2011 Indiana Fishing Guide

8/6/2019 2011 Indiana Fishing Guide

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LICENSEREQUIREMENTS

Unless otherwise exempted, you musthave a valid fshing license to fsh in publiclakes, streams, rivers or tributaries in Indi-ana or its boundary waters. A valid trout/salmon stamp also is required to fsh or ortake trout and salmon rom public waters.

License holders must carry their licensewhile fshing and present it upon requestto a conservation o cer (or any authorizedlaw en orcement o cial).

ere are fnes and penalties or fshingwithout a license. A fshing license may berevoked i the license holder is convictedo violating fsh and wildli e regulations.

A person has to have lived in Indianacontinuously or 60 days in order to pur-chase a resident fshing license. All othersare non-residents.

You do not need a license if...Resident Anglers:

• Indiana residents born be ore April 1, 1943.

• Resident age 17 and younger.• Residents who are legally blind.• Residents o a state-owned mental reha-bilitation acility.• Residents o any licensed health care a-cility in Indiana taking part in a supervisedfshing activity sponsored by the acility.• Landowners or lessees o armland, whoarm that land, their spouses and childrenliving with them, while fshing in publicwaters rom the armland they own or lease.• Indiana residents engaged in ull-time military service while on approved

military leave; the angler must carry leaveorders and a valid Indiana driver’s licenseor voter registration card.

Non-resident Anglers:• Non-resident age 17 or younger areexempt.• Non-resident military personnel sta-tioned in Indiana must obtain a residentlicense.• Some non-resident landowners, whilefshing in public waters rom the arm-land they own, according to exemptions

their states provide Indiana residents. Seefshing.IN.gov or call (317) 232-4200 ordetails.

HOW TO BUYA LICENSE

Online: Go to IndianaOutdoor.IN.gov In Person: Visit a retailer or DNR

site listed at IndianaOutdoor.IN.gov, or visit the DNR Customer Service Center,Indiana Government Center South, 402W. Washington St., W160, Indianapolis.Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

By Mail: Speci y the license you needand send the ollowing in ormation withyour order:• Name, date o birth, Indiana Driver’sLicense number or Social Security number• Complete address, city, state, ZIP andphone number• Height, weight, color o hair and eyes

Include a check or money order (payableto DNR) or Visa or MasterCard (includenumber, expiration date). Send the orderin ormation and payment to:

2011 INDIANA

Fishing REGULATIONS

Indiana Departmentof Natural Resources

fshing.IN.gov

This is a summary o Indiana fshing regulations.It is designed as a service to anglers and is not

intended to be a complete digest o all fshingregulations. Most regulations are subject to changeby administrative rule. Contact the Indiana DNRDivision o Communications at (317) 233-3853be ore reproducing any part o this booklet.

Please go to the Fish and Wildli e website or more complete in ormation on fshing regulations.

Licenses Resident ¹ Non-resident Resident Apprentice

Non-resident Apprentice

Annual Fishing $17 $35 na na

One-Day Fishing (includes Trout/Salmon) $9 $9 na na

Seven-Day Fishing na $20 na na

Senior Annual Fishing $3 na na na

Senior Fish for Life $17 na na na

Trout/Salmon Stamp Privilege $11 $11 na na

Annual Hunting $17 $80 $17 $80

Annual Hunting and Fishing $25 na $25 na

Youth Consolidated Hunt/Fish $7 na $7 na

Disabled American Veterans Hunt/Fish $2.75 na na na

All 2011 annual licenses and stamp privileges are valid from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012.2011 license fees are subject to change by the Natural Resources Commission. For a list of currentlicense fees, go to fishing.IN.gov or call (317) 232-4200.

¹ See resident description located at the left of this chart.na = not applicable

LicensesDNR Customer Service Center402 W. Washington St., W160Indianapolis, IN, 46204

Indiana disabled American veteranscan get a DAV fshing license applica-tion orm rom the County ServiceO cer or download the applicationorm at fshing.IN.gov. Mail the ormwith a stamped, sel -addressed enve-lope to the DNR Customer ServiceCenter.

fshing.IN.gov





hal hour be ore sunrise). Crossbows areillegal.• Gigging rom Feb. 1 to May 10 with any pronged or barbed instrument attached tothe end o a rigid object. Fish cannot begigged rom either a boat or plat orm.

OHIO RIVER

Sport fshing regulations on the OhioRiver are the result o a cooperative e -ort by Indiana and fve other Ohio Riverstates.

