2 line fishing bill?

[goose89]

I guess I would be for using 2 lines for trolling and fishing catfish.

Yes, I can catch fish with one line. It would be nice to use 2 lines trolling with cranks to see what the fish might prefer that day. It also would be nice to use 2 lines for fishing flatheads to fish 2 different types of structure at the same time to see where the fish are located. I realease all my catfish so I would not do the fishery any harm or at a minimim very little.

I already have an automatic shotgun so there is no need for a belt fed gun for bird hunting.

Never thought I was a hillbilly but by your thoughts, maybe I am and I am fine with that.

I have no issues with 2 sides to every discussion but I doubt you have to call those who disagree with you a hillbilly.

I guess I should get back to checking my new batch of shine now.

I'm with you Harvey Lee, 100%. (except the catfish part, . (You're name even has a hillbilly ring to it). Ufatz, good humor, but you missed the reasons for wanting two lines completely, at least mine. Few or us want to get their limit in 1/2 the time(ya right, catch our limit), or even increase his daily harvest one bit.

Very few, IMO, in favor of 2 lines, support it b/c of increased harvest potentials (belt-fed shoguns and shototing over corn piles). You can go back and read them, and if you can still come up with more "humor", I guess you've got your mind set. I'm proud of the "hillbilly" in me, btw.

Ufatz, duz the C a bela's store got dem belt fed shotguns?? I'z got to get me wun uv dem!!

[goose89]

theres no need for 2 lines.

Totally agree. But we don't "need" alot of things we've got and enjoy. We don't "need" to drive 70 on I94. We don't "need" wayside rests. But they sure are nice.

[Timber]

The DNR did a study a short while ago, and found that about 8% of all people who fish catch a limit. If you allow fishing with two lines, then more people will catch limits. More fish taken, regardless of what the limit is. Possible twice as many. That would threaten the resource. Walleye limits have gone from 6 to 4 in many lakes, and there was talk of a limit of 2. Lowering the limit like this indicates that the resource is threatened already. And why shouldn't it be, with all the means people have of catching fish today, GPS, side-imaging, sonars, etc. The worst of which is likely the sharing information where fish are biting, and then others finding that spot with GPS. Why on earth would you take a chance of ruining what we have by allowing fishing with two lines?

[Fisherman45]

I agree with the idea that for every line you have to have another full license limit 3 per person, this includes ice fishing. With the amount of things we have at our disposal (flasher, gps, Internet, Ect...) If you can't catch enough on 1 rod then I don't think 2 really is going to matter.

[tunrevir]

I think that 2 lines would be great. I fish multiple lines already on the bodies of water and states that permit it. It allows a bit of experimentation with lure presentation but most of my applications are in trolling situations. It would be nice for trolling on some of our bigger lakes here in Minnesota but I am fine with a single line as well. It could get really interesting watching 3 guys trying to run 2 lines apiece while trolling at night! I'm going to leave the proposal and the debate to the lawmakers and watch and listen to all the fireworks. If it passes great, if not, I'll just keep fishing

Tunrevir~

[Ufatz]

Hey Goose! Don't know if the C store has the belt fed Browning shotgun but I DID see a hydraulic solar powered trolling reel last time I was in the store at Rogers. I had plenty of time to browse since the new philosophy at corporate seems to be don't bother the customer with clerks. Err....excuse me, associates. There were cobwebs on one cash register. Never did find anybody who knew anything.

I get the two line thing. And I really don't dislike hillbillies either.. Especially since they prefer to breed within the family thus restricting the unimpeded spread of their gene pool.

Actually I'm jealous of you two line guys since I do 95% of my fishing with a fly rod. Ever tried fishing with TWO flyrods at one time?

Carry on men......and keep in mind that some day none of this is gonna matter at all. Try to live your life so you run our of money and time at the same moment. Sorta like a perfect landing: no more airspeed-no more altitude!!

[lutzy]

I don't like the 2 line idea. The reason is if they go to 2 lines I will have to go and get more rods and reals for all my applications. No hold on...that's a good thing. I'm for it. lol

[MN BassFisher]

I have no issues with 2 sides to every discussion but I doubt you have to call those who disagree with you a hillbilly.

I guess I should get back to checking my new batch of shine now.

Hahah well played Harvey.

[nige]

I fish 99% of the time from the shore and would love to be able to fish two rods. I would be more than willing to pay the extra for it.

[goose89]

Ufatz, I like your humor, lol. The image of two fly rods.....very funny. I'm hoping to break mine out (gathering dust last couple years) this spring on some Rainy Lake smallies, but will NOT attempt a "double-double haul" !! (although I'm imaging it could almost be done!?) I hear ya with the C store service at times. A few know alot, but most know, little, and are around even less.

