Inland Sportfish Regulations Simplification FAQ

These changes stemmed from a CDFW effort to address anglers’ concerns about the complexity of the inland sport fishing regulations by simplifying and streamlining them, and better aligning them with CDFW’s current fisheries management goals and objectives. The underlining goal was to make it easier for anglers to understand the regulations while maintaining and protecting the fisheries.

The regulations have been simplified in three main ways.

• The special fishing regulations for inland trout (non-anadromous waters) are separated from regulations for hatchery trout, hatchery steelhead and salmon (anadromous waters) to make it easier to understand the bag and possession limits. The special fishing regulations for trout remain in Section 7.50 and will be included in the Freshwater Sport Fishing regulations booklet effective March 2021. The special fishing regulations for hatchery trout, hatchery steelhead and salmon are moved to Section 7.40, and will be included in the Supplemental Sport Fishing regulations booklet effective June 2021.
• The District regulations, which formerly followed political boundaries, have been consolidated into consistent statewide regulations in a watershed-based approach similar to the Special Regulations.
• The Special Fishing Regulations were standardized and consolidated through application of a suite of regulations based on fisheries management goals, including angling seasons (closures), bag and possession limits, size limits, and gear restrictions.

Anglers can view and download regulations for all inland water bodies in the 2021-2022 Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations Booklet, which can be viewed and downloaded on this page, or at wildlife.ca.gov/Regulations. Inland trout (non-anadromous) waters will remain in Section 7.50, while regulations for waters supporting hatchery trout, hatchery steelhead, and salmon (anadromous waters) have moved to a new Section 7.40.

CDFW held a series of community meetings in 2018 and 2019 at locations across the state to publicly introduce and discuss proposed changes to simplify statewide inland sport fishing regulations. CDFW proposals and recommendations from the public were then vetted at the January and March 2020 Wildlife Resources Committee meetings through the Fish and Game Commission and associated stakeholders. The rulemaking process (July – October 2020) provided additional opportunity for public comment.

See the FGC web page on submitting a petition for regulatory change.

Printed fishing and hunting regulations booklets and the Big Game Hunting Digest have been phased-out over the past two years and CDFW will no longer print and ship hard copies to license agents or customers. Digital booklets will continue to be available for viewing and downloading on the CDFW Regulations page.

As part of a broader effort to go paperless, CDFW is transitioning to a digital format for all 2021 hunting and fishing regulations booklets and the Big Game Hunting Digest. The cost to print and ship the booklets is significant, and the money saved by going paperless will be redirected to fish and wildlife conservation.