INDIANA DNR CATFISH RULES CHANGES

[Boongill]

PLEASE GO TO DNR'S WEB SITE AND COMMENT ON THE CATFISH CHANGES THEY ARE PROPOSING.
15" MINIMUM SIZE LIMIT AND OTHER RESTRAINTS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ENDS MARCH 25TH

[Ice Rat]

They are also proposing a lot of rule changes for deer hunting but one thing that i will be fighting against is letting crossbows be used in early archery season. The rest of the changes would include letting urban zones hunt till end of january, also you would have to take a doe in urban zones before an urban buck. Adding an antlerless gun season in october. The cross bow idea is a no go by me. The goal is to harvest more does out of our herd.

[portageredneck]

whats the matter with a cross bow season ?? some of us either through age or injury cannot handle pulling a bow but dont meet the criteria for a disabled permit from the dnr...i have had discs in my lower back "welded" together and find it extremely uncomfortable and sometimes painful to draw my bow...does this mean im not allowed to hunt cause im not disabled enough ?

[sloughslabber]

so what is the problem with the catfish rule change? seems the state is trying to protect those giant blues and flatheads from ending up in some guys paylake.  as far as the crossbows go who cares what you hunt with vertical or crossbow ya still got to get close and hit what your shootin at. jmo

[Boongill]

15" minimum size limit on channel cats is nuts. I agree on limiting the large fish but not that much.

[duck_hunter_69]

The cross bow has been legal for a long time for those not capable to use a standard bow until recently when they added it for everyone late archery personally if you can not use a standard bow and a cross bow is you're way to hunt more power to you however if you are capable to draw a bow man up practice til you can group arrows in an inch and a half circle 45 yds out.......then be patient let the deer get"close enuf to kiss" and whack and stack em! To me a cross bow isthe way for a perfectly abledo bow hunter to get lazy and not practice enough  (in a sport he claims to love) to be lethal and dead on with his equipment.  If you want to just poull a trigger wait til mid november IMO  now back to this thread I well go speak my piece about the catfish law too

[Ice Rat]

whats the matter with a cross bow season ?? some of us either through age or injury cannot handle pulling a bow but dont meet the criteria for a disabled permit from the dnr...i have had discs in my lower back "welded" together and find it extremely uncomfortable and sometimes painful to draw my bow...does this mean im not allowed to hunt cause im not disabled enough ?

Indiana has allowed crossbows for injured and disabled hunters through a permit which is ok by me, as far as i know it's not very hard to get one if your unable hold a bow back esp if you have back problems. One of my friends dads has one and all he did was complain about neck pain to a doctor. If your unable to obtain one and can't pull a bow back drop your draw weight on your bow, Ted Nugent only shoots a 50 lbs draw and stacks deer up with his strap assasin. This cross bow season goes against the entire sport of bow hunting and I don't even consider it a bow neither does the pope and young club. The only reason the state is doing this is to increase license sales becasue they were down last year even though the state says they want to decrease doe numbers. If you want to decrease doe numbers increase antlerless firearms seasons, firearms season accounted for 80% of the deer killed last year. Indiana continues to do retarded things this state is a joke at times. I asked a CO how many trout and salmon were stocked for this past years runs and he said the hatchies wern't exactly sure. How in the world can you do that? not exactly sure wth, we have alwife populations to consider. I could go on with duck hunting as well but for now my concern is the cross bow.

[Ice Rat]

“Here we have a weapon of beauty and romance. He who shoots with a bow, puts his life’s energy into it. The force behind the flying shaft must be placed there by the archer. At the moment of greatest strain, he must draw every sinew to the utmost; his hand must be steady; his nerves under absolute control; his eye keen and clear. In the hunt he pits his well trained skill against the instinctive cunning of his quarry. By the most adroit cleverness, he must approach within striking distance, and when he speeds his low whispering shaft and strikes his game, he has won by strength of arm and nerve. It is a noble sport.” -- Dr. Saxton Pope (1923)

Humans have always been hunters. And the bow has been around practically as long as mankind has. Save the discovery of fire and the development of speech, and mankind has not had a trustier or more important partner in its prospering development. The bow has fed and nourished generation after generation for almost all of the past 50,000 years. Add to that the romantic folklore of Robin Hood and the bow’s legendary history in warfare (from the Turks and Egyptians to Genghis Khan’s Mongols and the Chinese to the Normans and the Royal English). Don’t forget the connections to our Native American predecessors. That’s quite a history that was practically cast aside by the mid 1800s, but was rediscovered in the early part of the 20th Century and has steadily grown in popularity ever since.

Today, bowhunting is considered a specialized form of hunting. Ultimately, it is equipment that defines the endeavor known as “bowhunting”—a bow and an arrow. However, the essence of hunting with the bow and arrow includes so much more than just a choice of hunting weapon.

This is bow hunting and why I hunt with a bow throughout the entire deer season.

