Let's make the channel catfish Iowa's state fish
By Larry Myhre | Posted: Thursday, November 02, 2006
This may not be the best time to bring this up.
The Iowa legislature annually has problems ahead of them that make the fact we don't have a state fish pale in comparison.
But, some of the issues are so petty that I guess I could be so bold as to suggest we all think about enshrining the channel catfish.
Let's pass a law, ladies and gentlemen, which would designate the channel catfish as the Iowa state fish.
We have a state bird, the American goldfinch. We have a state tree, the oak. We have a state flower, the wild rose. But, we don't have a state fish. We're one of seven state's nationwide which doesn't. Some states, in fact, have two state fish.
The movement to make the channel catfish the Iowa state fish has been a long one. As far as I know it originated with a Burlington, Iowa, man who newspapers reported last year had been working on this since 1968.
In fact last year, two legislators (Sen. Thomas G. Courtney, D-Burlington, and Sen. Gene Fraise, D-Fort Madison) composed some well-worded legislation which should have flown through the legislative halls like a goldfinch on its way to a feeder. But it didn't.
Somewhere along the line it crashed and burned and Iowa still doesn't have a state fish.
The state tree, meanwhile, stands like...well, an oak and the state flower is poised to bloom again along Iowa roadsides and fields. The state bird still flits daily from my backyard trees to my bird feeder and decimates the thistle seeds it contains. How such a little bird can eat so much so quickly amazes me and depletes my pocket book because thistle seed, amazingly, isn't cheap.
Meanwhile the channel cat fins quietly just about anywhere in the state where water may pool a foot or two deep, waiting for spring to send him on feeding forays, once again warming the hearts and frying pans of most of Iowa's one million anglers, men, women and children.
This whole affair was brought to my attention recently by Sioux Cityan Jack Steele, an old friend from the now defunct Sioux City stockyards and an avid angler for just about anything that swims in local waters. He's a lifetime member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisc., and, I believe, holds some line class records there.
He wants a state fish. And he says that state fish should be the channel catfish.
It seems a fairly simple thing to accomplish.
I suppose some arguments could be made for another species of fish. The carp, for instance. It, too, inhabits much of the state's waters. It doesn't have the glamour of the channel catfish, although In-Fishermen and other organizations are working hard to change that because of the fish's popularity with anglers in Europe. It should be pointed out, however, that carp are popular in Europe simply because it's the only fish accessible to the general population, the general population being common, unwashed hooks who don't have the breeding or the fortune to gain access to the other species.
So, forget the carp. It's got to be the channel catfish, a native fish found in all 99 counties.
It's the state's most-caught fish and available to all anglers (if there's fish in that water, there's channel catfish, too). It puts up a good tussle on a rod. It grows to good size (state record is 36-pounds, 8 ounces and was caught from the Middle Raccoon River, a stream which has "Iowa" written all over it). It's excellent eating. It's just an all-around good guy (or fish).
It's also our most-stocked fish. The Iowa DNR has long had a great rearing and stocking program for channel cats and has helped it flourish in just about all our natural and man-made lakes, farm ponds, strip mines, water supply reservoirs and streams.
Ask anyone what is the Iowa state fish and they will say, "channel catfish." Since everyone thinks the channel catfish is the state fish anyway, the legislature should just make it legal and they should do it this year.
The channel catfish is the third most designated of all the state fish with four states claiming it, including our neighbors Nebraska and Missouri. Various species of trout dominate with 18 states and the largemouth bass comes in second with five states.
It seems such a simple thing. Designate the channel catfish as the state fish. Yet, it took Iowa 75 years to adopt a state flag. That's pause for thought.
Iowa legislators should put the whole thing in perspective. Budgets will come and budgets will go. Taxes will rise and taxes will rise. The economy will swell and ebb like gentle waves on a lake's shore. But the channel catfish will remain, sublimely finning unrecognized by the tourism bureau in quiet waters across the state.
Then again, perhaps there's a reason it's so difficult to get a state fish and I just can't see it. Maybe I just don't get it. Perhaps some legislator could enlighten me.
Until then their procrastinating leaves me no choice but to suggest a huge parallel between them and the Iowa state rock, the geode.
You break it open and there's nothing inside, just a few crystals and a lot of air which was probably hot at one time.
Larry Myhre is editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 293-4201 or larrymyhre@siouxcityjournal.com.
