ILLINOIS ANGLER UPDATE The following was sent to the DNR today. I will update you on the response when I receive it. I hope all is well. My phone has slowed and I have had time to sit down and think everything over. I believe all issues other than the 12 weigh-in issue which has been resolved go back to a misinterpretation of the DNR rule on page 6 of the 2013 year. I have talked to several directors who have been submitting permits and others who have not. The way the regulation reads it appears to me and most others that only “special circumstance” events have needed a permit until now. If I remember correctly I called and verified this in 2013. I have not looked at the actual code and how its written but the booklet seems pretty clear. In the new 2015 issue the DNR has applied these same regulations relating to “special events” to every event. Most of these rules it is clear are for “special events” examples below:: a) A Hook and Line Fishing Tournament Permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources is required and must be in possession of all tournament participants during the tournament. This permit is needed if the event is to be held in any Illinois lake, river, or stream, or any of the waters listed in Section 810.45. (This is clearly for special events, you must have the permit on every angler so he can prove he can have undersize fish, over the creel etc.) 5) Adequate identification of participants in fishing tournament for law enforcement purposes. Specific criteria include: A) Tournament officials must keep and have available on site a written record or log of daily participants (including names and boat registration numbers) for inspection by Department of Natural Resources officials. B) Each participant and boat must be identified in an easily recognizable manner at a distance (such as a ribbon on the trolling motor and patch on the hat or back). (I believe these rules are also designed for special events, it only makes sense.) Please let me know if you interpret the 2013 Tournament Permit Rule to be for only special permits or all events. If you believe it is for all events please clarify after it says (A fishing tournament permit from the Department of Natural Resources is needed if) please explain which paragraph describes normal events. These rules seem way off base for a normal tournament and I believe it is because the “special event” rules are being applied to regular events in error. Please let me know.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:28:08 +0000