How can I transport game fish I caught?

The best option is to bring ice in a cooler to transport your fish to a fish cleaning station or home.

You can also keep your fish in your livewell as long as all water is drained. Water used in livewells may contain microscopic ANS larvae or seeds, so the regulations to drain apply to livewells the same as any other areas such as bilges that may hold water.

Similarly, game fish cannot be transported in a bucket of water. Only live legal aquatic bait may be transported in containers of water 5 gallons or less (except from class 1 ANS infested waters, where no water may be transported).

These same rules apply to tournaments. If a tournament has an approved live-release format, weigh-ins and fish released will need to occur at the boat ramp site where boats launch and exit. Fish may not be transported in water in livewells to off-site weigh-in stations.