FLW Championship Surprise!

The state of Illinois HAS lifted their slot restrictions on the river for this tournament. The state of Iowa WILL NOT lift their slot restrictions. The FLW has told the contestants, via the tournament packets they all got, that the restrictions have been lifted in Illinois’ waters.

What nobody seems to know though is how is this going to work. Will the tournament still be on both sides of the river, restricted on the one side, and unrestricted on the other. OR…Will the tourney will be restricted to Illinois’ waters only?

If they restrict it to Illinois’ waters only, I can see some major complaining coming from down there.

Strange isn’t it??

It,s a mess Jack ,nobody seems to know (although everyone has a different idea) of how it will work .I talked to some of the pro,s fishing it this am at the dock and they say they can only fish the Illinois side from the middle of the river to the ill shore, but I don’t know how they could ever inforce that rule or how any one would know if they were in the exact middle. One pro told me they were told if iowa dnr would catch them on their side with slot fish in the livewell even though they were not fishing at the time they would be ticketed. I thought when they annouced the change, it was good for the tournament and the community but as usual they have created a mess. Go ahead James say “I told you so.”

Is there any advantage/disadvantage fishing one side versus the other, or are both sides pretty equal, in regards to wing dams, back waters, etc.?

This really is not a suprise. We have known for 3 weeks that we are only fishing the Illinois side of the river and that there is no slot. They gave us plenty of time to change how we prefish.

It is spelled out pretty clear. The middle of the shipping channel is the line. There are only 50 boats in the tournament, so we will make it work. I don’t necessarily agree with the decision, but that is not important. I give FLW credit for giving us plenty of advanced waring on this issue. They promised last year there would not be a slot for 2005 and there is not.

I am leaving soon, making that long drive South. Hopefully I come home with more money then I left with

Oh, as for an advantage of one side versus the other. The Iowa side is much better in my opinion. I am guessing 85% of the field fished Iowa last year…including me!

Yup, sounds like a bunch of BS on Iowa’s part. In WI the only time I’ve ever been stopped by a DNR Warden is when I am in the process of fishing. The sheriff departments handle the boating traffic and other stops. Though I’m pretty sure if the Iowa DNR wants to be jerks they could stop you if they really wanted by finding some excuse.

I agree with you Scott, about the Iowa side being better, but Tony and I have chased all the fish over to the Illinois side for you buddy

Much appreciated, no go find them again for me

Good luck Scott. Too bad this has to happen. My concern is if there are any violations on this it would be a black eye to tournament fishing. But then again with special fish amounts/size given to tournaments will anger the regular fisherman so could be two black eyes if not carefull.
Thanks, Bill

I posted this about a month ago.
Did they shoot themselves in the foot?

I must have missed that one, sorry!

Here is an interesting question. What side of the river are the locks on? If they are on the Iowa side, how are boats with fish in the livewells going to legally go thru the locks?

Thanks Tony. I agree, not a good idea. I remember when In-Fisherman asked for special limits on the St. Louis River [only 2 fish is the law I believe] for a tournament and the public had a sh%& fit and rightfully so. The tournament circuits are only killing themselves by asking for this.
Thanks, Bill

Stay on the IL side of the lock. River anglers won’t be confused by this split river rule. Ever fish the Rainy in the spring or fall? If so you’ll better understand the consequences of fishing the wrong side. Canada has no time for anglers that can’t stay on the MN side.

One more point, if you disagree with the regs put in place for this tournament, I strongly suggest you write the tournament directors and professionally impart your perspective. The anglers don’t make up the rules, they only live by them. Just my 2 cents………. Can’t wait to see the results of the FLW championship. Should be another great championship similar to the one in Kansas. Kurt

I never said anything about disagreeing with the rules.

