Iowa fishing regulations

I wasn’t aware of this till recently but in Iowa both Flathead and Channel Catfish are legal query for commercial fishing. Iowa has opened up and expanded commercial fishing to a degree that it may become detrimental to all sport fishermen.

Mr. Bernard Schonhoff ([email protected]) recently requested input regarding commercial fishing on the Mississippi River and would welcome any comments.

Regulations for commercial fishing can be found at http://www.iowadnr.com/cs/files/542-0255.pdf

Thank you,
Neil Toland

Thanks for the heads up Neil. I haven’t had the chance to read the PDF file. Do you know what the differance is between the IA netting and the WI or MN netting?

I’m of course from MN and wouldn’t have any say in it..just nosey I guess.

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Do you know what the differance is between the IA netting and the WI or MN netting?

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No I don’t – yet. I have only read up (so far) on Iowa and Illinois. I hope to read as much of the reg’s on all of Iowa’s bordering states this winter.

Kind of an odd situation here in Iowa. On the one hand we’ve closed at least one dam to fishing during the fall season but removed restrictions on commercial netting on the rest of the river.

If nets were placed at strategic locations that blocked off access to the wintering holes of Channels and Flatheads, just imagine the long term effects on the fishery. It’s happening now with the sauger & walleye run due to Sturgeon netting.

Thanks for your interest.