--- title: O.C.G.A. § 27-4-10. Creel and possession limits; size restrictions. collection: code id: 27-4-10 cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 27-4-10 (2025) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/27-4-10 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/27-4-10.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/27-4-10/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t27-t30-(v22)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=3d92bb7f_0#page=81 date: 2025 status: active corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68 license: CC0-1.0 publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/27-4.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/27-4-9.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/27-4-11.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md version: the only printed version in_force: true current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly heading_path: GAME AND FISH / FISH / GENERAL PROVISIONS --- # O.C.G.A. § 27-4-10. Creel and possession limits; size restrictions. (a) It shall be unlawful to take in one day or to possess at any one time, except at a commercial storage facility or at one’s place of abode, more than the creel and possession limits established by the board for that fish species; provided, however, that it shall be illegal to possess more than a total of 50 individuals of all fresh water species named in this Code section. It shall be unlawful to take from the waters of this state or to possess any fish species larger or smaller or in numbers greater than the limits established by the board in accordance with this Code section. The board shall establish creel and possession limits which shall be no greater than the following limits and shall establish sizes of fish species within the following ranges which may not be taken: Species Ranges of Sizes Maximum Within Which Fish Daily Creel May Not Be Taken And Possession Limit (1) Genus microp- 0 — 24 inches 10 terus (black bass) (2) Mountain trout 0 — 24 inches 8 (3) White bass 0 — 36 inches 15 (4) Striped bass 0 — 36 inches 15 (5) Striped white 0 — 36 inches 15 bass hybrids (6) Any one or com- 0 — 10 inches 50 bination of the species of bream or sunfish (7) Walleye 0 — 24 inches 15 (8) Sauger 0 — 24 inches 15 (9) Chain pickerel 0 — 24 inches 15 (10) Grass pickerel 0 — 12 inches 15 (11) Redfin pickerel 0 — 12 inches 15 (12) Black crappie 0 — 14 inches 30 (13) White crappie 0 — 14 inches 30 (14) American shad 0 — 30 inches 8 (15) Hickory shad 0 — 24 inches 8 (16) Amberjack 0 — 50 inches 5 (17) Atlantic croaker 0 — 10 inches 25 (18) Atlantic stur- 0 — 86 inches 1 geon Species Ranges of Sizes Maximum Within Which Fish Daily Creel May Not Be Taken And Possession Limit (19) Black drum 0 — 36 inches 15 (20) Black sea bass 0 — 15 inches 15 (21) Blue marlin 3 (22) Bluefish 0 — 20 inches 15 (23) Cobia 0 — 40 inches 5 (24) Dolphin 0 — 24 inches 15 (25) Flounder (Paral- 0 — 15 inches 15 icthys spp.) (26) Gag grouper 0 — 25 inches 5 (27) King mackerel 0 — 36 inches 5 (28) Red drum 0 — 36 inches 5 (29) Red porgy 0 — 20 inches 10 (30) Red snapper 0 — 25 inches 5 (31) Sailfish 3 (32) Sand tiger shark 0 — 140 inches 1 (33) Sharks 0 — 120 inches 2 (34) Sheepshead 0 — 20 inches 15 (35) Small sharks 0 — 54 inches 4 composite (At- lantic sharp- nose, bonnet- head, and spiny dogfish) (36) Spanish mack- 0 — 20 inches 20 erel (37) Spot 0 — 10 inches 25 (38) Spotted sea 0 — 25 inches 15 trout (39) Tarpon 0 — 90 inches 1 (40) Tripletail 0 — 25 inches 5 (41) Weakfish 0 — 15 inches 15 (42) White marlin 3 (b) In accordance with sound principles of wildlife research and management, the board shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations establishing size limits, open seasons, creel and possession limits, and possession and landing specifications on a state-wide, regional, or local basis in accordance with this Code section. The board is further authorized to designate certain areas as catch and release fishing areas and to promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the management of such areas for catch and release fishing. ## History Code 1933, § 45-713, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 396, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 816, § 50; Ga. L. 1986, p. 504, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 552, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1552, § 4; Ga. L. 1990, p. 762, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 27; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1636, § 2; Ga. L. 1995, p. 543, § 3; Ga. L. 1996, p. 980, § 4; Ga. L. 2012, p. 739, § 5/HB 869; Ga. L. 2021, p. 105, § 2-7/HB 362; Ga. L. 2022, p. 308, § 5/HB 1233. ## Code Commission Notes Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2021, an inch symbol was deleted following “10” in paragraph (a)(1). ## Amendments The 2021 amendment, effective April 27, 2021, substituted “Genus micropterus (black bass)” for “Largemouth bass” in paragraph (a)(1). The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, in the table in subsection (a), deleted former items (2) through (6), relating to Smallmouth bass, Shoal bass, Suwannee bass, Spotted bass or Kentucky bass, and Redeye bass or Coosa bass, and redesignated former items (7) through (47) as present items (2) through (42), respectively.