Georgia Code
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 27-4-6. Use of Minnow Seines or Traps

It shall be unlawful to take any game fish or American eels by minnow seines or minnow traps from the fresh waters of this state. It shall also be unlawful to take any nongame fish by minnow seines or minnow traps from any of the fresh waters of this state, except where such fish are five inches in length or less and are not to be sold or otherwise used for commercial purposes and except where such waters are not trout waters as designated pursuant to Code Section 27-4-51. It shall further be unlawful for any person to engage in the use of minnow seines or minnow traps to collect nongame fish in the fresh waters of this state without a valid resident or nonresident fishing license as provided in Code Section 27-2-23. In accordance with sound principles of wildlife research and management, the department shall have the authority to specify open seasons, creel and possession limits, gear specifications, species taken, and waters open to the use of minnow seines and minnow traps in accordance with this title.
History. Ga. L. 1956, p. 231, § 1; Ga. L. 1962, p. 120, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 497, § 25; Code 1933, § 45-708, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 396, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 27; Ga. L. 2021, p. 105, § 2-6/HB 362.
The 2021 amendment, effective April 27, 2021, inserted “or minnow traps” in the first and second sentences, and substituted the present provisions of the third and fourth sentences for the former provisions, which read: “It shall also be unlawful to use a seine which is longer than 20 feet or which has a mesh larger than three-eighths of an inch square, or in diameter if the mesh is not square. All game fish and American eels taken in such seines shall be immediately released unharmed into the waters from which they were taken.

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