[Itsa Pole Bender]

Being that I was born and raised in a state that allows for two poles while fishing open water I would love to see it here in Minnesota. Maybe because that's the way I grew up fishing. Maybe it is because I have seen that it doesn't hurt the fishery (my opinion). Maybe it is because I am selfish and want the opportunity to try different baits/lures. Whatever the reason I think it is just fine.

I grew up fishing Lake Huron and the rivers of north eastern lower penisula. This will upset a few of you, but the Walleye fishery on Lake Huron is much better than it is here. The daily limit is 5 fish and get this.... there is no such thing as a slot.

I can go home and fish that lake a few times each summer and with 5 guys on the boat we limit out almost every trip. If we are using 2 poles each that means we finish our day on the boat earlier. Don't want to finish your day earlier, use one pole. We troll with up to 8 lines in the water, but the boats we use are typically bigger with more fishing room than the boats used here. Any more than 8 lines gets a little dicey when making turns so we limit it to 8. We have the option to use ten, but don't. If you have the option to use 2 poles you don't have to use 2 poles. On Lake Huron you are not fishing bends, drop offs or cover, it is just one big flat sand bottomed lake. So you troll in a straight line until you turn around. It is easier to run multiple lines. It wouldn't be so easy to troll here with more than 4 lines when you are constantly turning the boat to follow some type of cover. You could cetainly fish with more lines, but you would really have to watch what depth you are running your lures or baits at.

It also wouldn't be overly easy to lindy rig or jig with two lines either. What I am getting at is that as far as Walleye are concerned there are circumstances that two lines would be a great option and then there are some where it would be difficult. It would be up to you to decide when you can do it.

The perch fishery has suffered on Lake Huron. I don't think it has anything to do with two lines though. There is a huge Zebra Mussel problem in the lake. Zebra Mussels have in my opinion really affected the Perch and the fishery as a whole. A bigger issue though is that the limit on Perch use to be non-existant. Then it went to 100/day, now it is at 50/day. That is still to high. I don't care how many poles you use, if a daily limit is too high the fisherey will suffer.

So these are the rants of a guy who has lived in Minnesota for 9 years. I am sure they are all jumbled and don't make a lot of sense, but I had to put it out there. For those of you who want to say that i should move back to Michigan.... My wife is from here and there is no way I will ever get her to move, so I am here. I fish and hunt here and love the opportunities the state gives me to do such. I really like Minnesota, even if i can only use one pole to fish with.

I do have one quetion though.

My question to those of you reading this thread is this. If you are in the camp that says two lines is not a good idea and the regulations are changed, will you never use two lines? Or will you go ahead and do it since it is an option.

Sorry for the long post.

[Timber]

Fishing Lake Huron vs. fishing small inland lakes is not a fair comparison. The fish resource in a small inland lake is much more at danger of over harvest than one of the great lakes. They've already lowered the limits in MN inland lakes. Does that not tell you something?

[Itsa Pole Bender]

You are right. It is not the best comparison and maybe I shouldn't have made it. Inland lakes typically could succumb to overharvesting more quickly. However, overharvesting does happen on the great lakes too.

It is good that the MnDNR has stayed on top of things and lowered the limits already.

[goose89]

Fishing Lake Huron vs. fishing small inland lakes is not a fair comparison. The fish resource in a small inland lake is much more at danger of over harvest than one of the great lakes. They've already lowered the limits in MN inland lakes. Does that not tell you something?

It's not the "two lines" thats puts them in danger. It's the person(s) harvest practices behind them. It's no different than with one. People that fish to keep their (and their neighbor')s freezers stocked aren't, IMO, necessarily the one's in favor of two lines. They don't care about the law either way.....I know too many that fish 3 or 4 lines in winter and bring limits of the largest (crappies, sunnies, walleyes)they can catch several days in a row - sorting through the small and mid-sized fish to take home the largest the lake has to offer. No thought of Selective Harvest at all.

That's what puts lakes, small and large, in danger. It's like saying handguns kill people (two lines will kill lakes) It's the people behind the guns and lines that determine that.

I don't think two lines is all that scarey, but I don't keep an overabundance of fish either. If I did, and was worried that my food supply was gonna get hammered, then I might be scared too.

[dan z]

I'm all for it, heck charge me for it and I'll still do it

[DTro]

Well fellas, I've always believed a two line guy would also be happy with a belt-fed shotgun for pheasants and legal corn piles for deer.

