Message from the Director

Thank you for picking up a copy of the DNR’s 2013 Fishing Guide.

I’m confident you will find it helpful in making your fishing plans this year. The guide provides information as basic as license requirements and as important as size and bag limits for various fish species.

You also will find contact information for district fisheries biologists and Indiana Conservation Officers, plus an easy-to-understand explanation of fish consumption advisories.

Two other topics worth noting are free fishing days and the Go FishIN in the City program aimed at developing fishing opportunities in urban communities.

In the past, Free Fishing Weekend in early June gave Indiana residents the chance to fish those two days without having to purchase a fishing license. This year, we have extended the opportunity by adding April 20 and May 18 as free fishing days.

Hopefully you can take advantage of those opportunities, just as we did in bringing back the DNR Fishing Guide after a three-year absence.

We’re partnering with the same company — J.F. Griffin of Massachusetts — that printed the DNR’s 2012–13 Hunting & Trapping Guide. The business model J.F. Griffin uses with us and nearly 20 other states results in a high-quality product at an affordable price.

In fact, this guide was printed and delivered at about 65 percent less than the cost of our last fishing guide in 2009.

Griffin also manages online versions of the guide (www.eRegulations.com/IN/fishing), giving the DNR — and you the angler — the best of both worlds.

Rob Carter

Indiana Department of Natural Resources Director