Fishing Seasons and Limits
Black Bass Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted bass combined
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limit: All Inland Waters and Interior Streams and River Impoundments - combined daily 3 and possession of 6. |
| Inland Waters1 |
| Length Limits - public lakes, including Coralville, Rathbun, Saylorville and Red Rock reservoirs - 15-inch minimum except as otherwise posted; special regulations are posted at: |
| A. 16-inch minimum at Swan Lake (Carroll) |
| B. 18-inch minimum at lakes Ada Hayden (Story); Ahquabi, Hooper (Warren); Big Creek, Thomas Mitchell, Yellow Banks (Polk); Casey (Tama); Cold Springs (Cass); Green Valley (Union); Hendricks (Howard); Krumm (Jasper); Little Wall (Hamilton); Lost Grove (Scott); Mill Creek (O’Brien); Pleasant Creek (Linn); Smith (Kossuth); and South Prairie (Black Hawk) |
| C. Catch and release only at lakes Brown (Jackson) and Wapello (Davis) |
| D. All 12 to 16-inch fish must be immediately released at Lake Hawthorn (Mahaska) |
| E. All 12 to 18-inch fish must be immediately released at Lake Sugema (Van Buren) |
| Interior Streams & River Impoundments |
| Length Limits - 12-inch minimum except all Black Bass caught from the following stream segments must be released alive immediately: |
| A. Cedar River (Mitchell) extending downstream from the bridge on county road A19 east of Otranto as posted to the bridge on county road T26 south of St. Ansgar |
| B. Maquoketa River (Delaware) extending downstream from below Lake Delhi Dam as posted to the first county gravel road bridge |
| C. Middle Raccoon River (Guthrie) extending downstream from below Lake Panorama Dam as posted to the dam at Redfield |
| D. Upper Iowa River (Winneshiek) extending downstream from the Fifth Street bridge in Decorah as posted to the upper dam |
| Boundary Rivers2 |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limit: Boundary Rivers - combined daily 5 and possession of 10 |
| Length Limits - 14-inch minimum on the Mississippi River and 12-inch minimum length limit on the Missouri River. Associated chutes and backwaters of the border rivers are included where intermittent or constant flow occur. No length limit on the Big Sioux River. Browns Lake Mississippi River (Jackson) is catch and release only. |
Bluegill, Crappie & Pumpkinseed
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limits: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag and Possession Limits |
| Inland waters1 - 25 daily for Bluegill and 25 daily for crappie on public waters and no possession limit for either. No daily limit for Bluegill or crappie on private waters. |
| Boundary rivers2 - Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers - None. Mississippi River and connected backwaters; daily bag limit of 25 and possession limit of 50 for each of the following: Bluegill and Pumpkinseed combined, and crappie. |
Catfish Channel, Blue, Flathead Catfish
combined & bullhead
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limits: All waters - None |
| Catfish Daily Bag & Possession Limits |
| Inland lakes - Catfish combined daily 8 and possession 30, except for Iowa boundary lakes listed on p. 16. No limit for bullheads. |
| Inland streams, Coralville, Rathbun, Red Rock and Saylorville Reservoirs - Catfish combined daily 15 and combined possession 30. No limit for bullheads. |
| Boundary rivers2 same as streams except no bag or possession limit on the Mississippi River |
Frogs
except for the endangered crawfish frog
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limits: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limits: All waters - All frogs except bullfrogs and crawfish frogs combined daily: 48 and possession: 96. Bullfrogs combined daily and possession: 12. Crawfish frogs are protected as an endangered species. |
Muskellunge
including Hybrids (Tiger)
| Season: All waters - Continuous except there is an open season on West Okoboji, East Okoboji and Spirit Lakes (Dickinson County) and on Iowa-Minnesota boundary lakes from May 21 through Nov. 30, each year. |
| Length Limits: All waters - 40 inches minimum length limit |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limits: All waters - Daily and possession of 1. |
Mussels
All mussels except for those listed as threatened or endangered and the Zebra Mussel. The angler is responsible for the identification of the mussel species in possession.
