Cedar River Slaughter

Launched my boat last week north of Cedar Falls at a small ramp. The water is gin clear. It wasn’t hard to notice the dozen or more Smallies that someone had filleted and thrown back into the river from the ramp. We’re talking nice fish…15 to 18 inches. Obviously someone got into a concentrated school… Ouch!!!! Exceptional fish….Less for me to catch and release next Summer. To who ever did that I can only say please, please, please try to exercise some restraint. We can do better than slaughtering a bunch of these terrific fish. They aren’t any good to eat anyway!!!

That’s a damn shame. I assume it was at the Washington Union Access?
It’s just not right to keep a bunch of bigger smallies like that, especially in such a small river. And to dump the remains back in the river at the ramp? Slobs.

Not only is it a shame but illegal!!!!! No sense pleading with these types. They will continue to abuse
our resources!

Last time I personally ate a smally was about 13-14 years ago. Hate to disagree, but it tasted quite well.

That was the last time I kept except for a couple smaller fish in the BWCA. Out of clean waters they aren’t bad eats.

Doesn’t justify slaughtering fish, illegally keeping over a limit and illegally throwing the guts on shore. Not to mention keeping.

Not sure about Iowas law, but you can’t keep them smallies now in MN!

I love stumbling upon these idiot types!

Jim W

Which part was illegal?

In MN you are not allow to throw guts back into the water.

Gianni,
I based my response on the first post. I believe it state something like a dozen or more slaughtered?
I guess in MN and not knowing exactly how many people kept and killed the fish makes it sort of hard to
specifcally say either way.
DaveB mentioned the illegal aspect of discarding guts etc.
Also, I believe I mentioned I wasn’t sure of Iowan law regarding smallmouth seasons and limits etc. If this was in MN,
It would be illegal!
So, please grace us with your knowledge on the smallmouth regs in Iowa. I need to know, especially if I want to over harvest
on the Cedar!!!LOL

Jim W

http://www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/fwb/fish/regs/regnofrm.htm

I couldn’t find anything that they violated, assuming there were enough guys to not be over-limit.

Thanks for the reference Gianni, quite interesting regulations in comparison to MN. Appears to be lot less
conservation minded??
I haven’t fished the Cedar and wasn’t there at the site of the “slaughter”, but not knowing how many individuals
were there and just how the fish were cleaned indeed does not indicate illegal activity. Stand corrected.

If they didn’t clean the fish appropriately or took more than they should those would have been the only illegal areas. Unless they
were “fishing with there hands”(interesting law).

Man, you guys need to close up some seasons down there!!!LOL

Jim W

I wouldn’t mind if they would put a closed season/catch and release season on a lot of the different fish, especially bass, pike, and walleyes in the rivers. Very few of the interior rivers support large-scale natural reproduction of ‘eyes or pike, but the bass population certainly would benefit. A lot of discussion has taken place on this board with respect to closing down walleyes and sauger for a month in the spring so that they could spawn, but I think the logistics of coordinating Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and the USFWS probably put the kaybosh on any efforts to get it done.

In many ways it is nice to have the more liberal regs down here, like two lines and two hooks per. I can’t say I use it very often, but when the white bass are slamming baits, it’s twice the fun.

No question about it , more people are fishing the Cedar AND they are keeping more fish. For many years the occasional walleye was a bonus on our fall smallie days. The last two years walleye have out numbered bass by quite a margin in my boat. We now have people fishing in the fall that never used to and thanks to the stocking programs they are catching walleyes!! NICE walleyes. I know of one 28 incher taken this fall. I have personally caught more walleyes from the Cedar in the last two years than I caught in the ten preceding that. I think slot limits would be a great help, as alot of these walleyes are over 20 inches. A keeper slot of 15 to 20 inches would seem logical to me, but I’m not a biologist. As far as the bass go, I’m not sure of the answer but I am concerned about the population that seems to be declining. I don’t believe catch and release only is warranted, but size and catch limits should be tighter. Since prime fishing takes place at the same time as many hunting seasons, DNR personnel are already busy, so as usual we are the ones responsible for policing ourselves…………B

B..Interesting thoughts. I say catch and release only for the Smallies on the Cedar, especially after what I witnessed at that boat ramp. You are right….the Smallie population does seem to be declining. It takes a long time to grow the end result of what I saw laying at the bottom of the river that day.

