possession of no more than two fillets per legal fish is
allowed.
(e)
Definition of black bass.
For purposes of this Part, black bass
shall mean largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.
(f)
Special regulations for bait fish
(personal use).
(1) Bait fish taken for
personal use from any water body shall only be possessed or used in the same
water body from which such bait fish were taken, and shall not be possessed or
used in any other water body, except as provided in paragraph (2) of this
subdivision.
(2) Bait fish taken
for personal use in the marine and coastal district, as defined in
Environmental Conservation Law, section 13-0103, shall only be possessed or
used in waters of the marine and coastal district and the Hudson River as
defined in subparagraph (7)(x) of this subdivision, and shall not be possessed
or used in a water body outside the marine and coastal district, except the
Hudson River as defined in subparagraph (7)(x) of this subdivision.
(3) Bait fish taken for personal use from any
water body shall not be transported overland, except:
(i) bait fish taken for human consumption
pursuant to section
10.5 of this Part, suckers taken
for human consumption pursuant to section
10.7 of this Part, and smelt,
suckers, alewives and blueback herring taken for human consumption by angling
may be transported overland. Such fish shall not be used as bait;
(ii) bait fish taken for personal use in the
marine and coastal district, as defined in Environmental Conservation Law,
section 13-0103, may be transported overland only for use in waters of the
marine and coastal district and only within the following counties: Queens,
Kings, Richmond, New York, Bronx, Suffolk, Nassau, Rockland and
Westchester;
(iii) bait fish taken
for personal use from the defined water body adjacent to or a water body within
the following overland transportation corridors may be transported overland
only within that designated overland transportation corridor. Such bait fish
must be used in the same water body, as defined in paragraphs (6) and (7) of
this subdivision, from which the bait fish were taken;
(a)
Upper Niagara River/Lake Erie
overland transportation corridor shall mean the geographical area
associated with the water body as defined in subparagraph (7)(ii) of this
subdivision west of and including a line starting at I-90 at the Pennsylvania
border, then continuing east to its intersection with I-290, then continuing
north along I-290 to its intersection with State Route 62, then continuing west
to its intersection with I-190, then north to its intersection with the Lower
Niagara River;
(b)
Lower
Niagara River/Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River overland transportation
corridor shall mean the geographical area associated with the water
body as defined in subparagraph (7)(i) of this subdivision starting at the
intersection of I-190 and the Lower Niagara River, then continuing eastward to
its intersection with State Route 104, then continuing eastward to its
intersection with State Route 3, then continuing east on State Route 3 to its
intersection with State Route 104, then continuing eastward on State Route 104
to its intersection with State Route 11, then continuing north on State Route
11 to its intersection with State Route 56, then continuing north along State
Route 56 to its intersection with State Route 37, then continuing east along
State Route 37 to its intersection with Racquette Point Road, then continuing
north on Racquette Point Road to its intersection with Ransom Road, and then
continuing west on Ransom Road and terminating at the St. Lawrence
River;
(c)
Hudson River
overland transportation corridor shall mean the geographical area
associated with the water body as defined in subparagraph (7)(x) of this
subdivision starting at the eastern shore of the Hudson River at the Federal
Dam in Troy, continuing east on W. Glenn Avenue in Troy to its intersection
with State Route 4, then continuing south on State Route 4 to its intersection
with State Routes 9 and 20, then continuing easterly to its intersection with
State Route 9, then continuing east on State Route 82, then continuing east on
State Route 82 to its intersection with the Taconic State Parkway, then
continuing south on the Taconic State Parkway to its intersection with the
Sprain Brook Parkway, then continuing south on the Sprain Brook Parkway to its
intersection with I-287, then continuing west on I-287 across the Governor
Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to I-87 North, then continuing north on I-87 to where
State Route 9W crosses I-87 in Greene County, then continuing north on State
Route 9W to where State Route 9W crosses I-87 in Albany County, then continuing
north on I-87 to its intersection with State Route 7, and then continuing east
on State Route 7 to its intersection with I-787, and then continuing north on
I-787 to its intersection with Tibbets Avenue, and then continuing east on
Tibbets Avenue to its intersection with Delaware Avenue, then proceeding in a
straight line to the west edge of the Troy Dam.
(4) Environmental conservation officers may
seize any bait fish possessed in violation of this subdivision. No action for
damages shall lie for such seizure, and disposition of seized bait fish shall
be at the discretion of the department.
(5) For purposes of this subdivision,
transported overland shall mean transport by motorized vehicle
other than on the water body where the fish were taken.
(6) For purposes of this subdivision
water body shall mean any lake, river, pond, stream or any
other distinct mass of water existing in the State of New York, whether
publicly or privately owned, including the banks and shores thereof. A water
body shall also include all tributaries upstream to the first impassable
barrier including the banks and shores thereof. For the purposes of this
subdivision, locks and dams shall be considered impassable barriers.
(7) Notwithstanding the definition of water
body in paragraph (6) of this subdivision, each of the following combined water
bodies, including all tributaries up to the first barrier impassable by fish,
shall be considered the same water body for purposes of this subdivision,
except that where a combined water body is divided by a state or international
boundary, the combined water body shall only include those portions existing
within New York State:
(i) Lake Ontario in
combination with the Lower Niagara River and the St. Lawrence River;
(ii) Lake Erie in combination with the Upper
Niagara River, Black Rock Canal, and waters of the Erie Barge Canal from the
Upper Niagara River to Lock E-35 in Lockport;
(iii) Oswego River from Lock 7 to junction
with Oneida River and Seneca River at Three Rivers;
(iv) Oneida River downstream of Caughdenoy
Dam and Erie Barge Canal from Lock E23 to the junction with Oswego and Seneca
Rivers;
(v) Oneida Lake and Erie
Barge Canal downstream to Lock E23 and upstream to Lock E22, and the Oneida
River downstream to Caughdenoy Dam;
(vi) Mohawk River from Barge Canal in Rome
upstream to Delta Dam;
(vii) Erie
Barge Canal from Lock E22 east to Lock E6;
(viii) Hudson River from the Federal Dam at
Troy to Bakers Falls in the City of Hudson Falls, and the Champlain Canal up to
but not above Lock 7 in Fort Edward, and the Erie Barge Canal up to but not
above Lock E6 in Waterford;
(ix)
Lake Champlain including the Champlain Canal up to, but not above Lock
12;
(x) Hudson River downstream
from the Federal Dam at Troy to the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan
Island;
(xi) Susquehanna River
downstream of dam in Oakland, Pennsylvania and Chenango River;
(xii) Saranac Chain of Lakes from Lake Flower
upstream to Barlett Carry Dam.