Bag Limits and Slot Limits, Explained

Every angler runs into bag limits and slot limits, and many aren’t sure exactly what they mean. They are the tools fisheries agencies use to manage how many fish, and which sizes, anglers take home. This guide explains them with examples from state regulations; the exact definitions and numbers are set by your own agency, so always check its current rules.

New to the rules? Knowing the regulations for the water you fish is part of being an angler, and getting them wrong can mean a fine.

What a bag limit is

Agencies word this differently, so read your own regulations’ definitions. Some examples:

• Daily bag limit (Wisconsin DNR): the maximum number of fish an angler may keep from a specified waterbody, or part of one, in one day. Wisconsin also sets a total daily bag limit: the maximum an angler may keep in one day from all waters fished that day. You may combine the catch from several lakes up to the total daily bag limit, as long as the limit for each water is never exceeded.
• Creel limit (Kansas): the maximum number of a species of fish, turtle or frog that one person can take in a calendar day.
• Possession limit (Kansas): the maximum total number of a species that one person can keep at one time.
• Daily possession limit (Michigan DNR): for example, five walleye a day on the Michigan lakes in the slot-limit example below.

Limits are set per species and often per water, so the same fish can have different limits on two lakes a few miles apart.

What a slot limit is

A slot limit controls the size of fish you may keep, not just the number.

• Slot-length limit (Kansas): prevents anglers from keeping fish within a certain size range. Kansas gives the example of a 13-18 inch slot for bass: bass between 13 and 18 inches must be returned to the water.
• A real example (Michigan DNR, 2026): on Lake Independence and Teal Lake, all walleye smaller than 15 inches and those between 18 and 23 inches must be released. The slot is inclusive, so fish of exactly 18.0 or 23.0 inches must be released too; the daily possession limit is five walleye, and only one may be over 23 inches.
• Minimum length limit: fish under a set size must be released, as the 15-inch minimum in the Michigan example.

Why these rules exist

The Michigan DNR explains that fisheries managers use a protected slot limit to protect spawning females, which benefits recruitment (fry growing into mature fish), and that it is one of the regulatory tools in the state’s walleye management plan. Bag and possession limits cap how many fish each angler takes. The reasons for any particular rule are usually explained by the agency that set it.

How to measure a fish correctly

Measuring is done wrong surprisingly often, and an inch can be the difference between legal and not. Check which length your regulations use:

• Kansas measures from the tip of the snout, with the mouth closed, to the end of the tail, with the lobes pressed together. (Paddlefish are an exception, measured from the front of the eye to the fork of the tail.)
• New York’s saltwater rules use a similar total length: the longest straight-line measurement from the tip of the snout, mouth closed, to the longest lobe of the tail, lobes squeezed together, with the fish laid flat on the measuring device.

Measure in a straight line on a board or tape, not along the curve of the fish. If you also want to estimate weight from length, our fish weight calculator does the maths. When a fish is right at the line, release it.

Releasing protected fish unharmed

A protected fish only helps the fishery if it survives release. NOAA Fisheries’ catch-and-release best practices:

• Dehook the fish in the water whenever possible.
• If a swallowed hook can’t be removed easily, cut the line as close to the hook as possible.
• Keep air exposure to a minimum - under 60 seconds is ideal.
• Handle the fish as little as possible, and only with wet hands; avoid touching the eyes and gills.
• Support its weight along the length of its body; never suspend it by the lip or mouth.
• Revive a sluggish fish by facing it into the current, or pulling it head-first through the water, until it can swim away on its own.
• Gear helps: circle hooks, barbless or crimped-barb hooks, a wet knotless or rubber landing net, and a dehooker.
• Deep water: fish caught deeper than about 30 feet generally suffer some barotrauma; release them quickly at depth with a descending device if you can.

Our guide on catch and release goes deeper.

Finding your local regulations

• Start with your state, provincial or national fisheries agency, which publishes the official regulations, often free online and in a printed summary. Our guide to fishing licenses explained points you toward licensing.
• Watch for water-specific rules. As the Michigan example shows, a single lake can have its own slot and minimum size.
• Note seasons. The Michigan release above, for example, comes with the opening of the walleye possession season.
• Re-check every year. Agencies publish new regulation summaries; the Michigan rules in the example took effect in 2026.

When in doubt, keep less, release borderline and protected fish, and only harvest what you’re sure is legal.

Sources

• Wisconsin DNR, Daily bag and total daily bag limits. Read 28 October 2026.
• Kansas fishing regulations (published by eRegulations), Rules and regulations. Read 28 October 2026.
• Michigan DNR, New protected slot limits for walleye in effect for Lake Independence and Teal Lake (7 May 2026). Read 28 October 2026.
• NYSDEC, Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations. Read 28 October 2026.
• NOAA Fisheries, Catch and Release Best Practices. Read 28 October 2026.

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