| Season: All waters - Continuous but the taking of mussels is restricted to the hours between sunrise and sunset. |
| Length Limit: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limit: Inland waters1, Missouri River and Big Sioux River - Only dead shells may be harvested. Mississippi River and connected backwaters, live and dead shells may be harvested. The possession limit for all waters is 24 whole mussels or 48 shell halves. |
Northern Pike
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limit: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limit |
| Inland waters1 - Daily of 3 and possession of 6. |
| Boundary rivers2 - Daily of 5 and possession of 10 on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and a daily of 6 and possession of 12 on the Big Sioux River. |
Paddlefish
| Season: Continuous open season on all interior waters, except you cannot snag in areas closed to snagging (p. 8). The open season on the Mississippi River is March 1 through April 15. Snagging for Paddlefish on the Mississippi River is restricted to the area within 500 yards below the navigation dams and their spillways. The open season on the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers is Feb. 1 through April 30. The open area is limited to Iowa waters only on the Missouri River and the portion of the Big Sioux River along the Iowa and South Dakota border, starting at the Big Sioux River below the I-29 bridge to the Big Sioux River’s confluence with the Missouri River and in the Missouri River, including all backwater and sloughs and any Missouri River tributary starting at its confluence and extending below its I-29 bridge, starting at the Big Sioux River confluence and extending to the Hamburg Landing boat ramp. Snagging hours on the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers is sunrise to sunset. You cannot use hooks larger than 5/0 treble or measuring more than 1-1/4 inch long when two of the hook points are placed on a ruler (p. 8). |
| Length Limits: None, except for the Mississippi River where there is a 33-inch maximum length limit; and on the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers, there is a 35-45-inch protected slot limit. You must immediately release alive all fish measuring 33 inches or more on the Mississippi River and 35-45 inches on the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers. Measure the length of a Paddlefish from the front of the eye to the natural unaltered fork of the tail. Use a flexible tape to measure along and over the center line contour of the fish while it is lying flat. You must immediately release alive all fish you do not take into possession. |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limit: All waters - daily of 2 and possession of 4 except on the Big Sioux River, Missouri River and any Missouri River tributary to its I-29 bridge where you can buy up to 2 paddle- fish tags each year. You can take 1 paddlefish with each paddlefish tag. |
| Big Sioux & Missouri Rivers Special License and Regulations: You must have a valid resident or nonresident fishing license in addition to the Paddlefish fishing license with unused tag(s) to fish for Paddlefish in the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers. Residents and nonresidents under 16 years of age must have a Paddlefish fishing license and unused tag(s) to fish for Paddlefish. Licenses are available first come, first served - 950 resident licenses and 50 nonresident licenses are available each year. You can buy up to two tags per year - one from Dec. 15 to Dec. 31 and an additional tag from Jan. 1 to Jan. 7, or two tags if you didn’t buy one in December. To buy a license, go to www.iowadnr.gov/fishing. Anglers with a Paddlefish fishing license and unused tag(s) can snag fish to catch Paddlefish and rough fish. You cannot use a gaffe hook or other penetrating device to help land a snagged fish. Once you have caught and tagged a Paddlefish, you must stop snagging. Immediately upon taking into possession a legal Paddlefish, attach the valid current year transportation tag issued with the license to the fish’s lower jaw in a way that it cannot be removed without mutilating or destroying it. A damaged tag or closed tag not attached to a Paddlefish is no longer valid. You cannot possess a Paddle- fish fishing license or transportation tag issued to another angler, or tag a Paddlefish with a transportation tag issued to another angler. The transportation tag must be attached before you can move the carcass from the place of harvest and remain attached to the Paddlefish until it is processed for consumption. The Paddlefish must remain intact except for the snout in front of the eye until the fish reaches the final processing place. The “final processing place” is defined as the angler’s residence or the location where consumption occurs. The transportation tag is proof of possession of the carcass by the licensee. |
Shovelnose Sturgeon