[portageredneck]

what we have here is failure to communicate ....strother martin...cool hand luke....1967...lol

[bradmoun]

Hey though this was about catfish how about a slot limit.

[Ice Rat]

You need to address why they are changing this. Is it becasue the population is going down. Maybe fishing pressure for these fish has increased and they want more breeding fish. If you find out why maybe you can propose a slot during the spawning time and after the spawn 12".

[Boongill]

These changes are going to occur unless people  object enough to make them make changes.

[Ice Rat]

Honestly it will probably happen anyway, a lot of people voted against the cross bow and it looks like it will be in our early archery season anyways. Like I said earlier just saying no i don't want this change is not usually good enough, propose ideas around the new size change, thus figure out why they want to change the size limit. More than likely they didn't get a wild butt hair and decide to change this I'm sure there is a good reason.

[wax_worm]

I don't hunt, so I have no comments there, but what is wrong with a 15" min limit on channel cats?  I don't fish for them, but catch them on occasion and until they get about that size there is not much to them.  Have they even been able to spawn one time before they reach 15"?  Maybe they are trying to get them big enough to put back into the fishery by spawning before they are removed for table fare?  Just a guess.....

[Boongill]

Whats wrong with a 12" size limit not saying you have to keep them but if this passes the only  place you will get fiddlers is from a out of state farm raised facility.

[wax_worm]

Whats wrong with a 12" size limit not saying you have to keep them but if this passes the only  place you will get fiddlers is from a out of state farm raised facility.

What is a fiddler?  Slang for a small channel cat?

[Boongill]

Southern indiana slang for a 12" channel cat. It takes 3 to 4 yrs from spawn till you get a 15" channel cat.

[crappie66]

I see no issue with the new proposal on the 15 inch length minimum in Rivers.  You don't get much meat off of a 10 inch catfish.

After looking at the other proposals I think some on here may be interested in the proposal of allowing live shad to be used as bait in more lakes/reservoirs, as long as they are caught there.  I believe that topic has come up a few times before.

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CATFISH PROPOSED RULE CHANGES

The Division of Fish and Wildlife proposed several administrative rule changes governing the taking of catfish to help protect public catfish resources. These proposed changes are in response to public concerns regarding increasing harvest pressure on catfish, recently completed catfish research in the Wabash River, and ongoing, cooperative fish management discussions with other Ohio River states. Currently, there is no limit to the number of large catfish that can be taken by sport and commercial fishing license holders, both in inland waters and the Ohio River.

On rivers and streams for both sport and commercial fishing (except the Ohio River), the proposal is to increase the existing 10 inch minimum size limit on channel catfish, flathead catfish and blue catfish to 15 inches.

On lakes, rivers, and streams statewide for both sport and commercial fishing (including the Ohio River), the proposal is to allow only one channel catfish to be taken per day that is 28 inches or more in total length and allow only one flathead and one blue catfish to be taken per day that is 35 inches or more in total length.

The public hearings on these proposed rule changes are as follows:  

1) Monday evening, March 21 at 6 pm at the Shircliff Theatre, on the campus of Vincennes University (corner of Second and Harrison Streets), in Vincennes.

2) Tuesday, March 22 at 1:30 pm at the Natural Resources Commission, Division of Hearings Conference Room, located at 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N501, Indiana Government Center North, Indianapolis.

You can give your comments regarding these proposed changes to the Natural Resources Commission by going to the Natural Resources Commission website and click on "Comment on Proposed Rule" next to the catfish amendments. Comments can also be mailed to the following address:

Natural Resources Commission
Indiana Government Center North
100 North Senate Ave., Room N501
Indianapolis, IN 46204

The deadline for comments is Friday, March 25, 2011.  All comments sent to the Natural Resources Commission regarding these rule changes will be provided to Commission members and Department of Natural Resources staff and will be publicly disclosed and searchable on the internet and in a paper docket as part of the final report.

Please note that these proposed changes will not be in effect this year, and the Natural Resources Commission will have an opportunity to review all of the public comments before making a final decision at a future meeting.

