# is it legal to shoot catfish with bow



## Hoyt man

I didnt think you were allowed to but wasnt sure. I do not, nor do I want to, I just wanted to see if it was legal.


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## markland

Only in the Altamaha and Savannah river basins, not legal anywhere else in GA.


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## Boar Hog

I thought flatheads were legal to take with a bow. I may be wrong, someone let me know before I make the mistake!


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## markland

I just did!


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## klemsontigers7

Sadly, it's legal


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## markland

Bow Fishing: 



Only nongame fish may be taken by bow and arrow from freshwaters, except the Savannah River listed below, under the following conditions:
You must have a valid sport fishing license in your possession when bow fishing.
Arrows must be equipped with barbs or similar devices for recovering fish and must be attached to the person or bow by a line sufficient for recovering the arrow and fish.
Poisonous or exploding arrowheads are illegal.
Arrows cannot be discharged into the water closer than 150 feet to any person.
Legal hours for fishing with bow and arrow are from sunrise to sunset, except nongame fish may be taken at night while using a light in the impounded waters of lakes over 500 acres in size.
Any game fish, except channel and flathead catfish taken under the provisions listed below for the Savannah River, with an open wound possessed by a person bow fishing will be considered evidence of taking fish illegally.
It is legal to take channel catfish and flathead catfish with bow and arrow anywhere in the Savannah River, including its tributaries and impoundments within the Savannah River basin, by bow and arrow any time of the day and at night by the use of a light as long as you have a current sport fishing license and meet the other criteria listed above.

Copied from the GA DNR regulations page:


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## mwood1985

maybe we should make a sticky of what fish are legal ie what species and where they can be fished in plain english cause everybody knows the reg book is terrible


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## crackerdave

Beware: There are some -not many,but _some_ - DNR rangers who DO NOT know the law!


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## markland

Non-game fish: any fish not designated as a game fish under Freshwater Game Fish Daily Limits

Freshwater Game Fish Daily Limits
It is unlawful to take in one day or to possess at any one time, except at a residence or commercial storage facility, more than the daily creel limit for each species.  It is unlawful to possess more than a total of 50 individuals of all the game fish listed in this section, except channel and flathead catfish.



Once the daily creel limit for a particular species is taken, it is unlawful to continue to fish for that species.



Exception:  Daily limits differ on certain waters shared by Georgia and South Carolina (see Agreements with Bordering States).



See special creel limits on Public Fishing Areas.



Bass.....10
Largemouth, Redeye (Coosa), Shoal, Smallmouth, Spotted, and/or Suwanee bass
Bream (see exception).....50
Flier, Spotted sunfish (stumpknockers), Rockbass (goggleye), Shadow bass, Redbreast, Redear, Bluegill, and/or Warmouth
Catfish.....No Limit
Channel and/or Flathead
Crappie.....30
Black and/or White
Pickerel.....15
Chain, Grass and/or Redfin
Sauger.....8
Shad.....8
American and/or Hickory
Striped bass, White bass and/or Hybrid striped-white bass (see note & exceptions).....15 (only two can be 22 inches or longer)
Trout (see exception).....8
Brook, Rainbow, and/or Brown trout
Walleye (see exception).....8
Exceptions:



Bream: see South Carolina in Agreements with Bordering States.



Striped bass, White bass and/or Hybrid striped-white bass:



Limit taken from the North Newport River; Medway River including Mount Hope Creek; Little Ogeechee River; Ogeechee River; Oconee River downstream of Georgia Highway 22 in Milledgeville; Ocmulgee River downstream of the Georgia Highway 96 bridge between Houston & Twiggs counties; Altamaha River, St. Marys River, Satilla River; and the tributaries to these river sections; and from saltwater is a two (2) fish limit, both must be 22 inches in length or longer
There is no length limit for Striped bass, White bass, and Hybrid sriped-white bass taken from the waters covered in the Agreement with South Carolina (see South Carolina under Agreements with Bordering States).

Trout:  See Amicalola Creek, Chattahoochee River, Smithgall Woods, Smith Creek, and Waters Creek under Trout Fishing Regulations/Special Trout Streams Regulations.



Walleye: Limit on Blue Ridge Reservoir is 15.
..

These are copied directly from the regulations listed on the website and in the regulation book, you just need to read it to understand what the rules on, You cannot shoot any fish listed as a game fish, a protected fish from any harvest means or any fish with a creel limt as they are not legal to take with a bow in GA freshwater and are listed as game fish.  You can only shoot fish that are not contained in those previous lists.  The only confusion is with shad as the shad listed in the creel limits pertains to the American/Hickory type shad and gizzard and threadfin are legal to shoot in GA as they are a different species and not lised in the creel section.


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## markland

Game Fish
Throughout this section you will see references to game fish. Game fish are: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, redeye (Coosa) bass, shoal bass (Flint River smallmouth), Suwannee bass, white bass, striped bass, striped-white bass hybrid, rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, white crappie, black crappie, American shad, hickory shad, flier, spotted sunfish (stumpknockers), rock bass (goggleye), redbreast sunfish, redear sunfish, bluegill (bream), warmouth, walleye, sauger, muskellunge, chain pickerel, grass pickerel, redfin pickerel, channel catfish and flathead catfish.
..

