NR 20.40(10)(d)(d) The department may require the tournament organizer to make parking arrangements in addition to those normally present at location where the event is taking place for the fishing tournament participants in order to ensure reasonable public access to the water where the permitted fishing tournament is being conducted. A plan outlining the alternative parking arrangements shall be submitted to the department upon request. The department may withhold approval of a fishing tournament permit application until an adequate alternative parking plan or parking arrangements have been provided by the organizer. NR 20.40(10)(e)(e) For open water permitted fishing tournaments, participants’ boats shall be identified in a uniform manner that makes them easily identifiable on the water as fishing tournament participants and the method for identification shall be provided to the department. This requirement does not apply to tournaments on the Great Lakes for trout and salmon. NR 20.40(10)(f)(f) The following provisions apply to immediate-release tournaments: NR 20.40(10)(f)2.2. Participants shall immediately initiate the official tournament registration process upon landing a fish. NR 20.40(10)(f)3.3. Participants shall successfully release the fish, as indicated by the capability of the fish to swim away upright under its own power, prior to resuming fishing. NR 20.40(10)(g)(g) The following provisions apply to catch-hold-release tournaments: NR 20.40(10)(g)1.1. No person may conduct a catch-hold-release tournament for muskellunge, northern pike, sturgeon or trout with an off-site weigh-in. NR 20.40(10)(g)2.2. No person may conduct a catch-hold-release tournament unless they follow the conditions related to fish handling specified on the permit. NR 20.40(10)(g)3.3. No person may participate in a catch-hold-release open water tournament unless their boat is equipped with a live well that is demonstrated to the tournament organizer as functioning properly prior to fishing in the fishing tournament. NR 20.40(10)(g)3m.3m. No person may participate in a catch-hold-release ice fishing tournament unless they have a container capable of holding and transporting live fish in water. NR 20.40(10)(g)4.4. Except as provided in par. (gm) 4., no person may hold fish in a catch-hold-release tournament in on-shore holding tanks unless the tanks have the capacity to hold at least one gallon of water per pound of fish held and are equipped with an aeration or oxygenation system that maintains the dissolved oxygen at 5 parts per million or higher. NR 20.40(10)(g)5.5. No person may conduct a catch-hold-release tournament with an off-site weigh-in unless the fish holding equipment and fish handling procedures at the weigh in site are approved by the department and the approval is specified on the permit. NR 20.40(10)(g)6.6. The department shall include permit conditions that specify fish handling requirements during weigh-in for catch-hold-release tournaments. NR 20.40(10)(g)7.7. The department may include the following permit conditions related to tournament operation for permitted catch-hold-release tournaments at the point of permit issuance when it determines that environmental conditions are not conducive to survival of fish intended for release and the release may constitute unreasonable waste of natural resources or when it determines that the transport and release of fish is detrimental to the fish population under the provisions of s. 23.095 (1g), Stats. NR 20.40(10)(g)7.a.a. The department may restrict the area that may be fished by fishing tournament participants to reduce the time that fish are held in live wells, the distance fish are transported to a weigh-in site or both. NR 20.40(10)(g)8.8. The department shall restrict the area that may be fished by participants in catch-hold-release bass and walleye tournaments on Green Bay to reduce the potential for biological harm to the bass population and to reduce the potential for unreasonable waste of walleye. Participants in catch-hold-release bass and walleye fishing tournaments with a weigh-in site north of the mouth of the Pensaukee River (N44°49’18.876”, W-87°53’56.04”) may not fish north of a line extending from Gills Rock (N45°17’38.9724”, W-87°1’23.0376”) to the Wisconsin state line and south of a line running from Brown County line (N44°40’39.6510”, W-87°59’15.5004”) to the Kewaunee County line (N44°40’36.8898”, W-87°44’11.8026”). Participants in catch-hold-release bass fishing tournaments with a weigh-in site north of the mouth of Pensaukee River (N44°49’18.876”, W-87°53’56.04”) may not fish beyond 5 miles of the