some people(smart in worldly matters)have told me rules for blue catfish are 1 fish 36 inches minimum.whats the real poop?

Unless something has changed, You can keep one cat over 32" in virginia, and all you want under 32". In carolina there is no limit of any kind on catfish.

thanx keith.now i can fish with peace of mind.

Actually that is completley wrong. I called the region office of the fish and game commision the other day while in BIB&T to get the right answer to this question so I can be informed of it. Feel free to give them a call yourself if there are any doubts as to my answer. the limit is one blue over 32 inches per day with a limit of 20 catfish all together per person per day. I asked about the 20 per day and they said that was all species combined so it doesnt matter if you have 10 blues 5 flats and 5 channels that is all that you can keep.not 20 of each species. I hope that keeps someone out of a ticket

Twenty catfish well heck I catch that many first hour for Petes sake !!!

Wow, lots of confusing information here, lets see if we can simplify this. Fishing on Kerr, you are governed under two state rulebooks. On page 7 of the Va book the reciprocal license discussion is pretty clear; "North Carolina regulations apply on NC portions of these waters". You can assume, though its not mentioned in the NC regs, that VA rules apply in the VA waters.

In Virginia rules, for Kerr, the rule for blues is you can have only one over 32 and 20 per day. There is an exception there for Va waters below the fall line (the lower James for example) however Kerr lake is ABOVE THE FALL LINE so 20 is the limit. For flatheads there are no length limits however the limit of 20 still applies. Lee, I don't want to stir up anything here but page 13 of the Va book clearly seperates the species and mentions nothing about 20 catfish in aggregate.

In NC, the catfish is not listed in the inland game fish list. To my knowledge, there's no length nor creel limit on blues nor flatheads. There are some stipulations on certain waters but none I can find regarding Kerr. I would add from my interactions with the NC biologists that there is much more a penchant in NC regarding invasive species and both the blue and flathead are considered invasives in most NC biology circles. The flathead is subject to a significant investment around controlling the spread of the species and regulations in NC reflect this mindset.

I'll inject my own view which is that the 20 fish limit should be removed from Kerr for both species. The 32 inch rule is wonderful, I would like to see that rule added for the flatheads as well but its not likely to happen given what I see in current events. Why I have no issue with keeping (not wasting) larger quantities of smaller fish is that they are not scarce and that catching a larger percentage from the center of the size distribution can only help the very top where the "bigger than 32 inches" crowd hang out. Folks, always remember that consumption advisories recommend not eating the over 32 and to hold meals of under 32 to two meals per month.

See you all on the water...jfo

JFO,


Is it true that the cantaminates haven't so much increased,BUT the way biologist have lowered the the calculation numbers to put a scare in people?That whole PCB thing is so outdated.I rather eat fish from a lake that i know than buy fish from a store that i have no idea where they come from or what the fish was actually raised in.

Hey jfo, you talk REAL purty!

The Va Dept of Public Health & Toxicology does this advisory work. They state in the clear that the concentrations of PCB's in fish have been relatively constant and have NOT changed significantly over the years. In Dec of 2004, the VDH revised the guidelines to strengthen the consumption advisories. A large part of the reasoning for this change was driven by changes in the understanding of how long a specific individual might consume fish from the same source. Prior calculations assumed folks would eat fish from 9-12 years from the same source but new guidance resulted in this basis being reset upward to 30 years. I would add right here that I personally plan to eat Kerr lake fish for longer than 30 years and I have set a "personal guideline" over the top of the VDH ones discussed here.

The specific guidelines in effect now are:
Fish with less than 50ppb have no restriction
Fish with 50-500 are limited to 2 meals/month
Fish with over 500ppb are not to be consumed.
ppb=parts per billion in the sample

The history of this guideline(further back than 2004) reflects science and learning on the subject. Before 1980, the FDA considered higher than 5000ppb unacceptable. In 1984 they reduced to 2000ppb and Va used the Fed guideline. In 1998 VDH set their own number and used 600, then in 2004 the number went to 50. I believe the FDA level is still 2000ppb.

Once a animal gets a PCB it never leaves. So if the animal (or you) got one when it was young it will still have it plus all the others picked up thru-out life. Its for this reason that a "cumulative" rule applies. You keep building up these toxins until you die. This is why the guidelines have become more stringent. I back the new guidelines...they allow me a simple way to see the exaustive testing done by VDH and to apply it to my & my family's health.

BM, your point about the grocery store is sadly accurate and can be extended to restaurants as well. The VDH has adopted these stringent guidelines and as such has set advisories into effect. Folks can eat these fish they catch or not...its their choice and the advisory does serve as a notice that the toxin may exist. Fish legally caught via commercial operation in a water governed by an advisory such as this is legal to sell and the process of selling them thru the grocery store "launders" them away from the advisory. These fish are legal in the grocery store (if they meet FDA guidelines) because the food supply is governed by FDA, not VDH. FDA testing, frequency of test etc are another story. The FDA does not hold to the VDH guidelines. Each reader here can make their own decision about which guideline is more appropriate for themselves.

The current advisory can be found here:
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/epi/publichealthtoxicology/RoanokeRiver.asp

A great question & answer FAQ is here:
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/epi/publichealthtoxicology/pdf/FAQFishConsumptionAdvisory.pdf

Be safe and have fun to all...jfo

I have always been under the impression that 1 set of regulations governed Kerr/Buggs. How else could you enforce it. I have not seen state line markers on the water. What if I drift over the line while fishing. I am lisenced in both states and have fished regularly for catfish with the understanding that 1 big fish per person was the only applicable change in Kerr/Buggs. I found better info in the printed books than I did on the state web sites. I may put in at buffalo and end up fishing in nutbush, so this is a concern.

Chaos,

The state line thing is "catch 22" for collecting fines.It should not have been implemented until both states agreed to it.There's more catfish in Buggs than you shake a stick at,i've never caught other fish with a catfish in its belly.Have you?Maybe someone has.It's a stupid regulation if you ask me.

I'd be curious to know what folks had been written a ticket for that was related to the differences in the NC/VA laws. Has anybody here been written a ticket for any activity that was legal in one of the states but against the other? Just curious...jfo