[fishsticker]

Ok here we go. I am going to start this thread by saying I know that gags and reds are closed for sure from feb1-end of march. I have been told scamp are also closed as they are considered shallow water grouper. I went yesterday and caught a couple scamp and had to read the regs when the first hit the deck to see if it was legal or not. The updated 2010 paperwork I had listed the closed grouper as only black, red, and gag.But I have also seen today after people commented on my post on offshore reports that the scamp are also closed. Im not trying to get in a pissing match but there is the alabama regs for the gulf and a noaa release as of january 21, 2010 that says only red and gags are closed. Does anyone have a definitive answer??? I have never kept a fish over the limit or undersized and just want to know what the rule is so future trips before april 1 dont have any gray areas as far as the scamp go. I'll go ahead and say I know the deepwater grouper are not closed.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/regulations/fed-rec-regs.pdf

http://www.gulfcouncil.org/beta/GMFMCweb/downloads/BB%202010-02/R%20-%20Regional%20Administrator's%20Report%2001-10.pdf

thanks for any info.

 

[reelcanuck]

I went to thelink to the federal fishing regs and on page 12 there is a summary sheet. Scamp is listed with a (SW) after it. The note on the bottom of the page then says "SW = Shallow Water".

Hope this is of some help

I had to take this sheet with me yesterday to keep track of what we could keep or had to throw back.

 

[recess]

This is a sore subject for me , cause the websites show all shallow water grouper being closed but if you call the FWC they will tell you gag red and black are the only ones closed but on top of that i personally asked one of the local FWC officers a couple weeks ago and asked him if i would get a ticket if i was in possession of a scamp and he broke out his book he goes by and told me scamp are fair game as long as they are over 16" and no more than 4 per person. I go by the official website for the FWC and they say what you are hearing ,they are closed along with all shallow water grouper.Just weird to me that the people writing the tickets don't have the updated versions as soon as they come out. Oh well just move on to other species before they are taken away too.

TIM