I would just try and relax and let the people we pay to handle these sort of things, handle them.

From speaking with someone in BBAC this law has been on the books for years but has been overlooked up until last year. The warden who started making a big deal out of it has really upset many people within DFG, including the higher ups. BBAC has been working VERY HARD on getting this law changed or atleast the wording to exclude tournaments from the law. From the info I got from the BBAC the main reason this law is on the books is because of other species that are not as likely to survive upon catch and release (trout, salmon, etc.) The reason it has become such an issue for the bass fisherman is that the people who fish for those other species are upset that bass fisherman don't pay attention to the law and continue to fish and cull when they are not allowed to.

The BBAC rep said that if you were approached by a DFG ranger who actually started to make a stink about it the best thing to say is that you are fishing for catfish, carp, trout, a trophy bluegill, etc. something other than Bass. Which is perfectly legal even after having a limit of Bass.

The law will get changed because of one main reason, MONEY! The areas surrounding these lakes, especially the big ones such as Clear Lake know how much money is brought in by having the tournaments in their area and they don't want to lose that.

Unfortunately since they have not tried to pull any of this stuff on any of the big tournaments like Bassmasters, Everstart, or the FLW tour it is still in the process of trying to be changed. Could you imagine a DFG ranger going up to any of the big names in a Bassmaster event and tried telling them that they weren't allowed to cull how fast this law would change?

Brian L. Garland