Big Cast Nets are BANNED in Texas????

Everything is BIGGER in Texas... Except "Cast Nets" LOL🤦‍♂️

So, in our 2nd Largest state in the continental U.S, with over 3,330 miles of coastline. The starting point of the iconic "Cattle Drives" in the 1850's giving fame to some of the great cowboys of the day & some of the best "western" movies of all time. The home of the Alamo were Davy Crocket fought until the end, and it was our southernmost territory of vast deserts and land... It was a wild place! A place of FREE men, where the iconic saying "Don't Mess with Texas" originated.

Then Something Happened...

I highly doubt anyone is going to fess up to being the "Texan" who decided; "cast nets are too big" and decided to pass a law, limiting Texans to a measly 7' cast net... that's literally a kids net...

This is Texas regulations:

Cast Net

A cast net is a net that can be hand-thrown over an area.

Legal only for taking nongame fish and other aquatic animal life including crabs, crayfish, and shrimp. (See shrimp regulations)

May not be greater than 14 feet in diameter.

In salt water, nongame fish may be taken for bait purposes only.

Who is going to point out how STUPID this is??

It's VERY important to acknowledge and PUBLICLY speak about how "quite frankly, STUPID" this law is...

What "MAN" is going to stand before us and declare tell us that a 7' net is big enough and that we shouldn't be throwing full size cast nets in the state of Texas?? One thing I have realized is; Sometimes people are Secretly Embarrassed, but that embarrassment isn't enough for them to change the regulation. You have to consider the personality type of the people sitting in the Texas Parks and Wildlife department. While the Texans have a tough, rugged reputation, it pretty much stops with the citizen & certainly does not extend to the Parks and Wildlife Department. These are a different breed of Texans, a softer type, like the type who throw tiny little nets and only catch tiny little fish. The type of Texan who would like to limit the amount of spice in a taco bell burrito, or moans whenever they drive their "4 wheel drive TRUCK" over a tiny little yellow speedbump.

In Mexico, just across the boarder, there is no fishing licenses, no cast net regulations, it seems much more FREE than the U.S

I Can't be the only one SHOCKED at Texas of all places reducing the cast net size to a kids net and expect people to "understand". A 7' net is not useful for Open Water casting. A 7 foot net is only useful in 7' or less of water & last I checked, the ocean is a tad bit deeper than 7' off the coast of Texas.

What's next for Texas?

Re-writing the fishing laws regarding cast nets is difficult. There is no "one" person who can just change them. You would expect the officials in Texas to be cognizant enough (hopefully) to realize that limiting its citizens to a 7 foot net (14 in diameter) is foolish & labeling anyone who violates this 7 foot rule a criminal (who could be taken to jail BTW) is so absurd its laughable!

Our Gov Desantis, here in FL literally had to implement the "Boater Freedom Act" just to keep our local FWC officers from harassing fisherman. I watched a viral video of some DUMMY from our FWC department pull a father out of a boat and arresting this man in front of his kids claiming he was "drunk", turned out he wasn't! Lol, but that didn't stop this officer from arresting, detaining him, and bringing him to the local jail.

I can only imagine it's the same type of people out there harassing the fisherman on the Texas coast & attempting to "regulate" cast net length. One thing I will say regarding this is; These people who work for this department and enforce the laws are not capable of admitting they infringed on our freedoms, not willing to stop writing tickets until an actual state GOV puts a stop to it (Like Desantis did). Its a nasty cycle, where the laws get stricter, food prices go up, more tickets & lots of Gov $$ wasted on this B.S.

In Conclusion...

Never forget: If you are fishing, you are NOT a criminal (Doesn't matter who says what). The fish belong to you!

I will leave you with one of Thomas Jefferson's famous quotes;

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."

Thomas Jefferson would throw a BIG NET, like a MAN🤙