312 IAC 9-7-16 - Sport fishing on the Ohio River
Authority: IC 14-10-2-4; IC 14-22-2-6
Affected: IC 14-22
Sec. 16.
(a) This
section governs fishing on the Ohio River, excluding all bays and
tributaries.
(b) An individual must
not take fish except by any of the following:
(1) Fishing pole or hand line.
(2) An unlimited number of free-float
lines.
(3) Not more than two (2)
setlines, throw lines, or trotlines per individual. Each setline, throw line,
and trotline shall:
(A) have not more than
fifty (50) hooks:
(i) placed not closer
together than eighteen (18) inches; and
(ii) having no more than one (1) single or multibarbed
hook;
(B) be tended at
least once every twenty-four (24) hours;
(C) have at least one (1) legible tag affixed
with the name and address of the user or the individual's customer
identification number issued by the department; and
(D) be set not less than three (3) feet below
the surface of the water.
(c) An individual may take an exempted
species of fish as defined in
312 IAC 9-6-10 or any Asian carp,
sucker, carp, gar, bowfin, buffalo, or shad by the methods prescribed in
subsection (b) or according to the following methods:
(1) Long bow, including compound bow, or
crossbow with an arrow having one (1) or more barbs and a line attached. An
exempted species of fish without scales shall not be taken with bow and arrow
or crossbow during nighttime hours (from one-half (1/2) hour after sunset until
one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise).
(2) Gigging from February 1 through May 10
with any pronged or barbed instrument attached to the end of a rigid object. A
person must not take fish by gigging from a boat or platform.
(3) Fish spear.
(4) Spear gun.
(5) Underwater spear.
(d) An individual must not take fish under
this section by means of a hook dragged or jerked through the water with the
intent to snag fish on contact.
(e)
An individual must not take fish within two hundred (200) yards below any dam
on the Ohio River except by fishing pole or hand line.
(f) An individual must not take minnows from
the Ohio River except by:
(1) a minnow trap
not to exceed three (3) feet long and eighteen (18) inches in diameter nor
having a throat opening greater than one (1) inch in diameter;
(2) a dip net not to exceed three (3) feet in
diameter;
(3) a minnow seine not to
exceed thirty (30) feet long and six (6) feet deep nor having mesh size larger
than one-fourth (1/4) inch bar mesh;
(4) a cast net; or
(5) lawful fishing methods provided in this
section.
(g) An
individual may take fish in the Ohio River only by sport fishing methods
authorized under this section as follows:
| Daily Bag | Possession Limit | Size (Inches) | |
| Bass (largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted) | 6 | 12 | 12 (except no size limit on spotted bass) |
| Bass (white, yellow, striped, and hybrids) | 30 | 60 | Not more than 4 fish can be 15 or longer |
| Rock bass | 15 | 30 | none |
| Walleye, sauger, and saugeye | 6 | 12 | none |
| Muskellunge and tiger muskellunge | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| Crappie | 30 | 60 | none |
| Catfish (blue, channel, and flathead) | none | none | 13 |
(h)
Nothwithstanding subsection (g), an individual may take no more than one (1)
each per day of a:
(1) channel catfish that is
at least twenty-eight (28) inches long;
(2) blue catfish that is at least thirty-five
(35) inches long; and
(3) flathead
catfish that is at least thirty-five (35) inches long.
Notes
Emergency Rule, LSA Document #20-7(E), temporarily supersedes subsection (g), effective January 19, 2020. See LSA Document #20-7(E) posted at 20200115-IR-312200007ERA. LSA Document #20-7(E) expires January 18, 2021.
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