HF 2223 Fishing on private lakes or ponds

[Fishbonker]

HF 2223 would allow fishing on a private lake or pond without a fishing licenses as long as you have the private lake or pond owners permission to fish in said lake or pond.

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF2223&ga=87

An article in the DSM Register from 2016 about the same bill two years ago. Looks at both sides of the issue.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...equire-fishing-permits-private-land/80999804/

I found the article when trying to find the statute about a landowner fishing their own lake or pond without a license. Didn't find it. I guess if you own the pond or lake and are fishing in it you have approval to fish there. I'm sure that is in the code somewhere but I can't come up with it right now. I also wouldn't want to have a bucket full of fish from the private lake or pond, not have a license, and get stopped on the way home.

 

[JNRBRONC]

I also wouldn't want to have a bucket full of fish from the private lake or pond, not have a license, and get stopped on the way home.

Awhile ago I read that state fishing limits apply to private ponds, which I thought was nuts. If a person pays to build a pond, buys the fish to stock it, aren't you essentially raising "livestock"? Only angle I could come up with is that if you were driving from your pond to your house and got pulled over, you couldn't use the excuse that "I caught them out of my pond".

 

[Daver]

Interesting...back in the day when you could get the DNR to stock your pond for free, it made sense to me that statewide fishing regulations would apply. Now that that program has been discontinued and the landowner has to buy his own fish...it does seem odd that they would keep the regulation the same.

 

[HorseDoctor]

Back in the day, when the state was willing to stock private ponds for free, I could see allowing them a say in setting regulations. Since they no longer do that, (and paid nothing to help build the pond), that's exactly how much input I think they should have over who fishes it, what the limits should be or even how it is fished (trotlines, juglines, even seining...).

 

[HorseDoctor]

OK, Daver, you "keyboard" faster than me... As my mother used to say "great minds run in the same gutter".

 

[Fishbonker]

If a person pays to build a pond, buys the fish to stock it, aren't you essentially raising "livestock"?

Funny you should mention that. There was legislation introduced a few days ago to regulate fish farms as CAFO. I don't remember the details, file number or chamber of the bill. I saw it in the daily bill packet.

 

[Fishbonker]

"great minds run in the same gutter"

Great saying. At some point in time I'm going to steal it.