limits in Minnesota

[Wallace]

Hi, I'm 15 years old and am doing a report on the bag limits on minnesota, many of us know this is a hot topic right now. If I could get feed back on what we think should be done.
WALLEYE-6- ONE OVER 24 INCHES LONG
NORTHERN-3, WITH ONLY ONE OVER 30 INCHES LONG
CRAPPIE-15
SUNFISH-30
PERCH-20

Also Do you think we need regulation on the crappies caught on Red lake, to keep it a Crappie lake compared to the ones down south like lake Fork and medicine?

Does the Dnr use it's money wisely and for a decent cause?

What are the biggest problems you see as a fisherman with other anglers or with the dnr?

[800proX]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-20-01 AT 08:53AM (CST)[p]well wallace i will be the first to be blasted.

walleyes - all lakes in my opinion should be 6 fish with one over 25". why not make ALL MN lakes a trophy lake??
northern - 2 fish with a slot of 35"- 40" protected with one of the 2 over 40"
crappies, sunnies, perch are as you mentioned.

ok, Red Lake will not be a crappie lake no matter what once the walleye reemerge in that lake, and the DNR has already stated as such. there is no way of stopping them from either being caught out, or pushed out by their toothy colleagues. so my answer is 'no' keep fishing since it won't last forever. BTW - it was published in either Outdoors Weekly or Outdoor News a couple of issues ago.

I wont even go into if the DNR uses it $$$ for a decent cause, and by not answering i will bet you get my feel on the subject.

biggest problems? communication without a doubt. we as a whole are somewhat divided, as can be seen here with all the bashing. this is not to say we all have to agree, but it sure should be safe to say that we can agree to disagree without all the name calling etc... if we came together as a more cohesive group we could accomplish a whole lot more, the DNR would be forced to listen to us, and overall i believe things would start turning for the better. no one knows more about hunting/fishing than sportspersons and the DNR. if we always allow them to throw their textbooks and college degrees at us, then we are caving into a form of dictatorship. they are not bad people, but they also have not had a united front stand in front of them without willing to budge. JMO as always.

jeff

[Hans]

Walleye: I'd like to see a daily limit of 3, possession limit of 6, with a slot from 16" to 20", and one over 26" allowed in possession.

Northern: Limit of 3, protected slot from 24" to 36", one over 36" allowed.

Crappie: As exists, except only one over 12" allowed.

Sunfish: As exists, except only one over 9" allowed.

Perch(bait stealers): ;-) Reclassify as rough fish. ;-)

> Does the DNR use it's money wisely and for a decent
> cause?

I can't make an intelligent comment, since the scope of the DNR responsibility extends to many areas beyond fishing and hunting where I have no familiarity. It is my impression that they have far more responsibility than they have funding. I'd like to see more conservation officers than I see -- they are spread far too thin. I'd like to see more involvement by other stakeholders (resorts, other businesses which benefit from tourism, sportmens/hikers/sledders-groups, etc.) in funding and "sweat equity" in conservation and other projects.

> What are the biggest problems you see as a fisherman with
> other anglers or with the DNR?

Most anglers seem to be a decent bunch to me. I have a kind of "thing" about meat-fishing, but as long as it's legal to keep "x-number" of fish then they're just as entitled as I am. The main problem I see with the DNR is they need more funding, and the last couple of commissioners have been pretty poor choices (in my opinion).

Hans

[curt quesnell]

hi walleye eh i mean wallace...

6 walleye....one over 24
3 northerns with one over 30(actually 40, the slot on lake of the woods i would prefer...)
crappie 15
sunfish 15
perch 20
#2
the crappies on red lake are a blessing caused by a disaster
when the lake returns to what it was, there will not be room
for crappies like there are now. there will, still be crappies
in red lake, and the savvy crappie fishermen and women will
have found a wonderful new place to catch BIG crappies. but
the numbers of crappie fisherpeople will die off as this huge
school is depleted.

a "crappie" lake is a worthy idea, and red lake seems to be a spot crappies can thrive in but the walleyes will take it back
sooner or later.
#3
people love to complain about government and, the dnr. i think
the minnesota dnr does fine. it does not deserve the bumb rap
it gets in most cases. i dont know if the money it gets is
used wisely, i do know that they operate on a budget and all
of the spending must be approved by someone somewhere, so i
dont think they are running amuck with wild, wasteful spending.

