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Indiana

Fishing

Fishing

Basic Fishing Information

Border Waters

  • Indiana and Kentucky — Ohio River — The reciprocal agreement allows residents of either state to fish the river proper (main stem) with either state’s fishing license. If you are fishing in a connecting tributary/embayment you'll need to have a fishing license for that particular state.
  • Indiana and Illinois — Wabash River — Officers of Illinois and Indiana will recognize and accept valid sport fishing licenses of either state when legally possessed and used on the Wabash River forming a common boundary between Illinois and Indiana. Sport anglers shall not fish on water beyond the natural and ordinary river banks of the state in which they are not licensed to fish. Sport anglers shall not fish from land attached to or taxed by the state in which they are not licensed or fish in tributaries, bayous, or backwaters of the state. Sport anglers must abide by the laws of the state in which they are fishing.
  • Indiana and Illinois — Wolf Lake — There is no reciprocal license agreement. Each state’s fishing license is needed to fish their respective waters.
  • Indiana and Ohio — Great Miami River — There is no reciprocal license agreement for this river. Each state's fishing license is needed to fish in their respective waters.
  • Indiana and Michigan — Residents of Indiana or Michigan may fish the whole lake, but must abide by the regulations in the waters they are fishing. Nonresident license holders (for either state) may only fish in the waters under which the jurisdiction applies for that nonresident license. Nonresidents would need Indiana and Michigan non-resident licenses to fish both sides.
    • Clear Lake — Indiana, St. Joseph Co./
      South Clear Lake — Michigan, Berrien Co.,
    • Indiana Lake — Indiana, Elkhart Co./Michigan, Cass Co.,
    • Fish Lake — Indiana, LaGrange Co./Michigan, St. Joseph Co.,
    • Lake George — Indiana, Steuben Co./Michigan, Branch Co.,
    • Long Lake — Indiana, Steuben Co./Michigan, Hillsdale Co.
    • Lake Michigan — We share Lake Michigan borders with Illinois and Michigan. There is a reciprocal zone in Calumet Harbor with Illinois (https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/files/fw-calumet_harbor_reciprocal_zone.pdf). There is NO license reciprocity anywhere else on our Lake Michigan border waters. Indiana licensed anglers will need an Illinois license to fish Illinois waters of Lake Michigan, and a Michigan license to fish Michigan waters of Lake Michigan, even if launching out of Indiana.

Boating

All motorboats used in public waters must be registered. For a copy of Indiana boating laws, visit boat-ed.com/Indiana/handbook.

On State-owned, leased, or licensed lakes smaller than 300 acres, only electric motors may be used. No more than two 12-volt batteries can be used to power trolling motors on these waters.

Life Preservers

A U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) approved wearable personal flotation device (PFD) is required for each person on any boat. Boats 16 feet and longer, except for canoes or kayaks, must also have one USCG approved throwable PFD on board.

Lake Michigan, the Ohio River, and Indiana-Illinois boundary waters of the Wabash River have special regulations. Call the USCG at 219-879-8371 for Lake Michigan, 502-779-5400 for southern Indiana, or see uscgboating.org for a copy of federal boating regulations.

Sinkers

The health of fish and wildlife may be affected if lead or zinc sinkers are ingested. Alternative sinkers are made of steel, bismuth, tungsten, and resin.

Tagging & Marking

Anyone interested in marking or tagging fish in public water must get approval from the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife before marking or tagging occurs.

An application must be processed 21 days before the scheduled start date. For more information, call 317-232-4200.

Lake Michigan Trout & Salmon

Trout or salmon with a missing adipose fin contain a small microwire tag in their head, which holds information important to DNR research. Please save the head from your adipose fin-clipped trout and salmon and call 219-874-6824 for instructions.

Only trout and salmon with a missing adipose fin have micro tags. The adipose fin is along the fish’s spine between the dorsal fin and caudal (tail) fin.

Illegal Devices

It is illegal to use the following devices to take fish from public waters: a weir, electric current, dynamite or other explosive, a firearm, hands alone, or any substance that may weaken or poison fish.

Sorting Fish

Anglers are responsible for maintaining fish in a healthy condition. Dead and dying fish cannot be released back into the water. At no time may anglers have more than a bag limit in their possession while engaged in a day’s fishing. However, sorting of fish may be allowed within the bag limit if fish are in healthy condition at the time of release. For example, if you catch five largemouth bass (daily bag limit is five) and catch a bigger largemouth bass later that day, it is legal to release any of the other fish in good condition in order to keep the larger one. Fish must be released into the water from which they were taken and be able to swim away normally. All fish in possession must meet legal size limits.

Gifting Fish

A person cannot gift fish taken under a sport fishing license to another person for the purpose of stocking a private lake.

Holding Baskets, Live Boxes, Live Nets, Etc.

A fish holding basket, live box, live net, or any other structure in which fish or other aquatic life are contained unattended must be plainly labeled with the name and address of the owner or the owner's DNR-issued Customer ID number. This does not include live wells or other devices that hang over the side of a boat or are located within a boat.

