no culling law in effect

[delmuts]

i just want to remind folks that as of jan. 1st. you can nolonger cull fish in iowa. if you put it in a live well,basket, or on some kind of a stringer. you have to keep it.( my understanding is , for tournaments there is some kind of permit they have to buy so they can release fish after weigh in, but i'm not sure) del

[lookincalifornia]

so del,

what are your thoughts on this rule. it seems like it will encourage catch and release. one con i see is it might cause some of iowa's smaller ponds and pits to become stunted with smaller fish.

[delmuts]

i don't think it will make much difference. i see so many people keeping little fish anyway!( if there isn't a length limit on them)and i wonder how many peope actually know about this or care. ( inforcement is pretty lax) many times , if it is big enough to make a chip ( and i do mean a CHIP!), it goes home, and since we have no limits on panfish?? it will affect me some. i fish two ponds alot, and usually keep fish in a cooler in water, hoping to catch three or four nice fish for a meal.( my luck usually is i can catch one or two, and never the three or four! ) so now i will have to decide.i may have to get into the habit of cleaning one or two fish , and wait til i get enough for a meal.oh well

[lookincalifornia]

i couldn't tell you how many times i've caught a nice crappie or gill and said, "well, i'll keep this one, if i get a few more i'll have a nice meal" only to find that one good fish was the only 'keeper' of the day. i guess now i won't have the option, i'll just have to keep some dinks. wow haveing said that, perhaps this rule will keep small ponds and pits from becoming stunted instead of causing it. that is if the rule is followed by enough honest anglers

[T-Rock 1]

I believe the reg. is intended to eliminate this practice from being allowed in an ever growing number of tournaments, and to a lesser extent in eliminating this practice among anglers in general. If you hold fish, whether it be in a bucket, cooler, or livewell, and then release them some time later, even under the best of conditions, those fish face and increased chance of mortality. Call your area fisheries (DNR) office; I'm sure some science went into the justification of this reg. If any tourney guys wanna sock it to me, go ahead. I'll admit that I'm not an authority on this topic.

[delmuts]

T . i think in some tourneys they will be allowed catch and release, but with a special permit only. i realize that there is a good reason for this law, and i have no problem with it. i just have to remember it.

[hotrod]

I remember reading that the law came from the idea of fish in baskets and livewells contaminating the fish and adding stress to them and resulting in a possibility of cantracting a desease if released. In the fummertime i can see where this would be a problem with low pH levels and resulting in the fish dieing even if released. SOme boats with good livewells you would be fine, but the rule is rule.

Tournaments are exempt from this, because each tournament has to get a permit from the DNR to hold an event, and thus allwoinng participants to "cull".