In many cases, these rules di er signif-cantly rom other laws and regulations inIndiana. ey apply only to the main stem

o the Ohio River and do not include any tributaries or embayments, where generalIndiana fshing regulations apply.

A person holding an Indiana fshinglicense (resident or non-resident), or whois exempt rom having a license in Indiana,may fsh rom either bank o the OhioRiver or, by boat, any part o the mainstem o the river. e interstate reciprocallicense agreement with Kentucky does notapply to tributaries o the Ohio River ineither state. Fishing the tributaries requiresa license rom that state.

Ohio River sport fsh include:• black crappie trout• white crappie northern pike• largemouth bass muskellunge• rock bass tiger muskellunge• smallmouth bass chain pickerel• spotted bass walleye• yellow bass sauger• striped bass saugeye• hybrid striped bass

Paddlefsh may not be taken rom any portion o Indiana waters o the Ohio Riv-er. It is illegal to take paddlefsh rom any Indiana waters on a sport fshing license.

e ollowing methods may be used orsport fsh on the Ohio River:• Poles or hand lines• Float-fshing methods• Set lines with one single- or mutli-barbed hook • Trot lines (limit two) with no more than50 single- or mutli-barbed hooks per dropline may be used. Drop lines or trot linesmust be spaced at least 18 inches apart.Trot lines must be checked at least onceevery 24 hours.

Snagging is prohibited on the OhioRiver.

All other fsh, except those classifed asthreatened or endangered, may be taken aswell with the ollowing methods:• Long or compound bow with an arrowhaving one or more barbs and an attachedline. Catfsh and paddlefsh cannot betaken with bow and arrow during night-time hours (hal hour a er sunset until

Ohio River Daily Bag and Size LimitsSPECIES BAG LIMIT MINIMUM SIZE

largemouth basssmallmouth bassspotted bass

6* 12 inchesNo size limit on spotted bass

white bassyellow bassstriped basshybrid striped bass

30* No more than four fish may be 15 inches or longer

rock bass 15 None

crappie 30 None

muskellunge tiger muskellunge

2* 30 inches

walleyesauger hybrid walleye (saugeye)

10* None

*Singly or in aggregate, which means the catch limit includes any combination of the species. For instance, your daily bag could include 30 white bass or 30 hybrid striped bass or any combination of the two species equalling no more than 30.NOTE: The possession limit is t wo days daily bag limit.

LARGEMOUTH BASSSee table on page 2 or Statewide Bass Regulations.

Special largemouth bass regulations arein e ect or many Indiana waters. e ex-pected beneft o size limits are an increasein the number o bass caught (although

many must be released); an increase in sizeo bass; and in some cases, improvementin bluegill size and increased predation onabundant prey, such as gizzard shad.

Te special regulations include (county in parentheses):

15-inch minimum size limit:• Dogwood Lake (Daviess)• Patoka Lake (Craw ord, Dubois andOrange)

16-inch minimum size limit:• Cecil M. Harden Lake (Parke)

18-inch minimum size and two- shdaily limit:• Ball Lake (Steuben)• Blue Grass, Loon Lake (Warrick)• Gibson Lake (Gibson)• J.C. Murphey Lake (Newton)• Robinson Lake (Kosciusko and Whitley)• All lakes at Tri-County FWA

20-inch minimum size and one- shdaily limit:• Turtle Creek Reservoir (Sullivan)

12- to 15-inch slot size limit (No large-mouth bass between 12 and 15 inches inlength may be taken):

• Bu alo Trace Lake (Harrison)• Celina Lake (Perry)• Ferdinand State Forest Lake (Dubois)• Indian Lake (Perry)• Montgomery City Park Lake (Daviess)• Saddle Lake (Perry)• Scales Lake (Warrick)• Shakamak State Park lakes (Clay, Greeneand Sullivan)• Tipsaw Lake (Perry)

No minimum-size:• Brownstown State Fishing Area (Jackson)• Burdette Park lakes (Vanderburgh)• Chandler Town park (Warrick)• Cypress Lake State Fishing Area (Jackson)• Deming Park lakes (Vigo)• Garvin Park Lake (Vanderburgh)• Glen Miller Pond (Wayne)• Hayswood Lake (Harrison)• Henry County Memorial Park Lake (Henry)• Hovey Lake at Hovey Lake FWA (Posey)• Krannert Lake (Marion)• Lake Sullivan (Marion)• Ruster Lake (Marion)• Schnebelt Pond (Dearborn)

