# Reciprocal Fishing Licenses



## Lost Bay (Oct 18, 2010)

Is anybody interested in helping me to get Florida and Alabama to allow for reciprocal fishing in Perdido Bay / River and the Ono Island area?

The state line goes wiggling through the area, and sometimes you can't say for sure which state you are in. 

This presents problems in many ways:

1) If you have one license, then you can only fish half of the bay/river/intracoastal.
2) The two states have different fishing laws, and it can get be very confusing and frustrating.
3) There is no line down the middle (or any markers for that matter) so you frequently don't which state you are in.
4) If I have a license in one state, but I accidentally wander into the other state, I could be fined for fishing without a license and more. In fact, just travelling from the Lillian Bridge to my house in Florida practically forces me to ride through Alabama waters, unless I want to go WAY out of the way and waste time and gas.
5) While I personally have a license for both states (both non-resident licenses since I live in Georgia), the problem is really for my guests. When I fish with guests (which is 95% of the time), they get a non-resident Florida 3-day, and then we just have to ignore half of the bay, river, and Intracoastal. 
6) More people would fish the bay and frequent the establishments on both sides IF they were allowed to a) fish both sides and b) travel to both sides with fish in the ice chest.
7) We are missing out on some incredible fishing by only having access to one side.
8) I own a house at the mouth of Perdido River in Pensacola. I can't even take my guests 400 yards across the water to fish. Seems ridiculous to me!

Anyway, since I am a Georgia resident, I need a handful of residents from Florida and Alabama to help me get the laws changed. I can lead the effort, however neither Florida nor Alabama will do anything without residents involved.

btw, they already do this in St.Mary's, GA which is on the FL/GA border.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Makes sense. What kind of help are you looking for?


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

I'll sign a petition even though it will probably never happen, that's money out of the states pocket.


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## swhiting (Oct 4, 2007)

Is AL's license still 9/1 - 8/31 or something like that, not year from date of purchase?

If so, I bet those money sucking scoundrels won't budge on that.


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## Lost Bay (Oct 18, 2010)

Probably just signatures. Maybe a day in front of a committee.

I agree that it is an uphill battle.

Regarding the tax revenue, they will benefit more by having people visit both sides and creating more sales and thus more tax revenue. From my experience, most people either have an AL license or a FL license, but not both, so how much lost revenue there would be is debatable.

Anyway, I'll do the work. I just need the residents' signatures and maybe some testimony.


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## Lost Bay (Oct 18, 2010)

How right you are Swhiting. I just looked at my AL license, and it expired at the end of August, and I bought it in May. That is crazy. 

I assumed it lasted a year, and I recently fished over there thinking I was legal.

Yikes.


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## Lost Bay (Oct 18, 2010)

I received the following last year from a man at myfwc.com. He was trying to help me with this.

---------

 I would contact or have someone that is a resident contact the local
 state representative and/or state senator to ask them to support a
bill to give FWC the authority to enter into an agreement with Alabama.

 What I am drafting is below:

 379.2283 Perdido River, Perdido Bay, Old River reciprocity
 agreements.--The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of the
state is hereby authorized to enter into an agreement of reciprocity with
the game and fish commissioner or the appropriate officials or departments
 of the State of relative to the taking of game and fish from the waters
 of the Perdido River, Perdido Bay, Old River by permitting reciprocal
 agreement license privileges.


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## birdsnest (Oct 2, 2007)

That's not really uncommon. Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee all come together in Pickwick Lake. A fishing license from any of those states is acceptable.


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## Lost Bay (Oct 18, 2010)

I'll start drafting the letter and get back to all of you. 

Thank you for your support.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

In case you haven't already posted this on the Gulf Coast Fishing Connection (GCFC) here's the link:

http://www.gulfcoastfishingconnection.com/forums/forum.php

It's free to sign up. Just copy and paste your original and last posts. You'll get some additional support there.

Thanks for your time and effort.


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## mkpitts6 (Feb 23, 2008)

I would support you in this. and I'm sure I could round up some others too!
Mike


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## POPPY (Jan 9, 2008)

got my support. keep us info - post the letter & signatures needed. Poppy


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## in the boat (Mar 5, 2010)

I'm all for it. It's worth a try at least.


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## POPPY (Jan 9, 2008)

you will come up on some snags ..... laws & regs. shrimp nets mess size is different - Al smaller then Fl. some fish sizes & amount that you can have is different between states. my 2 cents -- people must follow laws / regs of the state that they have a lic for and, or, the state that the boat is reg in. i still like the idea. Poppy


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## reefcreature (Oct 3, 2007)

where do i sign?:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Jolliff49 (Feb 2, 2019)

I live in Pensacola about 3-4 miles from Perdido River. I'm all for helping to get this resolved. I am a senior citizen almost 70 years old and a 100% disabled vet. What can I do?


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## DLo (Oct 2, 2007)

Scour the web for 8 year old posts and join forums to comment on them...


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## CalvinandHobbes (Jan 25, 2014)

haha wow


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