Pro Lugs Fair Fish With Wit, Nets And Muscle

[Flattieman]

BY ERIN CRAWFORD

REGISTER STAFF WRITER

August 13, 2006

From desmoinesregister.com

Fish cowboys of the State Fair plains: Ever wonder how all those huge fish make it into the aquariums at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources building?

Meet Mike Mason, DNR fish wrangler (fine, he's the supervisor of fisheries), a man who can wrestle a grown catfish to the ground in five seconds flat.

He's done this for about 25 years.

The 150 fish that fill the tanks come by truck from fisheries around the state.

It's a sweet life for the biggest fish in the tank, who live happily in the fisheries the rest of the year and get this celebrity outing every August.

Mike and his team move them from truck to tank five or six at a time in nets, a tough task considering some fish are nearly bigger than the holes in the top of the tanks.

"And once they're in, they don't all like to stay in. A few have tried to jump out the top, so beanbags now are placed on the aquarium lids.

"The biggest problem is the flathead catfish," Mason said. "We use pieces of pipe to get them to hide so they won't bite the other fish.

"And if we lose power, we have to drop in liquid oxygen to keep the fish happy."

The fish don't eat during the fair - water is kept cold enough to curb their appetites (unlike fairgoers, who can down whole tenderloins no matter the weather).

But it's bad news for the little fish. Once the fair is over, they're all moved back to the fisheries again, and the big fish get hungry.

Moving them out, by the way, is even more difficult than moving them in.

"Sometimes we have to get them in burlap bags and wrestle them up," Mason said.

So say an extra nice hello to the minnows, now in their last days of life."

Flattieman.

Edited August 14, 2006 by Flattieman

[insolent]

Hi Flattieman

Thanks for posting all the articles over the last few days, they have been excellent to read and provide relief during work.

Cheers

Chris

[Flattieman]

Hi Flattieman

Thanks for posting all the articles over the last few days, they have been excellent to read and provide relief during work.

Cheers

Chris

My pleasure, Chris. I knew that some Raiders like a good read. I might turn the best stories into a weekly post, though - I don't want to flood "Fishing Chat" or "Fisheries News and Politics" with too many posts!

Flattieman.