trout seasons

[smellzalilfishee]

just wondering what people thought of the idea of having stream trout regs like they do in iowa?? If your not familiar they have a year round season with many c&r areas. i think with good management it would work. i would love to pull the flyrod out in december on a nice 35 degree day.. what are your thoughts??

[redhooks]

We do have some streams in SE MN w/ special C&R winter regulations and some of my friends have done well in the past. I think Iowa has a lot of put and take style trout fishing because the DNR announces when and where they are stocking fish and I've heard that everybody lines up and waits for the truck to pull up and start dumping fish, this isn't very appealing to me. There is also some stream fishing on the northshore for kamloops but it usually gets better towards spring. There is a list of streams w/ special winter regulations in the 2003 regs book so the opportunities exist for those who try. Good luck and tight lines.
redhooks

[This message has been edited by redhooks (edited 02-05-2003).]

[Renneberg]

I have had great fishing in the winter during the C&R season. It's fun and very different from summer fishing.
I don't think minnesota should have a year around season. Many of the trout streams have some natural reproduction in them, and the last thing they need is a careless angler walking on the eggs. It also gives some highly pressured streams a much need brake, and it gives stocked trout time to adjust to stream life, which in turn makes them harder to catch and gives them a better chance to grow big.

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Study to be quite

[smellzalilfishee]

points well taken renneberg.. one question though....... what is study to be quite????

[smellzalilfishee]

also renneberg while i tend to agree with you i think many other problems exist on trout streams in mn. first we need to start putting large trout back. to many times have i seen some one with a 20 plus trout in the creel. do they have any idea how long it takes to replace a fish of that size here??? and to me that is no trophy trout 26 plus than maybe. and single hooks. no trebles!!!! the damage done to an average fish with 4 hooks in his gill, back etc can not be reversed.. and release.. we need better education on this matter, trout cannot handle being out of the water for 3 minutes while pictures are taken or what ever is going on. i prefer not to even handle most trout. simply grab the fly jig or whatever. just because they swim away does not mean they live!!! so to me these types of matters contribute to the decline of healthy stream fisheries than having a more liberal season..

[JAYSUPNORTH]

bait fishing in trout streams i think does the most damage. they should make all trout rivers artifical lures only.grab a fly rod thats what these streams are for.die plunkers die.

[Renneberg]

Smellzalilfishee, "Study to be quite" is a quote from a book called The Complete Angler. It's a book about trout fishing and life. It's second on the list of most published books of all time( the Bible is #1 ). If your a die hard fly fisherman you may not want to read this one, because he talks about keeping trout and tipping his flys with a little bit of worm.
Being quite is something many anglers really need to learn or study. I can't tell you how many times I've heard anglers well before I seen them.

I agree with you that more anglers need to release more of their big ones. I would also agree with you that trebles can beat up a small trout bad, but the bigger the trout is the less damage the trebles seem to do to the trout. It's not as easy as putting on a bigger lure to keep the little ones off either.

A few year ago a study was done to find out just how many trout die after being caught and released. It showed that no matter how you fish for trout, fly fish or spin, about 1 out of 10 of every trout caught died. The main reason for the death of the trout is not because of damage done by hooks or poor handling, but because the angler fought the fish to the point it couldn't recover.

Jaysupnorth, I'd have to disagree with you about live bait. Why not make it so that if your going to fish for trout with live bait you have to be using a circle hook? The use of circle hooks will not cure the gut hooking problem 100%, but it will reduce it alot and that would mean more trout released.

Just my two cents.

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Study to be quite

[smellzalilfishee]

thank you for the clarification Renneberg your points are once again well taken. study to be quite may be something for me to look in to. thank you for educating me on this matter it is something i will research. i am very passionate about, trout that is, and maybe a lengthened season is not the answer, maybe it is just the winter blues.. very nice talking to you renneberg one last thing i am familiar with the " THE COMPLETE ANGLER" and i will look for that thank you

[Steve Foss]

smellzalilfishee:

Hey guys, great book.

"The Compleat Angler," written by an Englishman named Izaak Walton and first published there in1653, is full of wisdom about life in general and fishing in particular, if a guy with the handle "catfish" can comment about a trout writer.

It's available in paperback at Barnes and Noble and B Daltons stores for under $10. That's where I got mine. It's not all that easy to get through, since he uses language and the literary traditions of the 1600s, but it is very much worth the time.

