trolling motors on wmas?

[broken_line]

this spring i seen the minnow men drving around witha gas powered jon boat but the sign says no motorized vehicles does that mean in the water to?? the sloughs i mainly hunt are 2 feet of water and 3 feet of mud.. so a trolling motor would be nice

[Quackaddict9]

I think most WMA or all do not allow any motor/trolling motors on the water. I could be wrong though, I'll have to check on that.

wait til the waterfowl regulation book comes out to be sure. There'll be very few changes for sure but not sure on what yet though.

[HunterLee]

No motors mean no nothing. Paddles or likewise only.

[icefishing21#2]

not having trolling motor is a stupid rule.... what does a troling motor even do to a lake ?????

[dan z]

normally these types of lakes are rest stops or refuge so the no motor thing is a great idea...

[candiru]

Are there legal issues involved with trapping minnows on a WMA?

[BoxMN]

FWIW, we used to (still do occassionally, but not much at all) hunt a lake in WC MN, small farm lake. There were 6 groups of guys hunting it, and not crowding at all. Everybody got shooting and didn't mess each other up.

For years (like 50...) there was a gentlemen's agreement NOT to use motors on the lake. We also never hunted it past about 11 am. We let the ducks sit back down and rest. And boy did they build!

Well, a farmer sells land to some people/hunters from nearby town. No prob, I just wish we could have bought it... oh well. But they put out docks, started using motors, even waterskiing on it in summer. and Three / four boats with motors in fall. They had right to do it, but it sure got to be bad hunting after that. Ducks never had a chance to raft up, as they hunted all day, ran the boats after cripples, etc. Nothing illegal. But the lake went downhill hunting wise.

That is just my little story, but reinforces what I like about the no motor rule on WMAs. If you don't have the desire to row for a little ways, or have a strong young hunter to row you then, oh well. At least the motor won't chase off ducks for others.

Good luck.

[Duffman]

Is it a law that's just in play DURING the duck season? I seem to remember that if we wanted to, we could trolling motor out to the blind on opening morning on a WMA, but once the season opened we would have to paddle back to the access.

[HunterLee]

just looked at the regs, and you would have been in violation, unless you were on some of the exceptions, but even then its only legal during hunting season.

[KG243]

No motors what so ever, it has to do with tearing up vegitation that the are managing hence the WMA. That is the answer I got from a DNR employee when I asked about using a trolling motor. Makes sense!

[broken_line]

there better not be laws on trapping minners in wmas or im outa bait sources..