C;mon.....gimme a break: most of you guys can't catch a fish with ONE line so whats the deal with two? Oh....I get it: you don't catch TWICE as many fish with two lines.

Two line fishin' is a hillbilly throwback to the backwaters of Alabama.

But ya'll go ahead a gnaw on it for a while. Have fun.

Do you realize you just called the entire Midwest Hillbillies? LOL

I think we are the last remaining state to not allow multiple lines.

2 lines will never be the demise of a fishery, it will happen because of double tripping all year to stock your freezer and we all know that happens without mulitple lines.

I’m ALL FOR allowing us to purchase another full price license and have mentioned that several times in the past few years. I’m right there with ya on that one Ed.

[Slabasaurus]

Do you realize you just called the entire Midwest Hillbillies? LOL

I’m ALL FOR allowing us to purchase another full price license and have mentioned that several times in the past few years. I’m right there with ya on that one Ed.

x2. I dig the idea of multiple licenses for mutliple lines. Leave the individual bag/possession limits to the individual, not the license though.

I for one am proud of what hillbilly is left in me from my days in the Appalachians.

Worth repeating, it's not the lines that are going to hurt, it's the mentality that you "must fill your bag and possession limits" each time you go out... that's a killer, and there is a lot more of that goin on than we like to think. Most people think I'm insane when i toss a 23" eye back and keep the 17".

I've never kept a limit, never had a possession limit filled in my freezer, nor do i intend to. The fish i keep are fried up that afternoon, with the exception of one meal worth of crappie fillets kept as backup.

[Gordie]

Actually I'm jealous of you two line guys since I do 95% of my fishing with a fly rod. Ever tried fishing with TWO flyrods at one time?

yea and you can use three hooks on a fly rod so two lines,three hooks whats the difference.

and yes I'll gladly pay for anothe rline even if it means not catching twice as much

[Gordie]

oops my bad I should have stated that its three artifical flies not hooks

[TooTallTom]

You're right goose89, that most people don't care about having a second line. I don't think that most of the people that are "harvesters" care enough about the law to advocate one way or the other. But, if the two-line style becomes an option, you can bet that they'll all start doing it.

I'm sure that there won't be a doubling of the success rate along with the doubling of lines in the water, but I'd be really surprised if the success rate didn't go up somewhat. And that's the issue/ problem. People that are only keeping the biggest fish they catch, and are keeping as many of them as possible, are going to take advantage of any option to use two lines that is available. And that's going to harm the fishery. I don't see any reason to make that outcome any more likely than necessary. Put another way: The people that pose a threat (how ever small) to the fishery really don't need any help. And I'd like to not give it to them.

I guess I've always thought of two lines permitted ice fishing versus one line permitted in open water as being a way to recognize that mobility is much more restricted when fishing through a hole in the water, and I think it's a fair tradeoff. Ever tried to drift some structure when ice fishing?

[harvey lee]

It may increase the total harvest some. For those who already catch fish, the two lines will really not increase that catch that much. It may help them get the limit faster though or catch and release more fish. No number of lines will change what I harvest for a meal when I go fishing.

For those who typically do not do very well fishing, 4 lines will not change their harvest that much. I do not mean that in a bad way at all.

[DTro]

I still think that with all the technology today, the 2 lines allowed in the winter and not in the summer has to be the biggest hypocrisy in the MN regs book.

[goose89]

You're right goose89, that most people don't care about having a second line. .

TooTallTom,

You migth want to re-read my last post and revise yours.

I never said "most people don't care about having a second line," or anything even remotely close.

You spun my words into what you wanted to hear.

Bottom line = We have to fear two lines only as much as we fear the people behing the two lines. It's our harvest practices that harm / damage / destroy our fisheries, not the number of lines we fish with.

[elkhuntingfan]

I don't have a problem with 2 lines. I only keep fish if I'm going to eat them that day. All the rest go back. I wouldn't have a problem with the DNR charging for an extra line, but I would like to see the extra $ go to stocking the lakes. This would help with the issues of increased mortality or harvest.

[TooTallTom]

Relax, goose89. Sloppy typing on my part. Please read the sentence after the one which you've quoted from my last post. The sentence you've quoted should be more in line with that one, I should have added something along the lines of "fishing strictly for limits" after "people". I think that's more in line with what you've said in past posts, right? I apologize for any confusion or inadvertant mis-representation.

But now that it comes up, I wonder how many people in the general population really do care about a second line option? It would be interesting to see survey data from the general population. (We're kind of a self-selected group here on the forums.)