Winter 20/21 Mille Lacs Walleye Regs

 

I caught quite a few in the 21-23" slot this Fall, so they are out there. I plan on giving it a try in open water off of the Jetty on Tuesday and Wednesday.

What I Really Want To Know Is...

Dennis Anderson wrote a column for today's Star Tribune on the early catch and release bass season.  You can tell Dennis is not a dedicated bass fishermen by his closing question;  "If bass won’t be hurt by an early two-week catch-and-release season, could they also sustain a two-week harvest season at that time, which would mean opening bass fishing each year in Minnesota with the northern pike and walleye seasons?"

I know of very few bass fishermen that would have asked that as a closing question.  We don't want bass season opened up to catch and keep with the walleye and pike.  The thought of limit's of bass going home with meat fishermen out for panfish, walleye, and pike is enough to make some of us want to toss our cookies (and maybe a few bricks) in Dennis Anderson's general direction.    

What I really want to know is why it is ever illegal in MN to fish for bass with catch and immediate release?  If your unfamiliar with MN fishing regulations than you might not know that bass have three season; closed to all fishing, immediate catch and release, and open to be kept.  That is right, in MN there is a season in which we are forbidden by law from intentionally attempting to catch bass so we can immediately release them.  Michigan was once like MN is now, with the three seasons.  They experimented with an immediate catch and release season and just this year passed a law making the closed season always open to catch and immediate release fishing (CIR).   My hope is that in a year or two we will follow Michigan's lead and no longer make catch and release fishing for bass illegal for part of the year. Immediate catch and release fishing for bass should always be legal, except in waters with a smallmouth bass population that needs protection.

Mille Lacs Regs This Year

DNR Officially Announces Bass Catch & Release Season for 2015

Yes, I have known about this for some time, but the official announcement was made today

From today's DNR press release:

Why Close The Pike Season in MN North-Central Region?

An additional thought I had with the proposed changed to Northern Pike regulations in MN.  If the goal is harvesting more small pike, which clearly is the case in the north-central region, than why should pike season be closed in North-Central Region?

Wishful thinking on my part?  It wasn't even an option they considered.

Mille Lacs Smallmouth Regulation Changes

From today's DNR press release:

Similarly, the smallmouth bass harvest season will be extended and limits relaxed. The smallmouth bass season on Mille Lacs will start May 10 and be exempted from the statewide catch-and-release regulation that begins in mid-September. This means anglers may harvest smallmouth bass from the opener until the last Sunday in February. Anglers may keep six fish, only one of which may be longer than 18 inches. The previous regulation allowed anglers to keep six fish 17- to 20-inches, only one of which could be longer than 20 inches.

I am totally OK with the changes.  We will just have to see whether or not I will be able to take advantage of the early start to the season.  It's been a couple of years since I caught a smallie from Mille Lacs and I haven't had the Trophy out there in at least 5 years.  The one thing that I don't care for is the fact that we can't be on the water until 6AM except for on the Opener weekend. I feel they should have made the start time 5AM. The night ban is in effect until December, so there will be no night fishing allowed on the lake this year other than on Opener weekend.

I feel bad for the Muskie guys.

Mille Lacs Smallmouth Regulations Changed

This fish would now be a keeper.  Smallmouth 17 to 20 inches are protected.  They have a 6 fish limit just like the rest of the state.  You can now keep 1 over 20".

In my experience most of the smallmouth I catch in Mille Lacs are in the protected slot, but obviously there are a bunch of fish in the lake that are now open to harvest.  The previous slot only allowing 1 fish over 21", made it pretty much a catch and release lake.

It will be interesting to see if things change much or not.

Minnesota's New Fishing Regulations 2009

I was over at the FishWrench.com forums and there was a thread reminding us Minnesocoldians to pick up our new fishing licenses. I was under the impression that a MN fishing license is good through the end of April. I went and looked it up and I was right. It is a little bit confusing because on the 2008 fishing license it says: "Expires Feb. 28, 2009" but right under that it indicates that the license is good from 3/1/2008 to 4/30/2009 which is the correct info.

Anyway looking into this got me checking on the Minnesota Fishing 2009 Regulations booklet online. Always of interest is the new stuff.

This year MN state residents can buy what is called a Conservation License for $11 which restricts the holder to half the normal State daily/possession/bag limits. In the case of odd numbers you round down, so Muskie which have a limit of 1 cannot be kept by someone with a Conservation License; Northern Pike which have a normal limit of 3 means a Conservation License holder can only keep 1 and so on. To be honest I don't see the point in this one with the regular license being just $6 more plus in some lakes selective harvest where you keep the normal bag limit is the best conservation move. "Catch and Release" is not always the best conservation measure.

Another new thing this year is the Walleye Stamp for $5. Unlike the Trout & Salmon Stamp, which you must have to possess and sometimes even fish for Trout & Salmon, there is no legal requirement with which you have to have the stamp in order to fish. The Walleye Stamp is 100% voluntary and you may fish and keep walleye anywhere in the fish's open season without the stamp. I think I will put in a donation for this stamp because I do fish for Eye's on occasion.

I want to know when they will be coming out with the Smallmouth Bass Stamp. I think this state could use some smallie stocking. It sure would be nice if more lakes had smallmouth in them.

New Fish Gifting Regulation:

"Lawfully taken fish may be transferred as a gift if accompanied by a receipt containing: Name and address of the owner, name and address of the recipient, date of transfer, description of the gift, and license number under which the fish was taken. The recipient cannot Possess more than the statewide possession limit."

I think this regulation will be significantly ignored. Why does fishing need worthless paperwork? If someone were to get pinched for not doing the paperwork it would be a total injustice. What business does the state have in regulating a gesture of kindness? This is a regulation begging for civil disobedience.

I see that my home lakes West & East Sylvia have been newly put on the infested with Eurasian watermilfoil list. Who knows maybe the milfoil will turn those lakes into trophy bass lakes some day. Also they didn't put any slots on the bass, panfish, or wallere which had been rumored, but they did put a new protected slot of 24-36" on pike.

"You cannot practice catch-and-release for a species during it's closed season."
This one is a guideline and not a regulation, at least I don't think it is a regulation. If it is a regulation then what are we supposed to do with a fish on the line out of season? You can't keep it and you can't catch and release it??? Are we supposed to not land the fish and cut the line?