I recently caught a cobia that weighed just under the minimum weight for my state's citation program. I was wondering what citat

[outdoorlife-editor]

I recently caught a cobia that weighed just under the minimum weight for my state's citation program. I was wondering what citations are and whether they serve a purpose for the fishing community. -B.M., via e-mail

[outdoorlife-editor]

Many states have citation, master angler or other award programs in place for key fish species in their waters. Like most records, their primary purpose is to act as a kind of achievement benchmark, giving competitive anglers a target to shoot for. For state fishery departments, citation programs let them court tourism by tooting their horns about the quality of their sport-fishing. Also, information about large fish and where and when they were caught is interesting data for fish managers, field biologists and yours truly, so I can give a local fishing hole a proper workout during the best time.

-Jerry Gibbs, Fishing Editor

[purplehead]

A citation is like an "atta boy". They carry prestige for an accomplishment.

[Buckshott00]

For most states the citation holder is just like a record's list. It's like a pat on the back for doing a good job. Like any sport, it's nice to see where the title holders are at and compare your skill to theirs. They also serve to help the DNR to get data on various game species.