SPECIAL STREAMBLACK BASSREGULATIONS

20-inch minimum size limit and onesh daily bag limit• Sugar Creek (Montgomery, Parke,Boone, Clinton and Tipton)

12- to 15-inch slot size limit (No morethan two bass larger than 15 inches):• Blue River (Craw ord, Harrison andWashington)



LAKE MICHIGANAND TRIBUTARIES

Special regulations apply to trout andsalmon fshing on Lake Michigan and itstributaries. ey include:• e possession limit or trout or salmonis fve (no more than two may be laketrout).• e possession limit or yellow perchis 15 while fshing Indiana waters (even i you have a fshing license rom a neighbor-ing state).• Sucker, carp, gar, bowfn, bu alo andshad may be taken rom Lake Michiganwith a bow and arrow.• Use o a trot line (power line), set line orthrow line is prohibited on Lake Michigan.• Fishing is not allowed within 100 eetabove or below the Praxair Dam on theEast Branch o the Little Calumet River.

• In waters that include Lake Michigantributaries, the St. Joseph River and itstributary streams rom the Twin BranchDam downstream to the Michigan stateline (St. Joseph County), you may not fshwith more than one single hook per line orone artifcial bait or harness or use withlive bait.• See Page 3 or Lake Michigan bassregulations.

TRIBUTARY

RESTRICTIONS:ere is no closed season or taking

trout and salmon rom Lake Michigan,but certain tributary streams are closed toall fshing rom April 1 through June 15.ese streams are stocked annually withtrout and salmon, and the closure allowssmall, vulnerable fsh to migrate sa ely toLake Michigan. e closure applies to:• East Branch o Little Calumet Riverrom U.S. 12 upstream to U.S. 20 in PorterCounty.• Trail Creek rom the Franklin StreetBridge (Michigan City) upstream to U.S.35 in LaPorte County.

It is illegal to possess a fsh spear, gig,ga , bowfshing equipment, crossbow,grab hook, spear gun, club, snag hook orunderwater spear in or adjacent to the Ga-lena River (LaPorte County), Trail Creek (LaPorte County), East Branch o LittleCalumet River (LaPorte and Porter coun-ties), West Branch o Little Calumet River

LakeMichigan and

TributariesSizes andLimits

SPECIES DAILY BAG LIMIT MINIMUM SIZE

chinook salmoncoho salmon Atlantic salmonpink salmonbrown troutsteelhead troutlake trout

5 total salmon and trout No more than 2 may belake trout.

14 inchesLake Michigan,streams, andSt. Joseph River

yellow perch 15 on Lake Michigan only None

NOTE: The possession limit is t wo days daily bag limit.

(Lake and Porter counties), Salt Creek (Porter County), Burns Ditch (Lake andPorter counties), Deep River downstreamrom the dam at Camp 133 (Lake County),or the tributaries to these waterways.

Any fsh taken rom the Lake Michigantributaries defned in this section must behooked in the mouth. Foul-hooked fshmust be returned to the water.

ST. JOSEPH RIVER

Special regulations apply to fshing theSt. Joseph River and its tributaries romTwin Branch Dam in Mishawaka down-stream to the Michigan state line. eseinclude:• Minimum size or trout and salmon is14 inches.• No fshing is allowed at any time in theEast Race Waterway in South Bend, orwithin 100 eet o the entrance or exit o the East Race.• No fshing is allowed at any time romthe fsh ladders located on the South Bendor Mishawaka Central Park dams.• No fshing is allowed within 100 eet o the entrances or exits o fsh ladders.• No fshing is allowed by boat or otherwatercra in the St. Joseph River belowthe South Bend dam or a distance o 200eet, and rom the Mishawaka CentralPark dam downstream to the Main Streetbridge, Mishawaka.

HOOK RESTRICTIONS

In the waters including Lake Michigantributaries, the St. Joseph River and itstributary streams rom the Twin BranchDam downstream to the Michigan stateline (St. Joseph County), you may not fshwith more than one single hook per line or

one artifcial bait or harness or use withlive bait.Single hooks, including those on artif-

cial baits, cannot exceed ½ inch rom pointto shank. Double and treble hooks are only allowed on artifcial baits and shall notexceed ⅜ inch rom point to shank.

Single hook½ inch or less frompoint to shank

Double ortreble hook⅜ inch or less frompoint to shank

Fishing ReportsLake Michigan (219) 874-0009Updated weekly March through December.St. Joseph River (574) 257-TIPSUpdated weekly mid-February through Apriland mid-June to mid-December.

shing.IN.gov



TROUT

e opening day o trout season oninland streams, other than Lake Michigantributaries, is the last Saturday in April.Starting time is 6 a.m. (local).

