I found this interesting article on having a closed season near some of the dams in the lower pools to protect the walleye and sauger. I’m not sure if I made the link correct so there is also the address to copy and paste in your browser.
Protection article[/url]
http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/111303/spo_20031113064.shtml
If that truely is the case in those lower pools 
, i’m all for some stricter rules and slot limits etc 
.. We don’t want to hurt the fishery by over harvesting them. I would expect the same for pools 7-8-9 if that were the case here. It’s all about the fish!!! 
I’m all for these new restrictions, and am excited about the possible effect they should have on populations of fish and should increase the number of real trophy fish in our lower pools! I believe the season will only be closed within a certain distance from the dams, but am not sure what that distance will be. I have really noticed a decline in sauger numbers the last several years, and walleye numbers have been on the decline also. Pool 14 is still a good bet to catch some nice fish, but it has been more work finding them the last couple years.
Rooster
Just keep your cell phones and a note pad with you and use the TIP hotline when you see violations occur. I really hate to be a “rat”, but I doubt we see much law enforcement on the water. The closed area season will start about the same time as deer season in Ia. Where do you think the wardens will be? My bet will be they’ll be sitting in a nice warm vehicle waiting for hunters. I also just read where the state of Ia. is looking at a 600k budget reduction for the DNR and the elimination of about 11 wardens. GREAT NEWS 
I think there should be restrictions on fishing near the lock and dams in the winter and early spring. The walleye/sauger are just too vunerable in these areas. I believe that even if catch and release is practiced a lot of fish are killed due to hooking mortality pulling these fish from deep water and the tremendous amount of fish that are caught daily.
My two cents.
Gator Hunter
If they really want to do something worth while lets start by lowing the daily bag to 6 fish instead of 10 , combine that with dam closings and now you’re talking Hairjig
Yup, Hairjig the article says that very thing! Reduced bag limit to 6 in aggregate!
This is an Iowa DNR news release.
Couple of thoughts on this article:
First, the author did not mention how far from the Dam the closure will stretch. Quarter Mile, Half mile? Mile? All the way to the next Dam? If it’s only several hundred feet like at Red Wing, the closure will do nothing.
Second, if this is the right thing to do, why not all they way up the river? (Every Dam) If it’s determined that catch and release mortality is the cause for the declines since 1996 why not?
and a couple of quotes from the article.
“The action is being proposed after an Iowa study found mortality of sauger increased from 50 to 60 percent in the 1980s and early ’90s to 75 to 85 percent beginning in 1996.”
“Biologists think the problem is due to the catch and release of thousands of injured, small sauger after they were caught in deep water and brought tothe surface, said Mike Conlin, who heads the Department of Natural Resources fisheries division. The quick change in pressure extends their swim bladders out of their mouths.”
Jon J.
Jon the article I posted does state the end point below each dam that is to be closed, one example is, “From Dam 11 at Dubuque to State Hwy. 61/151 Bridge.” Secondly the other dams at the Quad cities and at Guttenberg will be comparison fisheries for the three closed test areas that border Iowa.
If you were referring to a different article? OOps.
Joe
Chitwood, I was referring to the article in the first post. I did not see the one you linked till now. 
The one you link to is more informative. A lot more!
I agree with John Pitlo’s line of thinking. (aka “fishsqzr” here on the board) Good job John!
Jon J.
I see they chose landmarks to make the endpoint easier – good thing, because I sure wouldn’t know where “1 mile” is, only could guess based on the mile markers.
The one problem that I do see with this is leaving Guttenburg as a ‘comparison fishery.’ I don’t know much about the dam at the QC, but if they’re concerned about mortality due to deep-water fishing, then Guttenburg will not give a good comparison point. In front of the dam there, the deepest water is about 37′, and the only place I can think of where there’s more than 40′ is in the cut where only an insane man would try to sit and fish (current through there is massive, to the point of danger if you’re not powering through).
Here’s something else to consider, there is a fishing barge at Guttenburg and one at Lynxville. What will happen to those if the dam areas are shut down to fishing?
The closure means ALL fishing, not just for eyes and sauger.
Those fishing barges are business’. I’m sure the DNR will be taking that into consideration if they ever plan to expand to all pools.
Sure hate to admit it, but Iowa now leads us in football and conservation common sense. Hope we do not wait for the results of the five year experiment before doing the same for the Minnesota, Wisconsin portions.
What the hey guys, why wait for this stuff to be legislated? Adopt these rules on your own and pass them on to your buddies.
Excellent comment Herb! Some people just need that “Protect me from myself” LAW in order to stop. I’m NOT pointing fingers at anyone here on this thread that is in favor of closed seasons or portions of the river. Herb just made an excellent point….I must hear a thousand times during the winter months……..”….the DNR really should shut this down to winter-Spring fishing. It’s killing too many fish….” Then in the same breath, I hear…..”well I better get up to the dam before anybody else gets to my hotspot.” I just have to laugh and say oh ya…..that guy wants the “protect me from myself law” passed.
Anyway, just thought I would throw this side of the winter-spring fishing debate out. Any comments?
Steve,
Direct hit!!!!!!! 
You know the funny thing is while you get numbers of fish at the dam, most of them are nothing but fish sticks. Most springs the better fish and fishing are away from the dam. I’ve always assumed that most of the dam fishing traffic comes from people who do not get out fishing enough to know the habits of walleye real well. They just go to the dam and jig because it is what has worked for them in past years. My two cents.
Gator Hunter
I fish quite a bit and get a good pattern on the fish, and sometimes, there is a good quality fish bit up by the damn, someteimes i run into eaters, and sometimes there are bigger fish, it just depends on the situation you are dealing with. weather water level and current all plays into it.