#4
mostly, there is no problem with the dnr and fishermen and
women. a very small percentage of anglers who are very mis-informed make very loud noises with very confident voices.

like almost everything else, the people who get involved in
a positive way reap positive results. the negatives will
probably stay negative.


curt quesnell

[RS]

Hi Wallace,
Great topic to do a report on. I guess I am in to the "slot" thing also.
Walleyes-6 limit,between 15"-20", 1 over 27".
Northern Pike- I also like the LOW's idea. 3 limit, 1 over 40", and zero between 30" and 40".
Crappies- 15 with only 3 over 12".
Sunfish- 15
Perch-20
Hey, how about inland trout?? It currently is a 5 fish limit with no more than 3 over 16". Keep it at 5, but only 1 over 18".
Red Lake???...I wish it could stay the way it is for ever, but we all know that is not going to happen. As long as the "nets" stay out this will always be a wonderful fishery for more than a couple of species of fish.
The "DNR"? In my eyes they try to do the best they can with what they have. I'm all for more conservation officers.
I did appreciate the fact that they have held state wide public input meetings on potential limit changes. They could of just went ahead and made changes on their own, I did attend one also.
They sure did earn their pay at that one, they fielded all sorts of hot questions. I thought they did a great job at fielding all questions they could and I thought they were very educational.

Wallace, in my opinion we (outdoors people) all should continue to help the DNR in managing our resources, whether it be in practicing(and preaching) catch and release, or using the TIP hotline to turn in someone who is breaking the law. We should be are own conservationists. There is nothing I like more than a mess of fried crappies, walleyes, or a baked trout, but in today's age we need to help our own cause!!
Let us know how you did on your report( hey, how about posting it when your done with it?). Good Luck!!

RS

[outstater]

Because of MN. rules and regs.(one line-slot limits)I am thinking of going to No. Dakota fishing. Its fine to have regs. but some of these are too much.

[hungry jack]

i think that if we instated a 15-20 slot and one over 28 that we would see a lot better walleye fishing state wide! as for the northerns who eats northerns? panfish should be left alone and perch should have had a lower limit put on a long time ago!

[Backwater Eddy]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-21-01 AT 08:23AM (CST)[p]Wallace there are also special conservation seasons with reduced creel limits on border waters, such as the Red River & the Boise de Sioux.

The Spring Conservation Season in a nutshell is 2 walleye/sauger under 18" and one over 28" (A trophy opportunity but C&R is strongly encouraged and the bulk of anglers do).

The Pike limit is all pike over 27" must be released but the daily creel is the same as the rest of the year in the state you are licensed in, ND or MN.

The conservation season is in effect from March 1st to the first Saturday in May.

(Interesting data)- The 2000 ND G&F creel survey revealed that less than 7% of the total seasonal harvest was during the conservation season on the Red River. The fears of over harvest appear to be unwarranted at this time. Anglers as a whole are eager to fallow selective harvest guidelines to protect the future of the fishery.


Good luck on the report!

Backwater Eddy

[Wallace]

Thanks for answering this now lets try another one
Should spearing be allowed in Mn for northern pike
It's proven that all the big Northerns are caught by line lets have some opinions on this one

[cisco]

Wallace --
In addition to general statewide limits, about which you asked above, don't forget the importance of individual lake management. For example, in central Minnesota there are several lakes with too many so-called "hammer head" northerns. In such lakes, INCREASE the limit on smaller northerns (over 26" are rare, anyway) and adjust the biomass by getting small predators out of the lake. And, don't let anyone tell you northerns are not good eating. Baked, deep fried, broiled, or pickled, they are delicious is prepared properly.

One your next item, I'll expose myself to the flack attack -- There is no reason for a spearing season in Minnesota. It's long past time that we reversed that regulation.

Leave spearing as part of the Treaty issue.

Good luck on your project. It's great young adults have an interest in these matters.