Catch-and-release applies to all troutstreams rom Jan. 1 through April 14.

Selected trout streams are closed rom

April 15 to the last Saturday in April toallow hatcheries to complete annual troutstockings. ose streams include:

• Pigeon River and Pigeon Creek inLaGrange County rom the SteubenCounty line to LaGrange County Road 410E (Troxel’s Bridge). is does not includethe Mongo Mill Pond.• Harding Run, Curtis Creek, Bloody Runand Graveyard Run (tributaries o PigeonRiver) in LaGrange County.• Turkey Creek north o CR 100 S in

LaGrange County.• Rainbow Pit in Pigeon River Fish &Wildli e Area.• Little Elkhart River and Rowe-EdenDitch in LaGrange County.• Solomon Creek and Cobus Creek inElkhart County.• Little Kankakee River upstream romCR 800 E to Division Road in LaPorteCounty.• Mississinewa River within the bound-aries o the Randolph County Wildli eManagement Area.• Big Blue River within the boundarieso Wilbur Wright Fish & Wildli e Area inHenry County.• Jackson Creek upstream rom Yellow-wood Lake in Brown County.

Tree streams in Elkhart County aredesignated year-round as “catch-and-release only” and “arti cial lures or iesonly” trout shing areas. ey are:• Little Elkhart River rom CR 43 down-stream to CR 16, except or waters alongRiverbend Park rom CR 16 upstream tothe pedestrian bridge.• Solomon Creek rom CR 33 down-stream to the Elkhart River.• Cobus Creek rom Old U.S. 20 down-stream to the St. Joseph River.

ere is no closed season or takingtrout rom inland lakes, except romMarch 15 to April 1 or:• Island Lake on Minnehaha FWA, Sul-livan County.

• Little George Lake on Chinook FWA,Clay County.• Greene-Sullivan State Forest lakes.

For stocking sites go to:fshing.IN.gov/3622.htm

Inland Trout Sizes andLimits

SPECIES DAILY BAG LIMIT MINIMUM SIZ

brook trout

rainbow trout

laketrout

brown trout*

5 singly or in aggregate for all trout.No more than 3 may be lake trout.No more than 1 may be brown trout.

7 inches*

*18” minimum size limit at Oliver, Olin and Martin lakes in LaGrange Co., and Brookville Laketailwater in Franklin Co.


BOATING

All motorboats used in public watersmust be registered. For a copy o Indiana

boating laws, write to DNR Division o Law En orcement, 402 W. Washington St.,Room W255D, Indianapolis, IN, 46204.

Only electric motors may be used onstate-owned, leased or licensed lakessmaller than 300 acres. No more than two12-volt batteries can be used to powertrolling motors in these waters.

Li e preservers (Wear It! Indiana)“WEAR IT INDIANA” is a public outreach

campaign designed to encourage the useo personal otation devices (li e jackets)

while boaters and swimmers are enjoyingIndiana waterways.

A U.S. Coast Guard approved wearablepersonal otation device (Type 1, 2, 3 or5) is required or each person on any boat.Boats 16 eet and longer, except or canoesor kayaks, must also have one USCG-approved throwable PFD on board.

Lake Michigan and the Ohio River andboundary waters o the Wabash River havespecial PFD regulations. Call the USCG at

(219) 879-8371 or Lake Michigan,(502) 779-5400 or southern Indiana, orsee uscgboating.org or a copy o ederalboating regulations.

EATING FISH

Eating recreationally caught sh fromIndiana waters can be a healthy and tasty activity when you have the proper informa-tion.

e contaminants accumulate in humantissue like they do in fsh and can build tolevels that could pose a health threat. Teconsumption advisory is based on a model that people are consuming 8 oz. o fsh on225 days each year over 70 years.Mostanglers do not eat wild-caught fsh nearly this requently.

Te primary concern is with the at-risk population. is population compriseswomen o childbearing years, nursingmothers and children under age 15. e

reason or extra concern is evidence o de- velopmental problems in babies and youngchildren rom contaminants at levels lowerthan what can be sa ely eaten by adults.

Eating sh from lakes and reservoirs isgenerally less of a concern. Contaminantlevels are generally very low in lakes andreservoirs.

Eating sh from rivers and streamsis generally a much higher concern.All 13 water bodies carrying do-not-eatconsumption advisories or all species arestreams.