I also fish the dam, but limit myself to 20′ of water or less, quit or move if I am catching cigars, and fish till I get a few eater saugers for the wife, then move down stream to look for bigger fish. I honestly believe if this were done by all, there would be no need for laws. Unfortunately, there are too many meat hunters and opportunists who like to “slaughter” as many fish, as fast as they can. Same people who shoot ducks on the water, pheasants on the ground, (or, in Iowa, from the road), and bait deer to get them close. I wish we could develope a fool proof test to determine an applicants “sportsmans” status before issueing a fishing or hunting license. It would save SO much of our natural resources and the DNR would have much more time to concentrate on matters that insure the continued survival and flourish of our favorite sporting creatures, instead of chasing hoarders!
I do like your idea Herb, and believe I will take your advice!
Rooster
I must hear a thousand times during the winter months……..”….the DNR really should shut this down to winter-Spring fishing. It’s killing too many fish….” Then in the same breath, I hear…..”well I better get up to the dam before anybody else gets to my hotspot.”
What you have described is the ritual of an addict. In all things moderation.
I wonder if education isn’t the answer? Until I joined this forum I didn’t realise what was happening to the fish that were pulled up from deep water. What if signs were put up at the landings below the dam explainging this? I believe that most of the people that fish are good sportsmen. An example is catch and release. When I started fishing 40 some years ago you never heard of such a thing, but through education it has become popular. Just my thoughs.
Whether or not the signs would work remains to be seen, but I think it’s a good idea Art.
what little i know about this subject but seeing with my own eyes and hearing the same from others sportfisherman. alot of the problem is most of the tailwater fisherman are there only this time of the season and they will take any size sauger they get in the boat. sorry to say i have seen this many many times. i’m sure many people who frequent this site can vouch for this. can’t wait for it to take affect, never was much for playing bumper boats in such a small area. 
Lets face it, most serious sports men are limiting or avoiding the dam fishing already. Only an enforced law will educated the hard core regulars. Hopefully some time in the near future it will be stopped. Once that is done, we will look back, and wonder what took so long!
It wouldn’t be so bad if the fisherman (as pointed out in an earlier post) kept even the small sauger they caught. It’s the guys that go in the deep holes and catch 50 to 60 from deep water to keep thier limit of 6 with maybe 25 fish to feed the eagles.
Quote:
I wonder if education isn’t the answer? Until I joined this forum I didn’t realise what was happening to the fish that were pulled up from deep water. What if signs were put up at the landings below the dam explainging this? I believe that most of the people that fish are good sportsmen. An example is catch and release. When I started fishing 40 some years ago you never heard of such a thing, but through education it has become popular. Just my thoughs.
I refuse to believe that most of these fisherman don’t know the consequences of taking saugers from the deep waters by the dam. Most fisherman these days are very well educated about the fish they chase. I think a lot of them just don’t care if they kill and leave more fish than they bring home for the table. My two cents.
Gator Hunter
you are so right from what i have seen. it’s too bad that some of these guys are picking up the great tips from all you guides and guys who are trying to help members on this site. i have noticed many more visitors than members being on at any single time. not saying these are the persons involved, but you have to admit anyone can come here and learn tons of great info from the pros and increase there limits no matter where they fish. any given weekend you can find 50 or more boats fishing tailwaters in the fall and winter months. usually there are many more than that. many fishing that 35’+ tail waters just below the rollers. small saugers one after another, some of them aren”t even 6″ in length. :smash
Ok…we keep discussing the ill effects of pulling ‘eyes/sauger out the deep water. We also keep discussing educating other anglers…..So lets look at what/why this happens?
Would you all agree the the bladder pops out its mouth because it is brought up to the surface too quickly?? Or is some other factor at play?
Do you all think a way to help prevent this from happening is to work the fish up at a much slower pace instead of yanking it out the water? Will the extra time you take to land the fish prevent this from happening, or is it too late??
I’m not the biggest walleye fisherman around 
, so some of you other guys who fish for them exclusively I would love to hear your responses/thoughts on this !!
I’m enclosing a picture of a sauger i caught last year ice out that had this happen to him. It was the only fish I kept, knowing that it would’ve died if i released it. If you look closely you can see the bladder hanging out of its mouth.
About 7 years ago at Genoa I tried this very thing. Had already brought a couple to the boat with the swim bladder sticking out but they were keepers so no problem. For shits and giggles I thought I’d take my time and bring the next one up very slowly as in stages to see if it made any difference. No go. It took over 9 minutes to bring the next fish up from 39ft of water and the bladder was still protruding out the mouth. That’s when I decided the deep water fishing wasn’t for me. Haven’t been back to those depths or anything deeper than 30ft since. I won’t try “fizzing” cause I know nothing about it. Have seen it done on tv, but I don’t care to try it.
These are just my observations and opinions.
Now here’s an idea that goes to the other end of the spectrum. See what you think.
If you insist on fishing the deep holes, the dnr can institute a no cull rule for those areas. You fish till you get your limit with no culling, no throwing back the small fish, no throwing back the pigs. You get you limit and you’re done. Get your butt off the water cuz your done. I know it’s extreme, but what do you think?
a couple of my favorite ice out spots are within 500 feet of the 5A dam. the depth is between 3 and 10 feet where I fish. I catch little ones and very often, keepers and even a couple of hogs. Walleyes and sauger. I like to fish near the dam in the spring and I would hate to lose it. Spose though that if there is no other way to keep people from doing as folks are describing, then I’ll have to give up my spots as well.
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