Volume 45 - Issue 17- April 23, 2026
State of Kansas
Department of Wildlife and Parks
Permanent Administrative Regulations
Article 7.—FISH AND FROGS
115-7-1. Fishing; legal equipment, methods of taking, and other provisions. (a) Legal equipment and methods for taking fish shall be the following:
(1) Fishing lines with not more than two baited hooks or artificial lures per line. If two artificial lures are used, the fishing line shall not exceed six hooks;
(2) trotlines, except that all float material used with a trotline shall be constructed only from plastic, wood, or foam and shall be a closed-cell construction;
(3) setlines, except that any float material used with a setline shall be constructed only from plastic, wood, or foam and shall be a closed-cell construction;
(4) tip-ups;
(5) using a person’s hand or hands for flathead catfish in waters designated as open to hand fishing, subject to the following requirements:
(A) An individual hand fishing shall not use hooks, snorkeling or scuba gear, or other man-made devices while engaged in hand fishing;
(B) an individual hand fishing shall not possess fishing equipment, other than a stringer, while engaged in hand fishing and while on designated waters or adjacent banks;
(C) stringers shall not be used as an aid for hand fishing and shall not be used until the fish is in possession at or above the surface of the water;
(D) each individual hand fishing shall take fish only from natural objects or natural cavities;
(E) an individual hand fishing shall not take fish from any man-made object, unless the object is a bridge, dock, boat ramp, or riprap, or other similar structure or feature;
(F) no part of any object shall be disturbed or altered to facilitate the harvest of fish for hand fishing; and
(G) an individual hand fishing shall not take fish within 150 yards of any dam;
(6) snagging for paddlefish, nonsport fish, and prohibited fish species listed in K.A.R. 115-18-10 in waters posted or designated by the department as open to the snagging of these fish, subject to the following requirements:
(A) Each individual with a filled creel limit shall cease all snagging activity in the snagging area until the next calendar day;
(B) each individual taking paddlefish to be included in the creel and possession limit during the snagging season shall tag the fish in accordance with K.A.R. 115-7-4(e)
(C) each individual snagging for fish shall use barbless hooks while snagging. “Barbless hook” shall mean a hook without barbs or upon which the barbs have been bent completely closed; and
(D) any individual younger than 16 years of age may use an adult’s paddlefish permit while accompanied by that adult with at least one unused carcass tag in possession. Each paddlefish snagged and kept by the individual younger than 16 years of age shall be included as part of the daily creel limit of the permit holder.
(7) floatlines in waters posted or designated by the department as open to floatline fishing, which shall be subject to the following requirements:
(A) All floatlines shall be within visual contact of the angler setting the floats while the angler is on the water body where the floatlines are located;
(B) all floatlines shall be removed when float fishing ceases;
(C) floatlines shall not contain more than one line per float, with not more than two baited hooks per line;
(D) all float material shall be constructed only from plastic, wood, or foam and shall be a closed-cell construction;
(8) bow or crossbow and arrow with a barbed head and a line attached from the bow or crossbow to the arrow for the following species of fish:
(A) nonsport fish;
(B) prohibited fish species listed in K.A.R. 115-18-10; and
(C) except on rivers and streams, the following species of fish where no size limit exists for any of these species of fish:
(i) Blue catfish;
(ii) channel catfish; and
(iii) flathead catfish; and
(9) gigging for nonsport fish and prohibited fish species listed in K.A.R. 115-18-10; and
(10) spear gun, without explosive charge, while skin or scuba diving for nonsport fish and prohibited fish species listed in K.A.R. 115-18-10. The spear without explosive charge shall be attached to the speargun or person by a line.
(b) Dip nets and gaffs may be used to land any legally caught or hooked fish.
(c) Fish may be taken by any method designated by the secretary when a fish salvage order has been issued by the secretary through public notice or posting the area open to fish salvage.
(d) Fish may be taken with the aid of boats, depth finders, artificial lights, sound attracters, and scents.
(e) Fish may be taken by legal means from vehicles.
(f) The following additional requirements shall apply in the flowing portions and backwaters of the Missouri River and in any oxbow lake through which the Kansas-Missouri boundary passes:
(1) Each individual shall place all legally caught fish on a stringer, cord, cable, or chain, or in a basket, sack, cage, or other holding device, separate from those fish caught by any other individual.
(2) The equipment and methods specified in paragraph (a)(8) shall be legal only from sunrise to midnight.
(3) The equipment and method specified in paragraphs (a)(6) and (a)(7) shall be legal only from sunrise to sunset.
(g) Optical scopes or sights that project no visible light toward the target and do not electronically amplify visible or infrared light shall be valid for use on bows and crossbows.
(h) For the purpose of this regulation, “closed-cell construction” shall mean a solid body incapable of containing water. (Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 32-807; effective Dec. 26, 1989; amended Feb. 10, 1992; amended Oct. 1, 1999; amended Dec. 8, 2000; amended Sept. 27, 2002; amended Nov. 29, 2004; amended Nov. 27, 2006; amended Nov. 16, 2007; amended Dec. 1, 2008; amended Nov. 20, 2009; amended April 16, 2010; amended Nov. 19, 2010; amended Nov. 30, 2015; amended Nov. 28, 2016; amended Dec. 22, 2017; amended Jan. 11, 2019; amended Dec. 20, 2019; amended Oct. 14, 2022; amended May 8, 2026.)
115-7-4. Fish; processing and possession. (a) Each person who takes any fish subject to any length limit, either statewide or water body-specific, shall leave the head, body, and tail fin attached while the person has possession of the fish on the water.
