Tournaments and State Regs

I’ve fished a lot of the south and think that in most cases Minnesota and Wisconsin are ahead of them as far as government regs regarding sportfishing. I fished a tournament in Florida in January and I think one thing they did that showed the respect they give to tournament fishermen is that they gave permits allowing anglers to keep fish outside the slot. It reads, “The bearer of this card is a participant in a fishing tournament and may temporarily possess fish not meeting applicable size restrictions on the date(s) and location(s) recorded below.” It then goes on to state that the tournament sponsor must ensure that live release guidlines are followed. This would be a sweet way to protect some of the best waters in the midwest(Mille Lacs) and still allow tournaments to take place.