Minnows & Crayfish

Minnows and crayfish may be collected any time through the year if a valid sport fishing license is possessed. Minnows and crayfish collected from public waters cannot be sold.

“Minnow” is defined as a species of the minnow family Cyprinidae, except for exotic species identified in 312 IAC 9-6-7 and endangered species identified in 312 IAC 9-6-9, as well as suckers (carpsuckers, redhorses, hog suckers, white suckers, and chubsuckers), brook stickleback, gizzard shad, threadfin shad, and alewife. Live gizzard shad, threadfin shad, and alewife may only be collected, used, possessed, and disposed of in accordance with 312 IAC 9-6-8.

You cannot transport more than 100 crayfish across the state line in a 24-hour period unless you are commercially raising crayfish. You may use artificial lighting to take crayfish.

If you plan to catch your own minnows or crayfish, the following rules apply:

  • Seines cannot be larger than 12 feet in length and 4 feet deep with mesh no larger than ½ inch stretch. Stretch is the distance between two opposite knots of a net mesh when the net is stretched tight.
  • Minnow dip nets cannot exceed 3 feet square (without sides or walls) and may not have mesh larger than ½ inch stretch.
  • Minnow traps cannot exceed 24 inches in length with the opening of the trap no larger than 2 inches in diameter. Traps for crayfish also must comply with these requirements.
  • Cast nets may be used, provided the net is no larger than 20 feet in diameter and the mesh stretch is no larger than ¾ inch.
  • Minnows may not be taken within 500 yards of a dam and may only be taken by seines, minnow traps, cast nets, and dip nets meeting all legal requirements.
  • See Ohio River Regulations for special minnow and crayfish collecting regulations on the Ohio River.

Do not release minnows into the water after fishing. Emptying bait buckets can contaminate a body of water. In addition, bait and bait buckets exposed to lake or stream water could get contaminated with zebra mussel larvae, fish pathogens, or other aquatic invasive species. Anglers are encouraged to dispose of baitfish in the trash after each outing and buy new bait for their next outing. Fishing worms should be discarded in trash containers.

Wild fish may be used as live bait as long as the fish was caught legally and meets any size, catch, or possession limits established for that species. Goldfish may be used as live bait. Carp cannot be used as live bait at any location.

Live alewives may be collected, possessed, and used on Lake Michigan only. Alewives may not be transported away from Lake Michigan. Any unused alewives must be killed. You must immediately kill alewives collected from waters other than Lake Michigan.

Gizzard Shad & Threadfin Shad

Gizzard shad and threadfin shad can be collected and used as live bait on the following waters: Brookville, Cecil M. Harden (Raccoon SRA), Freeman, Hardy, Monroe, Patoka, and Shafer lakes, and the Ohio River main stem (excluding all embayments). Live gizzard shad and threadfin shad may not be transported away from the location where collected.

Cast nets with a maximum mesh size of 2 inches stretch can be used to collect live gizzard shad and threadfin shad at these bodies of water.

Live gizzard shad or threadfin shad collected from the tailwaters of a lake or collected from other water bodies must be killed immediately upon capture and cannot be possessed alive.

Hooks on East Fork White River

Hook restrictions are in place from March 15 through April 20 on the East Fork White River from Williams Dam to the Huron and Williams Road bridge in Lawrence County.

During that time, fishing cannot occur with more than one single hook per line or one artificial lure. Single hooks, including those on artificial lures, shall not exceed ½ inch from point to shank. Double and treble hooks on artificial lures shall not exceed 3/8 inch from point to shank.

Walleye Size Limits

Walleye taken from all public waters (lakes, rivers, and streams) north of State Road 26 must be 16 inches in length or longer, except for:

  • Bass Lake (Starke County) and Wolf Lake (Lake County); minimum size 14 inches
  • Lake George (Steuben County); minimum size 15 inches
  • Wall Lake (LaGrange County); minimum size 16 inches with a daily bag limit of two walleye taken from public waters (lakes, rivers, and streams). Walleye taken south of State Road 26 must be 14 inches or longer.

There is no minimum size requirement for saugeye on all state waters, except for Huntingburg Lake (Dubois County), Glenn Flint Lake (Putnam County), and Sullivan Lake (Sullivan County), where saugeye must be 14 inches in length or longer.

Sauger are added to the aggregate bag limit for walleye and saugeye. Check the Ohio River regulations on Ohio River Regulations as they have different regulations.

Special Regulation Waters

On Fidler Pond in Elkhart County, Failing Lake (also known as Gentian Lake) in Steuben County, and Flat Fork Creek Park ponds A and B in Hamilton County, a person cannot take more than:

  • 5 channel catfish per day
  • 2 largemouth bass per day, and the largemouth bass must be at least 18 inches long
  • 15 of any combination of bluegill, redear sunfish, and crappie per day