| Season: All waters - Continuous except no harvest allowed in Big Sioux River. |
| Length Limit: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limits: All waters - None, except the daily bag limit is 10 and possession limit is 20 in the Missouri River. You cannot sell eggs with a sport fishing license. |
Threatened and Endangered Species
| Season: All waters - Closed |
Trout
Brook, Brown and Rainbow
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limits: None, except a 14-inch minimum length limit for all trout in Spring Branch (Delaware), from the spring source to County Hwy. D5X as posted, and on Brown Trout only in portions of Bloody Run Creek (Clayton) where posted. |
| Daily Bag & Possession: All waters - Combined daily of 5 and possession of 10. |
| Catch & Release Only: You must release alive immediately all trout caught from the posted portion of Hewett and Ensign Creeks; McLoud Run; and Waterloo Creek; and Brown Trout caught from French Creek and West Fork of French Creek; and Brook Trout caught from Casey Springs, Falcon Springs Pine Spring Creek and South Pine Creek. |
| Artificial Lure Only: You can only use artificial lures in the posted areas of Bloody Run Creek, Ensign Creek and Hewett Creek (Ensign Hollow), French Creek, McLoud Run, South Pine Creek, Spring Branch, Waterloo Creek, Casey Springs, Falcon Springs and Pine Spring Creek. Artificial lures don’t contain or have added to them natural or human-made substances made to attract fish by taste or smell. |
Turtles
Common Snapping, Spiny Softshell, Smooth Softshell and Painted
| Season: All waters - Continuous for common snapping turtles; Open season for spiny softshell, smooth softshell and painted turtles is from July 16, 2023 to May 14, 2024. |
| Length Limits: None |
| Daily Bag & Possession: Daily of 4 common snapping, 1 spiny softshell or smooth softshell, 1 painted and possession of a maximum of 100 pounds of live turtles or 50 pounds of dressed turtles; the daily catch limit cannot exceed the possession limit. |
Walleye, Sauger & Saugeye
| Inland Waters |
| Season: Continuous except on West Okoboji Lake, East Okoboji Lake and Spirit Lake (Dickinson). The open season on West Okoboji Lake, East Okoboji Lake and Spirit Lake is from May 6, 2023 through Feb. 14, 2024. |
| Length Limit: None except for the special lakes which are posted or published below. |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limit: Combined daily 5 and combined possession limit of 10, except for special lakes listed below and boundary lakes listed on p. 16. |
| Special Walleye Restrictions: The lakes listed below have a daily bag limit of 3 and possession limit of 6, except for Lake Rathbun, in addition to special length restrictions. Big Creek Lake (Polk) 15-inch minimum length limit, and no more than one Walleye longer than 20-inches may be taken per day Clear Lake (Cerro Gordo) immediately release alive all 17- to 22-inch Walleyes; no more than one Walleye longer than 22-inches may be taken per day Lake Rathbun (Appanoose) 15-inch minimum length limit; daily bag limit of 5 and possession limit of 10 Storm Lake (Buena Vista) and West Okoboji Lake, East Okoboji Lake, Spirit Lake, Upper Gar, Minnewashta, Lower Gar (Dickinson) immediately release alive all 19 to 25-inch Walleyes; no more than one Walleye longer than 25-inches may be taken per day |
| Boundary Rivers2 |
| Season: Continuous |
| Length Limit: A 15-inch minimum length limit applies to Walleye on all pools of the Mississippi River. In addition, you must immediately release alive all walleye from 20 to 27-inches and no more than one Walleye above 27-inches may be taken per day. |
| DAILY BAG & POSSESSION LIMIT: Mississippi River combined daily 6 and combined possession of 12. Big Sioux and Missouri rivers - combined daily of 4 and possession of 8. |
Yellow Bass, White Bass, Rock Bass & Hybrid (Wiper)
| Season: All waters1 - Continuous |
| Length Limit: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limits: |
| Inland waters1 - None |
| Boundary rivers2 Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers - None. Mississippi River and connected backwaters; daily bag limit of 25 and possession limit of 50 for each of the following: White and Yellow bass combined, and Rock Bass. |
Yellow Perch
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limit: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limits: All waters - Daily of 25 and possession of 50 except there is no daily or possession limit on the Missouri River. |
All Other Fish
| Season: All waters - Continuous |
| Length Limits: All waters - None |
| Daily Bag & Possession Limits: All waters - None |
1 - Inland waters of the state include all interior lakes and streams including: Green Island Lake and Slough (Jackson), Middle and Upper Sabula (Jackson) and Lake Odessa (Louisa).
2 - Boundary rivers of the state include the Mississippi, Missouri, Des Moines (Van Buren and Lee) and Big Sioux and their backwater lakes and sloughs.