It just struck me as strange when I heard this, that is all. I can understand there being issues on Rainy, because in that situation, you’re talking two seperate countries. In this case however, we are talking about 2 states in the same country. Maybe the fact that there are none of these issues between Minnesota and Wisconsin on that same river, makes it seem strange to hear of this division between Iowa, and Illinois. The fact that the Mississippi River is a Federal Water way also adds to the question in my mind. As far as I’m concerned, no one state has anymore right to control any part of that river than any other state when that segment of the river is a boundry between the 2 states.

Just my opinion, for what little it is worth.

JDL – don’t take my comments personal. They were more aimed at a larger audience that seems to get upset with tournament anglers when these “types” of decisions are out of their control.

I’m not so sure I agree with your comments of US/Canada vs intra-states. Look at ND waterfowl regs, CO elk fees, etc….

IMHO I desire it not to be this way in a free country but politics and bureacratic BS have changed things forever…. Isn’t free speech great!

I wish I was fishing instead of wrestling with the Stihl.

Kurt

Let me try and shed some light on how all of this controversy began. When FLW applied for a tournament permit in early to mid summer, I signed and approved the permit to allow the tournament (there was no request in the original application to waive any regulations). Then the following events occurred.
1. I received notice from the Iowa Chief of Fisheries that the Director of our Department had received a letter from the Director of the Illinois DOC requesting that the slot limit be waived for this tournament. I was asked to respond with my recommendations to this request.
2. I recommneded the slot regulation not be waived for this tournament based on the following:
A- All anglers should be treated the same. Non-tournament anglers already are at odds with tournaments, in addition, many non-tournament anglers see our Departments “catering” to tournaments.
B- At this tournament last year (then RCL) they weighed in over 300 walleye and 350 sauger. Clearly – they did not need “more” fish to make this a successful tournament. They wanted to be more showey and bring in larger fish and higher weights to the scale.
C- This is the only tournament that has requested rule waivers (they did so last year and were denied). At the most recent Cabela’s Championships in Dubuque (over 100 boats and 200 anglers), the tournament directors extended the slot rule to cover Pool 11, even though the regulation was not in effect on this Pool as it was on the other 2 pools open for the tournament (Pools 12 & 13).
D- The tournament anglers are professional anglers, they deal with all different kinds of regulations on the circuit (slots, minimum length limits, cull or no-cull, reduced bags, etc)so this slot regulation was not anything new to them (and it was in effect for this tournament last year).
E- The slot limit applies only to walleye, tournament anglers can weight in sauger of any length (with exceptions of what the tournament imposes on them).

Our Fisheries Chief presented the request for the slot waiver to our regular IA DNR Commission montly meeting and the Commissioners voted to deny the request for rule waiver.
Our Central Office staff and Commissioners supported field personell’s position on this request.

I also got the feeling that as a field biologist, I got “back-doored” by the FLW Directors. Their initial application for this tournament made no mention of a request for rule waivers. Then they went to the head of the Illinois DOC to do their work or request for rule waiver for them. It also makes we wonder what was going on when anglers in this tournament last year were “promised” a year ago that the slot rule would be waived. What kind of deal had FLW directors struck with the Director of the Illinois DOC?

After we learned of the restriction to only IL waters for this tournament, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources recinded the tournament permit based on my recommendations. Tournament anglers may not fish in Iowa waters, nor may they be in possession of fish in the slot regulation as they motor up and down the river. And yes- our Conservation Officers will be on duty during the tournament.

Sorry for the length post – but I thought all should know how events transpired to get to where we are now.

John

Great info Fish.

I do not believe special regs should be put in place for any one group of anglers. However, I do hope the tourney director educates or allows you to educate the anglers at the rules meeting.

Again, thanks for sharing the info!!

Thanks fishsqzr! Nothing quite like having some “insider” info on how this all played out… we appreciate you being so candid with all of us.

Yes, Thank you very much. I believe all should be treat the same, non tournament fishermen and tournament fishermen. Anything else just causes resentments and hurts tournament fishing. And that I don’t want to see happen.
Thanks, Bill