Big Change in Sturgeon Regs for Ontario and Rainy River

[Tim_Anderson]

Just a heads-up to all of you who enjoy fishing the Rainy River in the spring for Lake Sturgeon. Ontario had a big change in their regs that very few people are aware of.

Back in October of 2009, it seems the big wigs behind the desks out east reviewed the status of the Lake Sturgeon, and decided from there that they are endangered and or threatened. Thus they made it illegal to harass them, target them, catch them, etc.

The season is permanently closed on the Ontario side of the river.

Of course we who have fished it know this is not the case. In the past dozen years or so, I have seen numbers of sturgeon go WAY up, as has the size, and the overall representation of year classes. All of my friends and associates report the same findings.

And the Minnesota DNR has the same opinion as we do. They seem to be scoffing at what Ontario is doing, and told my friend Matt over the phone today that Minnesota has no intentions of following suit with what Ontario did. In fact, Ontario has not even contacted Minnesota about their plans. The good thing is, it sounds like we will be able to fish the Minnesota side for a good many years to come.

But say goodbye to your "north side of the river" sturgeon holes. Get caught fishing them, and you will be raked over the coals just as if you were fishing Canada without a license or without a RABC permit.

Again, very few people know about this. When my fishing partner Matt called up there to verify with the powers that be in Canada, he told Matt that he was the first one he had heard from about the issue. Makes me wonder if they are planning to cash in on us this spring or what? It does sound like they are going to be stepping up enforcement on the north side though... that much is for sure.

One can only speculate about the enforcement nightmare that may be ahead. We will have to be careful about targeting sturgeon and "hugging the line". Obviously, we will be catching and snagging sturgeon with our walleye gear even when we're not targeting sturgies. It just happens when you get into a good concentration of them - especially if you tend to let your jig drag or hover a little too much. Anyway, one can only imagine that this is going to attract some attention. Where are they going to draw the line?

It does sound like things will remain the same as far as walleye fishing on the Ontario side goes.

Anyway... I just wanted to let everyone know so that they can plan accordingly and not have any ugly surprises up there. Spring fishing on the Rainy is a fun, community like free-for-all that I have always enjoyed. Lets not let them spoil our fun.

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