The use of cast nets and seine nets are legal to use in Indiana. The spirit of the law is to allow people to catch bait then use rod and reel/hook and line to catch gamefish. The laws are now being abused by cast and seine netters to catch all species for consumption. It is illegal to net and keep gamefish but poaching has been widespread. People are ticketed and then go right back and continue. The problem is the netters are keeping all fish and that includes minnow and sucker species which are critical to the ecosystem. Without these other “rough” fish the bass have less to eat and the river is dirtier. The minnows are a major part of a smallmouths diet and suckers keep the river clean which helps other forage prey flourish. 

Sugar Creek is the jewel of Indiana and one of the most important smallmouth fisheries in the Midwest. It cannot sustain a great smallmouth fishery if the bottom of the food chain and ecosystem are damaged. The netters are very efficient and are doing it weekly through the season. They are trespassing, leaving large amounts of trash and old nets and the groups are growing to 10 plus people at a time. Some are netting and some are cooking. The netting typically is done on the weekends starting Friday and ending Sunday. The IDNR conservation officers are doing the best job they can to ticket the netters and check to make sure they aren’t keeping game fish. The problem is the scope of the netting and the increasing amount of biomass that is now being removed is substantial. One section of the river has seen a steep decrease of all species of fish 

The IDNR does NOT support my rule changes and are fighting it. The NRC makes the final decision and we also have state senator Spencer Deery looking into this as well. He has requested a petition to gauge interest in stopping netting. Please please sign this petition to stop netting on Sugar Creek and define netting statewide as something done for the purpose of catching bait to fish with hook and line not for the purpose of consumption of fish. Below are my proposed rule changes. 

PROPOSAL I: propose netting of any kind be made illegal on the entirety of Sugar Creek in West Central Indiana. This includes cast nets, seine nets and any other kind of nets that are designed to catch baitfish, rough fish or any other kind of fish.

PROPOSAL 2: Clearly define netting bait for the purpose of fishing with that bait and not for the purpose of catching fish for consumption. I propose this be in effect on all other waters in Indiana. This proposal does not does not prohibit commercial fishing with nets on larger rivers or lakes but for all other rivers and lakes where netters are using small cast nets and seine nets to catch fish for the purpose of consuming the netted fish. All fish caught in Indiana waters besides those caught with rod/ reel, limb line or trotline must not be consumed but be used for bait fishing only. 

Stop netting before our smallmouth fisheries are destroyed or at the very least severely damaged! 

Thanks, Chad J Miller