Yes, a fishing license is required if you take minnows or any other species of fish for your own individual use for bait.

You can use:

• a minnow dip net - up to 4 feet in diameter
• a cast net - up to 10 feet in diameter
• a minnow seine - up to 20 feet in length with a mesh size of one-fourth-inch bar measure or larger
• a minnow trap up to 36 inches in length (each trap must have a metal tag with owner's name and address)

Alive or dead bait can be used from the following species:

• Minnows
  • chubs
  • shiners
  • suckers
  • dace
  • stonerollers
  • mud-minnow
  • redhorse
  • blunt-nose minnow
  • fathead minnow
• green sunfish
• orange-spotted sunfish
• frogs
• crayfish
• salamanders
• mussels

Only dead bait can be used from the following species: gizzard shad.

The following species cannot be used for bait in any inland water of the state:

• carp
• quillback
• gar
• dogfish

You can return fish of these species to the water from which they were taken.

You cannot possess live gizzard shad at any lake. Any gizzard shad taken for bait purposes must be killed immediately.

You must first obtain a bait dealer's license before you take or attempt to take bait for commercial purposes (selling, giving or furnishing to others).

A aquaculture license is needed to raise bait, but not to sell bait. See Iowa Code 481A.142 for more information.

Licensed bait dealers can carry, transport, or ship or cause to be carried, transported, or shipped any minnows for the purpose of sale beyond the boundaries of the state which are bred, hatched, propagated, or raised on a licensed aquaculture unit.

For more information about bait dealer's licenses, see Iowa Code 481A.144 and 481A.145.

• Iowa Resident - $30.50
• Nonresident - $125.00

Licensed bait dealers may use:

• a minnow seine up to 50 feet in length, with mesh size larger than 1/4 inch bar
• a minnow dip net up to 4 feet in diameter, with mesh larger than 1/4 inch bar
• a minnow trap up to 36 inches in length (each trap must have a metal tag with owner's name and address)

Licensed bait dealers can sell minnows, frogs, crayfish, salamanders and mussels for fish bait. They cannot sell:

• live gizzard shad
• carp
• quillback
• gar
• dogfish

Bait dealers' tanks and bait boxes must be of sufficient size and have proper aeration to keep the bait alive and prevent substantial loss.

Bait dealers can take only the size of bait you can use and must return all small minnows and frogs to the water immediately. They must be present when their bait is taken.

You may take bait (except endangered or threatened species listed under Iowa Code 481B and Iowa Administrative Code 571 -77.2) from the lakes and streams in the state that have not been closed to the taking of bait.

Minnow and bait boxes and tanks shall be open to DNR inspection at all times.