A warm fire in the winter, a cold beer and "The Compleat Angler" have made for some nice evenings.

Good reading.

And good fishing.

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"I've driven farther before to catch fewer fish . . ."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 02-08-2003).]

[JAYSUPNORTH]

hey renneberg the problem with circle hooks is that the baitfisherman (plunkers) keep every thing they catch any way so i guess it doesnt matter.how many catch and release bait fisherman do you know?

[Renneberg]

Jaysupnorth, while it is true that bait fisherman do keep alot of trout, they do release alot of them too. I like many of the trout anglers who read this board have and sometimes still do fish for trout with live bait. I personally have released many of the trout that I have caught on live bait, because I know sooner or later I'm going to hook one in the guts, and there would be no point in throwing them back.
I think that the current regs. ( 5 trout per day ) is to many on many SE Minnesota trout streams. Exspecially on streams that can grow trophy trout, ( 20 inches or better ) if given a chance.
Everyone ask what kind of regs. should we have to improve our trout streams in SE Minnesota. I think the answer is simple and all we need to do is look to our neighbors to the east. The stream in southwestern Wisconsin are about the exact same as SE Minnesota. Their streams grow more and bigger trout then we do. What's the differents? Wisconsin has five different regs. for its trout streams. Each stream and in some cases sections of a stream, is shown as a different color in their trout streams book. Each color stands for different regulations.
Wisconsins DNR knows that not every trout stream is the same and needs to be managed differently from others to produce the best results. Even if they are only seperated by a few miles. Minnesotas DNR knows this to that not every trout stream is the same, but continues to manage them like they are. As soon as the Minnesota DNR stops managing all of Minnesotas trout streams as one trout stream, the sooner the fishing will improve state wide.

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Study to be quite

[smellzalilfishee]

i think it basically comes down to regulations. to many large trout are harvested in this state, and i tend to agree with jaysupnorth. bait fisherman are more prone to take more and larger fish, or at least that has been my expierince. we will never have what i consider a trophy trout stream in this state until sections of river are catch and release year around. twelve inch doinks get boring after a while. would it not be awesome to average 16 inch fish with 20 inch plus common. it is possible! well thats just my two cents..

[smellzalilfishee]

oh ya thanks for the info stfcatfish

[Renneberg]

Smellzalilfishee, I personally know of two trout streams where 16 inches is fairly average and 20 plus is common. One is located in wisconsin and the other is in Minnesota. The one in Minnesota has the biggest average I know of in the midwest. 20 to 30 inchers are common on this stream.

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Study to be quite

[Renneberg]

Smellzalilfishee and Jaysupnorth, I have a question for the both of you.

Do you fish for trophy size trout or do you just fish for any size trout?
When I say trophy I mean 20 inches or better.

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Study to be quite

[smellzalilfishee]

renneberg as for me i like to fish for all trout but the bigger the better. as for your last response i'm going to call you on that one. there is a stream 12 miles away from me where there are many large 20 inch plus trout and i have fished a river in wisconsin for twenty years that also has large 20 inch plus fish and a few 30 inch fish have been taken over the years. i also lived in the rockies for 10 years fishing the GREEN and FRYING PAN not to mention many others. these rivers cannot even be compared with mn and wi rivers and streams, and these rivers cannot even say 30 INCHERS are common. not even the streams of say new zealand can say that. so choose your words carefully because to say 30 inchers are COMMON is only a pipe dream that most of us wish for. or maybe your definition of COMMON is different than mine.

[Renneberg]

Well maybe not a lot of 30 inchers, but plenty of them pushing 30 inches. I happened to talk to someone that help shock trout in this stream. He said they shocked two over 30 inches in one section of the river. They also shocked many in the 20's.
I also talked to the areas best taxadermist(sp?). He told me that he mounts lots of browns from this river in the mid to upper 20's and every now and then one over 30.

It's funny you say that out west they don't produce to many big trout in the upper 20's or 30's. I just seen a show over the weekend where two guys and their guide talked about how old the trout were that they were catching, and why they didn't catch many trout in the 20's. The guide said that a 16-18 inch trout in that river, was about two years old, and that the trout in that river lived as long as 9 years. He then told them that the main reason that they don't catch many trout over 20 inches is because once the trout get in the 20's ( exspecially the browns ) they stop feeding on bugs and feed more on the whitefish, other trout and other bait fish that live in the river. One whitefish or trout would last that big trout a week or more.