You are correct, the walleye population seems to be growing. Mainly due to the aggressive stocking efforts of late. Good to see. However…in the fall they get pounded as well. A boat with 2 or 3 good fisherman who go out a couple times a week in those clear, low waters will put quite a dent on a relatively small fishery. And then the next boat, and the next… Especially when the fish are concentrated into a few spots. One or two fish limits, size related or not, may be needed in the future on small rivers such as the Cedar. I have read that the DNR has questioned the results of catch and release sections of the the Cedar, and other rivers, as being effective. However, the studies were from areas other than those close to metro areas. Waterloo and Cedar Falls have a ton of fisherman who fish in a concentrated area.

The thing is… I have fished the Cedar for years and have never seen or sensed a time like now that things can really take off if we let it. I mean strong populations of fish that can be enjoyed by alot of people. Maybe I am just wishing.

Im happy to hear that fishing is better than ever before down there… but for some reason the Iowa DNR is pretty much confirmed believers in the thought that the average Iowa fisherman wants to catch and keep.. and dont care about having a quality fishery nearby for anything other than exploitation for eating…… but the DNR always responds to political pressure.. you people down there need to start calling the DNR and letting them know what you think… too bad you didnt take a picture of that massacre… its a great spring board for a campaign on catch and release… you need to rally your fisherman and start making waves… look what we did up here in a short time with the fenced marina on the St Croix….

bigdog10….You hit the nail on the head!! Fishing for walleyes is better than it has ever been……at least in the 30 years I have been fishing my stretch of the Cedar. Bass are another story. We are not seeing the same average size smallie we did five years ago,and certainly not the numbers. I think this could be due in part to the increased fall pressure the walleye increase has brought on.

But again it is, as you say, a small fishery. People like ourselves probably don’t do it any favors by posting information about the good fishing on this board. On one hand I would like to keep it a secret…..on the other hand I want everyone fishing it to think like I do and throw the big ones back so that this close to home walleye thing will last forever!!

What do you guys think about a limit of one smallie and two walleyes,with a slot on the walleyes, say 15 to 20″ or back they go?

The Iowas DNR must believe that the average Iowa fisherman loads up the wife and kids on Sunday afternoon and drives down to the river to catch a mess of walleyes to eat. They get on local TV to proclaim the success of their stocking efforts and that these fish have reached a “catchable size” of 13-14 inches. Slaughter. Well, that’s what has happened this fall in the Shell Rock and Cedar Rivers area. Stringer after stringer of these beautiful little walleyes have been taken. These fish were stocked in 1999 I believe, when the DNR tripled stocking in many of the historic walleye rivers, plus stocked areas of these rivers that they hadn’t in the past. I was overjoyed. Having lived my entire life between these two rivers, I couldn’t wait. It’s my understanding that this area has been one of the best stretches of walleye fishing in the state. I won’t argue. Over the last 15 years or so, after bass fishing on the Miss. is over for the year, I rarely go to the big river after walleyes. I fish often during the week and weekends. I have seen dozens of these cigars taken this fall. More fishermen with better equipment and knowledge fishing more often. Same as evertwhere else. Many of them must have been educated by the Iowa DNR, catch them as soon as you can, as fast as you can and tell us thanks for the great fishing. When you talk to the DNR, all I have heard is “our studies show blah, blah, blah”. My studies show that if you don’t jerk them out at 13″ they will grow to be 16,18,20″ and so on. They know this too. In the winter of ’86-87 while they were tracking fish implanted with transmitters, there were huge, for the Shell Rock, schools of 100 or more walleyes with most of the fish in the 18-22″ range. I talked to these guys several times about the potential of the rivers. In the late ’90s the Cedar was loaded with good fish. Anyway, PUT A LENGTH LIMIT ON THESE FISH. Preach a little catch and release for walleyes. Most of the regulations and catch and release of bass was created by B.A.S.S., and it’s members pressure, influence and example. Now the state DNR’s are beginning to over-regulate that too, but that’s another subject.

It appears I was critical of the Iowa DNR… and really thats unfair… (and I apoligize!) what I really mean to say is that unless you voice your opinions about regulations you dont feel are right then most likely nothing will change… the DNR should respond to public opinion…… particularly if its organized……

2rivers…Welcome to FTR. Your first post was a terrific one and I am looking foward your input on the Shell and Cedar going foward!!!!

Rivereyes… can we really influence the Iowa DNR that easily? As 2rivers said..they want us to catch fish, not catch and release fish. The balance is delicate, at best, but mainly against us that want to see the fishery explode, as it is capable of doing, at this point. We have got to have a limit, length, or otherwise, to get this thing off the ground (or should I say water)!!

This is frustrating!!!