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Justification Statement of Requirement or Cost:
Individuals who take catfish in a river or stream will still be able to take an unlimited number of blue and flathead catfish under 35 inches and channel catfish under 28 inches each day. However, in rivers other than the Ohio River, an individual will only be able to take catfish that are at least 15 inches in size or more and take not more than one channel catfish that is 28 inches in length or more, one blue catfish that is 35 inches in length or more, and one flathead catfish that is 35 inches in length or more per day. They will be allowed to take one of each of these large catfish per day. Flathead, blue, and channel catfish of this size are not common in most rivers and streams in Indiana, particularly in the rivers where commercial fishing is authorized. Individual anglers are not allowed to sell fish taken from public waters in Indiana (IC 14-22-9-7), so the changes to 312 IAC 9-7-3 and 312 IAC 9-7-16 do not affect businesses.
A comprehensive study of catfish taken from the Wabash River was conducted in 2005. This research project indicated that a 15 inch minimum size limit would effectively eliminate any threat of over-fishing (taking out more than can be naturally reproduced) channel catfish. This research project also indicated that catfish in the noncommercially fished portion of the Wabash River exhibited higher proportions of larger (and older-aged) fish, and lower annual mortality (and exploitation) rates. Channel catfish were proportionally less abundant in the interjurisdictional waters of the Wabash River that border Illinois (where commercial fishing is authorized) than in the upstream reaches. The current 10 inch minimum size length limit offers little protection for first-year spawning (reproducing) flathead catfish. Additionally, the state of Illinois has a 15 inch catfish minimum size limit on its portion of the Wabash River. Both states would have the same minimum size limit on commercially caught catfish, simplifying management and enforcement.
By limiting the number of large (trophy) catfish that can be taken by anglers, catfish will be able to increase recruitment (survival of younger catfish), and ensure continued trophy angling opportunities. Furthermore, because large catfish eat smaller fish, large "trophy" catfish help control the populations of forage species such as gizzard shad. For example, invasive Asian carp are expanding in the Wabash River. Maintaining strong predator fish populations, such as large catfish, can help counter such invasions.
Since an unlimited number of blue and flathead catfish can be taken that are at least 15 inches and less than 35 inches and an unlimited number of channel catfish can be taken that are at least 15 inches and less than 28 inches, these commercial anglers can still take catfish that are needed for personal consumption and sale. In the Ohio River, an unlimited number of blue and flathead catfish can be taken that are less than 35 inches, and an unlimited number of channel catfish can be taken that are less than 28 inches; therefore, commercial anglers on the Ohio River can still take catfish that are needed for personal consumption and sale.


Regulatory Flexibility Analysis of Alternative Methods:
The DNR does not believe that any alternatives are needed for these rule proposals. The DNR could allow more trophy-sized catfish to be taken, instead of the proposed one per day of each species of flathead, channel, and blue catfish, but the DNR believes that increasing this number would continue to harm the population by removing mature catfish that have the greatest reproductive potential. The DNR could also not increase the size limit for inland waters to 15 inches for catfish, but keeping the current limit of 10 inches does not adequately provide for the protection of self-sustaining catfish populations. Flathead catfish are sexually mature at three to five years of age, and channel and blue catfish are sexually mature at four to five years of age, making the current 10 inch minimum size limit of little protection for first-year spawning recruits. An unlimited number of blue and flathead catfish can be taken that are at least 15 inches and less than 35 inches, and an unlimited number of channel catfish can be taken that are at least 15 inches and less than 28 inches in inland rivers such as the Wabash. In the Ohio River, an unlimited number of blue and flathead catfish can be taken that are less than 35 inches, and an unlimited number of channel catfish can be taken that are less than 28 inches. Since catfish are a popular fish for sport anglers, it is imperative that the DNR provide enough protection of the species to allow for their continued survival and self-sustaining populations. Without a self-sustaining population, anglers (both for sport fishing and commercial purposes) would not be able to take the desired number of catfish, and it is costly for the DNR to stock these fish.

[Ice Rat]

I figured they raised the size to promote more spawing fish. I would have to agree with the size change with the logic behind it. If you really want to fight this you may want to either propose a slot limit on channels like 11-16 in. since smaller ones are better eating, or maybe have them protected during the spawn. Looks like they are pretty set on this change and have a lot of research already put into it, my guess is it will happen.

[LPiceFishn]

If you wanna talk hunting join myhuntingforum.com. This is a classic case of thread hijacking. now, back to fishin. Does this apply to bullhead because I don't think I've ever caught a bullhead over 15"

[floppiecroppie]

wouldnt think this applied to bullhead even though it is in the same family as catfish, just as there are no limits on perch as it is in the same family as the walleye.

[chevy hillbilly]

I don't think I've ever caught a bullhead over 15"

I did once many years ago, went 8lbs, fried it up and ate it(was really good), take a peek at IN state records for bull head...was sick for a month after...

Far as the channel cats go, i do catch quite a few, and to be honest, i like eatin the little guys. If i cant keep the little ones, probably wont keep many cats in the future(dont keep many now).

I have always heard this comment about "not enough meat on them" well id rather have a slim portion of fine eating, than a plate full of not-so fine eating.

HB

[Boongill]

The 15" rule is aimed at the Wabash river to put it the same size limit as Illinois.As far as the study in 05 goes it was flawed when they were checking boats on the river commercial fishermen were not fishing for fiddlers. There is a gentlemen from the dnr that has been trying to change this for over 15yrs looks like he got it down. He is book smart but has little experience on the water.Thinks he knows it all.

[popnfish]

it will be a moot point once the asian carp get into all of the waterways

[jhc]

I can live with This,I have never caught a 10 '' to 15 '' Catfish ...
Mine have Always been Big ...
They Should be more Concerned about the Asian Carp Problem....
Tax Dollars again Hard at Work..........