(b) Each person who has taken any fish shall retain the fish in that person’s possession until any of the following occurs:
(1) The fish is consumed or processed for consumption;
(2) the fish is transported to the person’s domicile or given to another person;
(3) the fish is transported to a place of commercial preservation or place of commercial processing for consumption;
(4) the fish is returned unrestrained to the waters from which the fish was taken; or
(5) the fish is disposed of at a location designated for fish disposal or at a designated fish cleaning station.
(c) Legally taken sport fish may be possessed without limit in time and may be given to another if accompanied by a dated written notice that includes the donor’s printed name, signature, address, and permit or license number.
(d) Common carp and prohibited fish species listed in K.A.R. 115-18-10 may be returned dead to the water from which they were taken.
(e) Each paddlefish permittee shall meet either of the following requirements:
(1) Nonelectronic carcass tags. The paddlefish permittee shall sign, record the county, the date, and the time of kill, and attach the carcass tag to the carcass in a visible manner immediately before reducing the paddlefish to permanent possession. The carcass tag shall remain attached to the carcass until the conditions of paragraph (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or (b)(5) are met. The paddlefish permittee shall retain the carcass tag until the paddlefish is consumed, given to another, or otherwise disposed of; or
(2) Electronic carcass tags. Using the department’s electronic carcass tag system, the paddlefish permittee shall record the county, the date, and the time of kill and enter a photograph of the entire carcass, with sufficient clarity to display the species immediately before reducing the paddlefish to permanent possession. The paddlefish permittee shall possess the confirmation number until the conditions of paragraph (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), or (b)(5) are met. The paddlefish permittee shall retain the confirmation number until the paddlefish is consumed, given to another, or otherwise disposed of.
(f) For paddlefish parts, the following additional requirements shall apply:
(1) No person shall possess any eggs that are attached to the egg membrane of more than one paddlefish;
(2) no person shall possess more than three pounds of processed paddlefish eggs or fresh paddlefish eggs removed from the membrane. “Processed paddlefish eggs” shall mean any eggs taken from a paddlefish that have gone through a process that turns the eggs into caviar or into a caviar-like product;
(3) no person shall ship into or out of, transport into or out of, have in possession with the intent to transport, or cause to be removed from this state any raw unprocessed paddlefish eggs, processed paddlefish eggs, or frozen paddlefish eggs; and
(4) each harvested paddlefish carcass shall have all internal organs removed before transporting the carcass from Kansas. (Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 32-807; effective Dec. 26, 1989; amended Nov. 27, 2006; amended Dec. 22, 2017; amended Jan. 11, 2019; amended Dec. 20, 2019; amended Oct. 14, 2022; amended May 8, 2026.)
115-7-10. Fishing; special provisions. (a) A person who takes any fish from a body of water shall not tag, mark, brand, clip any fin of, mutilate, or otherwise disfigure any fish in a manner that would prevent species identification, examination of fins, recovery of tags, or determination of sex, age, or length of the fish before releasing the fish back into the body of water, unless a permit authorizing this activity has been issued to that person by the department.
(b) No person may possess any live fish upon departure from any body of water posted or designated by the department as an aquatic invasive species body of water, except during a department-permitted fishing tournament. During a department-permitted fishing tournament, any individual may possess live fish upon departure from designated aquatic invasive species waters along the most direct route to the weigh-in site if the individual possesses a department authorization certificate as a participant in the tournament.
(c) No person may fish or collect bait within, from, or over a fish passage, fish ladder, fish steps, or fishway. “Fish passage, fish ladder, fish steps, or fishway” shall mean a structure that facilitates the natural migration of fish upstream on, through, or around, an artificial barrier or dam. (Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 32-807; effective Nov. 20, 2009; amended Jan. 1, 2012; amended Jan. 1, 2013; amended Nov. 15, 2013; amended Nov. 14, 2014; amended Nov. 30, 2015; amended Nov. 28, 2016; amended Dec. 22, 2017; amended Jan. 11, 2019; amended Dec. 20, 2019; amended Dec. 25, 2020; amended Sept. 15, 2023; amended July 19, 2024; amended May 8, 2026.)
Article 18.—SPECIAL PERMITS
115-18-8. Retrieval and possession of game animals, sport fish, and migratory game birds. (a) Each individual wounding or killing a game animal, sport fish, or a migratory game bird shall make a reasonable effort to retrieve the wounded or dead game animal, sport fish, or migratory game bird. The retrieved game animal, sport fish, or migratory game bird shall be retained in the individual’s bag, creel, or possession limit, unless prohibited by regulations of the secretary for the individual species taken. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the catch and release of live sport fish caught using hook and line, trotlines, setlines, tip-ups, hand fishing, snagging, and floatlines.
(b) Each game animal, sport fish, or migratory game bird retrieved shall be retained until any of the following occurs:
(1) The animal, fish, or bird is processed for consumption;
(2) The animal, fish, or bird is transported to the individual’s residence, to a place of commercial preservation, or to a place of commercial processing;
(3) The animal, fish, or bird is given to another person with an accompanying dated written notice that includes the donor’s printed name, signature, address, and permit or license number; or
(4) The animal, fish, or bird is consumed.
(c) The provisions of this regulation shall not affect any requirement of state or federal law or regulation regarding any proof of species, age, or sex and the attachment of this proof to the carcass.
(d) For the purpose of this regulation, “migratory game bird” shall mean any duck, goose, coot, merganser, rail, mourning dove, white-winged dove, snipe, woodcock, or sandhill crane for which a hunting season has been established in Kansas. (Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 32-807; effective June 8, 1992; amended Jan. 30, 1995; amended Oct. 5, 2001; amended July 25, 2003; amended Jan. 11, 2019; amended May 8, 2026.)
Christopher Kennedy
Secretary
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
Doc. No. 054102