Here's some more, you just need to look in the regulations and you will find what you need!


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## Michael

markland said:


> Only in the Altamaha and Savannah river basins, not legal anywhere else in GA.



Where did you find anything about the Altamaha river basin?

It has always amazed me how the definition of a game fish is one with a creel limit... the creel limit for catfish is "no limit"...


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## markland

Guess they changed that this year use to be listed with the Savannah River as well, guess not anymore?


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## Jake Allen

Thanks for taking the time to assemble, type and
post all of this good information Mark!
Greatly appreciated.


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## markland

Yessir get these questions quite a bit and usually the information is in there, you just have to look for it, but as can be the case, there is a lot of confusion with some of the regulations as well and many times even the DNR does not know the correct answer, but if a problem arises, you can always use the information presented in the regulation book as evidence to no wrong doing in most cases and with their listings they have there should not be too much confusion in this case.
The biggest confusion I have found so far in GA has been the lack of information concerning saltwater bowfishing as the DNR has no regulations listed for that particular segment and they do not know the answers to it???


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## across the river

Catfish are only legal in the Savannah river basin because they are legal in South Carolina.   If SC didn't allow the shooting catfish, GA wouldn't allow it there.


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## markland

Well yes and no, AL is legal to shoot all catfish and we have alot of bordering water but still not allowed to shoot them on the GA side!
Actually in the area of the Savannah River as well as what use to be allowed on the Altamaha, the Flathead Catfish have gotten over populated and the DNR did not mind more of them being taken out.  They were really taking out alof of other fish in those areas and affecting other fish populations from what I understand.


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## redbone_inthe_blood

I think we need a permanant thread about what is legal and non-legal for bowfishing at the top of the forum. this would stop all the begginner questions and it would be helpful to all that forget too.


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## Ihunt

How can a person shooting a catfish with a bow not be within the 150 ft mark when the arrow is discharged into the water?  Did I read that wrong? Ya'll are some great shots to shoot a catfish 50 yards away,at night, in the water.


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## Throwback

markland said:


> Well yes and no, AL is legal to shoot all catfish and we have alot of bordering water but still not allowed to shoot them on the GA side!
> Actually in the area of the Savannah River as well as what use to be allowed on the Altamaha, the Flathead Catfish have gotten over populated and the DNR did not mind more of them being taken out.  They were really taking out alof of other fish in those areas and affecting other fish populations from what I understand.



Georgia claims all the water all the way to the  high water mark on the Alabama side. I think on the SC/GA border, the state line is in the middle of the river. 

T


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## castandblast

Ihunt said:


> How can a person shooting a catfish with a bow not be within the 150 ft mark when the arrow is discharged into the water?  Did I read that wrong? Ya'll are some great shots to shoot a catfish 50 yards away,at night, in the water.



No we are not shooting fish that far away. The 150ft rule states that you have to be 150ft away from another person, boat, etc to insure that you don't accidentally shoot someone. Most shots come with in 10 yards.


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## oogachaka

castandblast said:


> No we are not shooting fish that far away. The 150ft rule states that you have to be 150ft away from another person, boat, etc to insure that you don't accidentally shoot someone. Most shots come with in 10 yards.



What was originally posted said "any person"...not "another person" not "any other person". 
"ANY" person is what it says.

Therefore you cant shoot within 150 feet of yourself...because youre "any" person.

Thats what the law(as stated on this thread) states unless the person who posted that on here got it wrong. (He did say he copied and pasted it...so Im guessing he got it right)

Now, I doubt youd get in trouble with a warden for shooting a fish near your feet(if no one else was within 150FT), but according to what was written you could.

P.S. I have NOT read the law, simply what was posted in this thread.


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## huntmore

oogachaka, oogachaka, oogachaka IIIIIAMM stuck on a feeling and i am tired of whoops sorry lost it there for a min.


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## retiredkilla

i went to santee cooper for many years and caught a lot of catfish but no more bow fishermen have killed all the big ones,  what ashame. iwould fish at night and bow fishermen would be running all over the lake.. i do not fish there any more..........


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## GA Bowfisher

retiredkilla said:


> i went to santee cooper for many years and caught a lot of catfish but no more bow fishermen have killed all the big ones,  what ashame. iwould fish at night and bow fishermen would be running all over the lake.. i do not fish there any more..........



The bow fishermen have not killed all the catfish at Santee there are lots of big cats there! We go one or two times a year and see plenty of big cats.


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## huntmore

retiredkilla said:


> i went to santee cooper for many years and caught a lot of catfish but no more bow fishermen have killed all the big ones,  what ashame. iwould fish at night and bow fishermen would be running all over the lake.. i do not fish there any more..........



We went catfishing this summer in the middle of july at santee and caught a bunch of catfish. Clarkhill has lots of bowfishing and there are more catfish than ever. I like to catchem during the day and shoot them at night.


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## Ga. Swamper

Never tried it.


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## huntmore

Ga. Swamper said:


> Never tried it.



Unless you want a new habit DON"T.


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## markland

It's worse then and more addictive then turkey hunting, if you value having any spare time to spend doing anything else, don't do it!


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## 828deerslayer

I love to shoot a big cat when its legal and they eat good to


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