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 Recently adopted freshwater fishing regulations will
take effect on April 1. Following a public comment period on the draft
proposals earlier this year, the new regulations reflect the input
received and the support of the angling community in DEC’s efforts to
make fishing New York’s waters less complicated and easier to understand.
DEC is implementing changes to reduce the number of special regulations
while still providing the protections necessary to ensure sustainable
fisheries, including changing some statewide regulations for certain
species and eliminating special regulations that are no longer necessary.
Some of the new statewide regulations were already broadly applied via
special regulations. Various special regulations are still necessary,
particularly for waters that require unique management strategies to
achieve desired fisheries outcomes, but DEC has significantly reduced the
volume of regulations on individual waters.
 DEC also adopted more conservative harvest
regulations for sunfish to protect populations from overharvest and
increased the minimum size limit for crappie to 10 inches to improve the
stability and size structure of populations. Experimental regulations on
11 waters have been enacted to determine if larger sunfish can be
produced under a 15-fish-per-day harvest limit and an eight-inch minimum
size limit.
Notable regulation changes include:
·
New
statewide regulation for rainbow, brown trout, and splake in lakes and
ponds. The season will now be open year-round, with a five-fish daily
limit, any size, with a “no more than two longer than 12 inches” harvest
rule.
·
Statewide
Atlantic salmon regulations will now allow for a year-round open season
·
Ice
fishing is permitted on all waters in New York unless specifically
prohibited, with the exception of Essex,
Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren, and
Washington counties where previous rules remain.
·
New
specific dates replaced floating dates for statewide season openers to
include:
- May 1 - Walleye, Northern Pike, Pickerel and
Tiger Muskellunge
- June 1 – Muskellunge. Note that in 2022, DEC will allow for the
fishing of muskellunge beginning the last Saturday in May to accommodate
previously planned fishing trips.
- June 15 - Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass
·
A
five-fish daily walleye limit in Oneida Lake
·
A
new regulation to limit the growth of the walleye population in
Skaneateles Lake. No daily possession limit; 12-inch minimum size limit,
open year-round
·
The
statewide sunfish daily harvest limit has been reduced from 50 to 25
fish.
·
The
statewide minimum size limit for crappie has been increased from 9 inches
to 10 inches.
A complete compilation of changes and an
assessment of public comment associated with the final rulemaking is
available on DEC's website.
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