The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is partnering for a second year with MyCatch by Angler’s Atlas to conduct a statewide walleye fishing challenge starting May 1 through June 30. The Iowa Chapter of the American Fisheries Society has joined as a research partner for the 2023 challenge.
Anglers will have the chance to win weekly prizes while also contributing to fisheries research, helping improve walleye fishing in the state.
The Iowa Walleye Challenge uses the MyCatch mobile app to record the length of a fish. Participating anglers take a picture of the fish on a measuring device using the app. Once the fish is reviewed by the catch team and meets the rules, it automatically appears on a live leaderboard where anglers can see who is in the lead to win prizes.
Participating anglers are encouraged to report all the walleye they catch in May and June through the MyCatch mobile app. The mobile app maintains anonymous location data, so angler’s secret sports stay secret. DNR fisheries biologists will use the generalized lake and river catch data entered to assess and manage walleye populations across Iowa.
“Results from year one were very promising,” said Jeff Kopaska, DNR fisheries research biometrician. “Iowa anglers can expand the data available, simply by reporting their walleye catches.”
Anglers can register for the Iowa Walleye Challenge at https://www.anglersatlas.com/event/680/2023-iowa-walleye-challenge-2023. There is a $25 fee to enter the tournament.