Same holds true right here in the midwest. Big Browns feed almost intirely at night and a huge percentage of their diet is made up of suckers, creek chubs and other trout.

The main reason that many people don't catch these BIG trout is because
1. They are either fishing in the wrong area of a stream
2. Wrong time of day
3. They are fishing a bait that doesn't appeal to a BIG trout
4. Not fishing a river that produces big trout ( not all river are created equal )
5. All of the above

The few people that do catch these big trout often, know where, when, what streams and what baits to use in order to put the odds in their favor. When all four are done right, it's only a matter of time before they start catching those big boys.

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Study to be quite

[JAYSUPNORTH]

theres no doubt that big browns feed at night.I only fish at night for trout this way the river is all mine. im usually pulling in when most people are leaving.it sounds like we all have caught nice browns (thank god)but to call a 20-30 inch trout common is like saying a 30 inch walleye is common or a 50 inch muskie is common.there is a river in mn 10 miles south of rosemount with trophy trout you probably know of it ive seen many in the 20-26 inch class but its a tough one to fish with a fly rod very narrow and fast running and not a pretty river at all.I like limestone streams with clear water and big rock cliffs above me.I'd rather catch a 20 incher on my fly rod in a stream. than a 26 incher on a worm with a spin rod I get way more out of it.I also know a taxidermist and he says that he's always interested in seeing inside a big browns stomach.because they have the oddest diet for a fish he knows moles,mice, fish half there size etc. goodluck jaysupnorth

[Renneberg]

When I say common I mean that you catch one brown over 20 inches every 3rd or four trip to the river. I don't mean you catch one everytime you go out in every hole. I see one over 20 inches every other trip on average.

I think the best I have ever done for trophies in one day was one just over 22 inches, then I seen three others well over 20.

Jaysupnorth, I love to fish early morning and late into the night. By the time I'm done fishing in the morning and get back to the car most anglers I see are just getting their stuff on. If they only know what they were missing.

Last year I caught two browns in the upper teens, that had american lamprey in their mouths. That was a weirdest thing I think I've ever seen in a fishes mouth.

Best of luck to you two this year. I hope you both catch enofe BIG trout to keep you happy.

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Study to be quite

[smellzalilfishee]

yes may the biggies bite for us all!!!!

[smellzalilfishee]

also one note. this is one region where fishing at nite is so much more productive for big hungry browns. not true in other regions though. sure big browns probably bite at nite there but because of the nature of the river(i'm talking about out west) it would probably turn in to a suicide mission. the force of the river mountain lions and other things. plus the fishing is great during the day and you are ready to relax by nite time. while i love nite fishing i get more enjoyment out of being able to see my surrondings and watching the fight of the fish..

[DARK30]

Remember that the hours for fishing Stream Trout on inland waters are one hour before sunrise till 11 pm. (page 20)

It is true the big ones feed after dark and eat larger bait. I do well with Rapalas and plastics. My largest fish was a 24" Brown out of the Root River. Without good management, that size fish is almost a dream for most of us. I like what Iowa has done with the French River...All Browns must be released..period.

WET NETS!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[DARK30]

Yes, It can get a little creepy at night when your way back in there by yourself! Nothing can get you right?...But still, that tingle can crawl right up your spine and into the back of your neck. I've heard some pretty weird noises over the years and I've got one friend who won't get caught back in the woods after dark again....said he heard some kind of creature growling up in the bluffs one night.

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[Renneberg]

Dark30, I've fished into the night a couple of time last year. I had great luck fishing at night, but it's hard to get use to the noises you hear at night. To make matters worse try doing it by yourself for the first couple of times. One or two hours into the night is enofe for me.

Smellzalilfishee, just imagian how big those browns get out west and how much fun it would be to catch one at night, but like you said before you'd have to be almost insane to fish at night on those rivers.
I'd bet that if you did a little checking you could find places that you could fish at night and be somewhat safe.

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Study to be quite

[JAYSUPNORTH]

it does get a little freaky at night, the thing that gets me is them darn bats. my favorite stream is full of them at night buzzin by your head all night ive even caught them on my fly rod not fun.