Green Bay shoreline on which the weigh-in site is located. Participants in catch-hold-release bass fishing tournaments with a weigh-in site north of the mouth of Pensaukee River located on the eastern shore of Green Bay may fish beyond 5 miles of the eastern shore only to access Green Bay waters within 1.5 miles surrounding Chambers Island. Participants in catch-hold-release bass and walleye fishing tournaments with a weigh-in site south of the mouth of the Pensaukee River (N44°49’18.876”, W-87°53’56.04”) may not fish south of the DePere Dam (N44°26’50.9928”, W-88°4’3.7050”) and north of a line running from the mouth of the Pensaukee River (N44°49’18.876”, W-87°53’56.04”) to Chaudoirs Dock (N44°44’50.28”, W-87°41’56.4”). Notwithstanding these fishing area restrictions, the department may allow one bass and one walleye tournament per year on Green Bay to fish all waters of Green Bay south of a line extending from Gills Rock (N45°17’38.9724”, W-87°1’23.0376”) to the Wisconsin state line provided that the tournament will promote national public awareness of fishing on Green Bay and is planned to have more than 60 boats. Tournaments promoting national public awareness include, but are not limited to, events that are part of a national tour and statewide or regional championships that qualify participants for a national event. NR 20.40 NoteNote: Anglers are not restricted from fishing in Michigan waters, however, to minimize potential for biological harm and unreasonable waste of natural resources, the department encourages tournament organizers to restrict fishing in Michigan waters to south of a line extending due east from Rochereau Point (N45°18’13.92”, W-87°26’2.436”) to the Wisconsin state line.
NR 20.40(10)(g)9.9. To reduce the potential for unreasonable waste of natural resources, the department shall: NR 20.40(10)(g)9.a.a. Require a reduced daily bag limit of 3 walleye for catch-hold-release tournaments on all waters with a daily bag limit of 3 walleye or greater from the second Saturday in June to the first Sunday in September, unless the department determines that the temperature of the primary waterbody to be fished is expected to be less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. NR 20.40(10)(g)9.b.b. Require a reduced daily bag limit of 3 bass for catch-hold-release tournaments on all waters with a daily bag limit of 3 bass or greater from the first Saturday in July to the second Sunday in August unless the department determines that the temperature of the primary waterbody to be fished is expected to be less than 75 degrees Fahrenheit for smallmouth bass or less than 80 degrees Fahrenheit for largemouth bass. Notwithstanding these bag limit requirements, the department may allow one catch-hold-release bass tournament per year per waterbody with a 5 fish bag limit from the first Saturday in July to the second Sunday in August provided the tournament will promote national public awareness of fishing and is planned to have 60 or more boats and the primary waterbody fished will be 2000 or more acres. Tournaments promoting national public awareness include, but are not limited to, events that are part of a national tour and statewide or regional championships that qualify participants for a national event. NR 20.40(10)(g)10.10. Subject to the requirements in this section, the department may issue a permit for a catch-hold-release bass tournament when the season is open for harvesting bass that allows each participant in the tournament to take a daily bag limit of up to five bass of a minimum of 14 inches in length. All live bass shall be returned to the water from which they were taken as specified in the permit and no later than the day of the conclusion of the tournament. NR 20.40(10)(gm)(gm) In addition to the provisions in par. (g), all of the following provisions apply to participants in catch-hold-release muskellunge tournaments: NR 20.40(10)(gm)1.1. Participants shall use boats equipped with a functioning live well or other container large enough to hold muskellunge and equipped with a pump for aerating and exchanging freshwater that is operated continuously once a fish is placed in the live well or other container. NR 20.40(10)(gm)2.2. Participants shall immediately transport muskellunge placed in a live well or other container to the designated weigh-in site. All transported fish must meet legal length limits for the water body being fished. NR 20.40(10)(gm)3.3. Either multiple weigh-in sites shall be designated by the tournament organizer or the areas open to fishing limited so that muskellunge will not be transported for more than 30 minutes.