Consult the Indiana Fish ConsumptionAdvisory or much more detailed in or-mation. e advisory can be ound atIN.gov/isdh/23650.htm. For more in or-mation on the fsh consumption advisory or answers to questions concerning theadvisory, contact: Indiana State Depart-ment o Health, Environmental Epidemiol-ogy Section, 2525 Shadeland Ave., Suite E,Indianapolis, IN 46219, (317) 351-7190,ext. 262.



North Region Headquarters 1124 N. Mexico Road

Peru, IN 46970(765) [email protected]

TURN IN APOACHERHelp eliminate the illegal takingo Indiana’s fsh and wildli e, andstop pollution and destructiono rivers and wetlands.

Report PoachingCall (800) - TIP-IDNR (847 - 4367)

LAW ENFORCEMENTREGION HEADQUARTERS

2011 RECORDFISH PROGRAM

ITS FUN & FREE!

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY

TODAY!

REPTILES ANDAMPHIBIANS

All reptiles and amphibians native toIndiana are protected by law.

Species o rogs, lizards, salamanders,snakes, toads or turtles (including boxturtles) on the state or ederal endangeredspecies list may not be collected rom thewild at any time.

Species specifed as game animals (com-mon snapping turtle, smooth so shellturtle, spiny so shell turtle, bull rog andgreen rog) may be collected in compliancewith license requirements, season dates,bag limits and legal trapping methods.

Indiana residents over age 17 mustpossess a valid hunting or fshing licensewhen collecting species o reptiles andamphibians. All non-resident adults andmost non-resident youth must possess a

non-resident annual hunting license.

Reptiles/Amphibians Seasons and LimitsSPECIES SEASON DAILY BAG

LIMITPOSSESSIONLIMIT

RESTRICTIONS

Game turtles• common snapping turtle

• smooth softshell turtle• spiny softshell turtle

year-round

25* 50* Turtle traps may be used but may not have an opening below the water surface.

Game frogs• bullfrog

• green frog

June 15-Apr. 30

25* 50* Frogs may be taken with gig or spear with ahead not more than 3 inches in width and

a single row of tines, long bow and arrow,club, hands alone, or pole or hand line withnot more than one hook or artificial lureattached. Firearms used for frog hunting are restricted to a .22-caliber firearmloaded with bird shot only.

* “Singly or in aggregate”, which means the catch limit includes any combination of the species.


Non-game reptiles and amphibiansmay not be taken rom any DNR property without a scientifc purposes license. Seefshing.IN.gov or a list o Indiana’s nativespecies. e possession limit or non-

endangered, non-game species is our,

with the exception o the Eastern box turtle.Collected species may not be sold.

Legally collected amphibians or reptiles keptin captivity less than 30 days may be releasedonly at their original capture site i they have

never been housed with another animal.

South Region Headquarters 4850 S. S.R. 446

Bloomington, IN 47401(812) [email protected]

e Division o Fish and Wildli e spon-sors two award programs recognizingoutstanding catches by sport anglers. TeIndiana Record Fish Program recognizesnew State Record catches. Te Fish of theYear program recognizes anglers whocatch the largest fsh o each species thatis smaller than the current state record.Weight is the measurement used or staterecord fsh. Total length is used or Fish o the Year. Both programs have the same fshdivisions and use the same entry orm orsubmitting in ormation. Winners receive acertifcate and a color ul jacket patch.

Fish o the Year entries may be sub-mitted electronically along with digitalphotographs and fshing license number [email protected]. Postal mailed entry orms and pictures will not be returned tothe angler.

For a list o general rules and an entry orm, go to fshing.IN.gov/3577.htm

DNR’s FREE e-newsletter provideshot-o -the-press in ormation, directlyto you about Indiana’s fshand wildli e.

To haveWild Bulletindelivered toyour e-mailaddress, seewildlife.IN.gov and click on Wild Bulletin.

WHERE TOFISH FINDER

The Where to Fish Finder atishing.IN.gov displays location andother in ormation on more than 800 fsh-ing sites across the state. Anglers seekingfshing spots or launching ramps can usethe interactive map to zoom in on specifclocations, view aerial photos to learn thelay o the land, and click on icons to getother in ormation. Available in ormationcan include area name, availability o ADAaccess, boat ramp type and ees, permis-sions and restrictions or boat motors andshore fshing.

e access sites on the map include stateproperties, county parks, city parks andmunicipalities. Fee in ormation includesdaily-use ee or DNR Lake Permit status.Boats on state park, reservoir or orestry properties need a DNR Lake Permit.

Documents

2011 Indiana Fishing Guide