What do you do?

[Rippinlip]

I know in the regulations it says you are not suppose to transport any water from lake to lake. Suppose to drain all live wells, bait wells, etc.
On opener I like to make a trip to a couple of different lakes. Do I have to rid myself of all the bait I have in the boat(leeches, shiners, fatheads,etc.) To me this could get real expensive.
How do you all deal with this delima.
What about fish in the livewell, most public launch ramps here in the southern part of the state do not have cleaning houses at them.

[Giant_Jackpot]

I suppose if you keep the minnows in the water that you got at the bait shop you would be OK. Of course you would have to keep the water cool with ice and/or use an aerator. As far as cleaning the fish, a canoe paddle works great as a cleaning board. Don't forget some garbage bags to keep the guts in.

[SpringerGuy]

You need to drain your livewells and baitwells. Put your live bait in a bait bucket or cooler with bait shop water in it. I don't think icing or aeration would be needed. In May it will be cool enough. If you are using shiners though just make sure that you keep a "eye" on them and keep fresh water on them as necessary. As for any caught fish that you may have, just throw them in a cooler full of ice till you get home and clean them there.

The reason for all of this, is to not transport any exotic plants and aquatic life. Zebs, purple loosestriff, curly pond weed, milfoil, & a bunch more are moved around by just a small portion of the plant floating in water. Transfer water from a lake with milfoil to a lake that doesn't & you get the picture.

The DNR is not trying to make things difficult for you, just trying to protect our resources. Once a lake gets a exotic in it, it's there to stay.

PoleBender

[guideman]

With the cold weather a 5 gallon bucket
full of water will keep your minnows alive for days. Just ask the bait shop to fill it for you and your good to go.
Walleyes will keep for several days in a cooler full of ice, so just take them home with you.
These regulations are important to the welfare of our fishery, keep the exotic
plants and animals out of our lakes and
rivers.

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Terry "Ace" Sjoberg
Ace guide service.
aceguideservice.com
218-753-2612
[email protected]

[garytheguide]

Just to add,you are not suppose to transport any game fishin your livewell, once it is trailered up, but its funny because when they check at launches like millelacs and places like the rainy river you can show them your fish in there and they dont say anything....but it is another law to be aware of...the laws about weeds and such are good ones...I know we sure dont want eurasian milfoil or any other foriegn weed in our lakes up here...good luck and may spring come back!

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garysguideservice
garytheguide.com
[email protected]
Phone: 218-744-3158

[lakevet]

Ditto the fish on ice. If you gut and gill them as soon as possible and put them on ice they taste better. Guts & gills go into a plastic bag. As a friend says, "do you wait til you get your deer home to gut it?"

lakevet

[Guest]

If you are going from one lake to another, and you use some type of flow-through bucket you put in the lake or onboard baitwell filled with lake water for your leeches, minnows, etc. you do need to drain any lake water from your boat.

The thing to do is (as already been said) is to use the bait shop water in an insulated bucket or a larger 5 gal bucket. How to keep minnows alive? The perfect solution is an Oxygenator by Aqua Innovations. They will keep your minnows alive an kickin' all week for opener. No need for lake water in the boat, except for the livewell full of 'eyes!

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com