There’s a unique fishing opportunity now available at a south-central Iowa lake. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources plans to kill off all the fish in Twelve Mile Lake between Creston and Afton to get rid of an infestation of nuisance fish that’ve caused use of the lake to drop dramatically. D-N-R Conservation Officer Marc Roberg says before killing off the fish, the D-N-R is letting anglers try and catch what game fish remain. He says they’ve relaxed the normal rules on size and catch limits, and the methods used to catch fish. He says they’re allowing “liberalized means” so that anyone with valid fishing license can use as many lines as they want. They can use throw lines, and jug lines (lines attached to floating jugs), and trot lines, as long as they’re watching the lines. The liberal fishing rules will remain until around July 4th when chemicals will be pumped into the lake to kill off all the fish. Roberg says they also plan to check the entire watershed of the lake for the yellow bass and carp that have caused the problems. He says they’re going to sample the ponds around the lake for yellow bass and carp and will work with landowners to kill those fish. He says they’ll also look in the streams and waterways that flow into the lake and kill the nuisance fish there. Roberg says the D-N-R will restock the lake in the fall with a variety of fish. He says they’ll stock catfish, bass and walleyes and he says anglers should be able to start fishing Twelve Mile Lake again within one year. Roberg says they expect the fishing to pick up dramatically once the process is finished.
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