The Iowa legislature annually has problems ahead of them that make the fact we don't have a state fish pale in comparison.
But, some of the issues are so petty that I guess I could be so bold as to suggest we all think about enshrining the channel catfish.
Let's pass a law, ladies and gentlemen, which would designate the channel catfish as the Iowa state fish.
We have a state bird, the American goldfinch. We have a state tree, the oak. We have a state flower, the wild rose. But, we don't have a state fish. We're one of seven state's nationwide which doesn't. Some states, in fact, have two state fish.
The movement to make the channel catfish the Iowa state fish has been a long one. As far as I know it originated with a Burlington, Iowa, man who newspapers reported last year had been working on this since 1968.
In fact last year, two legislators (Sen. Thomas G. Courtney, D-Burlington, and Sen. Gene Fraise, D-Fort Madison) composed some well-worded legislation which should have flown through the legislative halls like a goldfinch on its way to a feeder. But it didn't.
Somewhere along the line it crashed and burned and Iowa still doesn't have a state fish.
The state tree, meanwhile, stands like...well, an oak and the state flower is poised to bloom again along Iowa roadsides and fields. The state bird still flits daily from my backyard trees to my bird feeder and decimates the thistle seeds it contains. How such a little bird can eat so much so quickly amazes me and depletes my pocket book because thistle seed, amazingly, isn't cheap.
Meanwhile the channel cat fins quietly just about anywhere in the state where water may pool a foot or two deep, waiting for spring to send him on feeding forays, once again warming the hearts and frying pans of most of Iowa's one million anglers, men, women and children.
This whole affair was brought to my attention recently by Sioux Cityan Jack Steele, an old friend from the now defunct Sioux City stockyards and an avid angler for just about anything that swims in local waters. He's a lifetime member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisc., and, I believe, holds some line class records there.
He wants a state fish. And he says that state fish should be the channel catfish.
It seems a fairly simple thing to accomplish.
I suppose some arguments could be made for another species of fish. The carp, for instance. It, too, inhabits much of the state's waters. It doesn't have the glamour of the channel catfish, although In-Fishermen and other organizations are working hard to change that because of the fish's popularity with anglers in Europe. It should be pointed out, however, that carp are popular in Europe simply because it's the only fish accessible to the general population, the general population being common, unwashed hooks who don't have the breeding or the fortune to gain access to the other species.
So, forget the carp. It's got to be the channel catfish, a native fish found in all 99 counties.
It's the state's most-caught fish and available to all anglers (if there's fish in that water, there's channel catfish, too). It puts up a good tussle on a rod. It grows to good size (state record is 36-pounds, 8 ounces and was caught from the Middle Raccoon River, a stream which has "Iowa" written all over it). It's excellent eating. It's just an all-around good guy (or fish).
It's also our most-stocked fish. The Iowa DNR has long had a great rearing and stocking program for channel cats and has helped it flourish in just about all our natural and man-made lakes, farm ponds, strip mines, water supply reservoirs and streams.
Ask anyone what is the Iowa state fish and they will say, "channel catfish." Since everyone thinks the channel catfish is the state fish anyway, the legislature should just make it legal and they should do it this year.
The channel catfish is the third most designated of all the state fish with four states claiming it, including our neighbors Nebraska and Missouri. Various species of trout dominate with 18 states and the largemouth bass comes in second with five states.
It seems such a simple thing. Designate the channel catfish as the state fish. Yet, it took Iowa 75 years to adopt a state flag. That's pause for thought.
Iowa legislators should put the whole thing in perspective. Budgets will come and budgets will go. Taxes will rise and taxes will rise. The economy will swell and ebb like gentle waves on a lake's shore. But the channel catfish will remain, sublimely finning unrecognized by the tourism bureau in quiet waters across the state.
Then again, perhaps there's a reason it's so difficult to get a state fish and I just can't see it. Maybe I just don't get it. Perhaps some legislator could enlighten me.
Until then their procrastinating leaves me no choice but to suggest a huge parallel between them and the Iowa state rock, the geode.
You break it open and there's nothing inside, just a few crystals and a lot of air which was probably hot at one time.
Larry Myhre is editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 293-4201 or larrymyhre@siouxcityjournal.com.
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Tim Clark wrote on Jan 17, 2007 9:02 PM:
me wrote on Dec 18, 2006 3:51 PM: