God I Love Alabama

[Jig Master]

"The creel and possession limits provided for above shall not apply to fish

held live for release by the sponsor or its designated agent after a bona fide

fishing tournament provided they are released unharmed to the public

waters from which they were taken as soon as reasonably possible on the

same day they were taken."

Unfortunately with the elitist MN DNR chances of us seeing logical regs like this are slim to none

[Huey]

?

I don't get it. What do you want?

To keep a limit during a tournament and then another after the tournament? Or do you want to keep more than a limit during a tournament? Why do you not want your tournament fish to count towards a limit?

[MuskyBug85]

It has to do with minnesota's cull rule. Some states are really open to the idea of BIG tournies as a source of revenue for small communities, Minnesota how ever is not so much that way. It has nothing to do with actually keeping fish. Jonah

[Hester]

I like protecting what we have. Its what makes Minnesota great.

Why Jeopardize what we have for a few people coming in from out of town?

Hester

[varmithtr]

Speaking from a small town community local in lakes country, big tourneys that violate the local lakes are not a wanted source of revenue.

[goblueM]

"The creel and possession limits provided for above shall not apply to fish

held live for release by the sponsor or its designated agent after a bona fide

fishing tournament provided they are released unharmed to the public

waters from which they were taken as soon as reasonably possible on the

same day they were taken."

Unfortunately with the elitist MN DNR chances of us seeing logical regs like this are slim to none

so how does NOT catering to a highly specialized, elite group of anglers make the DNR elitist? If anything you would think it would put them solidly in the "non-elitist" category

[Burchoid]

Speaking from a small town community local in lakes country, big tourneys that violate the local lakes are not a wanted source of revenue.

How exactly would a tournament "violate" a lake...? Mortality rates from tournament fishing are WAY less than your live bait crowd that usually frequent your lakes, keeping everything they catch for the frying pan, or hooking fish so deep they go belly up when released.

Why do people think this way about tournaments? Fear of the unknown perhaps? Misinformed?

[Jig Master]

so how does NOT catering to a highly specialized, elite group of anglers make the DNR elitist? If anything you would think it would put them solidly in the "non-elitist" category

I'm not looking for catering homeboy, just would like tournaments not to be discriminated against and demonized, that's all.

[goblueM]

sorry, just trying to understand your position - so you think by managing all anglers under the same umbrella, that the DNR is explicitly discriminating against tournament anglers?

and you don't want to be catered to, instead you just want to be not un-catered to?

[RK]

Hiya-

People are entitled to their opinions about tournaments (frankly varmithtr's are mild compared to some I've heard) but I don't think you can say the MN DNR discriminates against tournaments. Really, their point of view is that tournament fishermen are the same as any other licensed angler, and have to follow the same rules, one of which, for example, is not transporting live fish unless they have a permit (as was given to the FLW for the Leech tournament). They also treat tournaments the same whether they're a local event or a larger organization - they all go into the permit drawing the same as anyone else, with the exception being annual events that were grandfathered in from the old permitting process.

In either case the permitting process and the rules around tournaments (# of boats, weekend rules, etc.) are to mitigate use conflicts. I don't think they "discriminate" against tournaments.

[Superduty]

The only discrimination I have witnessed by DNR towards tournament anglers happened last summer. I fish a tournament series that gets kids into tournament fishing. One team member must be under 18 years old. The DNR knew we had a tournament that day because of the permit. Two CO's showed up at 4am to inspect boats with flashlights for exotics while they waited to launch. I did not witness any violations. They were gone by the time the tournament started. Did not hang around all day to check the rest of the users of the launch that day. PROFILING AT IT'S FINEST!

[Swimmer]

The only discrimination I have witnessed by DNR towards tournament anglers happened last summer. I fish a tournament series that gets kids into tournament fishing. One team member must be under 18 years old. The DNR knew we had a tournament that day because of the permit. Two CO's showed up at 4am to inspect boats with flashlights for exotics while they waited to launch. I did not witness any violations. They were gone by the time the tournament started. Did not hang around all day to check the rest of the users of the launch that day. PROFILING AT IT'S FINEST!

I'd think checking on tournament boats would be a solid efficient use of DNR resources. They 1) know that a large number of boats will be there to check, 2) the boats would be from varied geographical areas/lakes, and 3) a good way to get the message out efficiently. Now if they had an army of COs there going through live wells ect during the tourney, you might have a point.

[Swimmer]

sorry, just trying to understand your position - so you think by managing all anglers under the same umbrella, that the DNR is explicitly discriminating against tournament anglers?

and you don't want to be catered to, instead you just want to be not un-catered to?

Still LMAO.

[Superduty]

I'd think checking on tournament boats would be a solid efficient use of DNR resources. They 1) know that a large number of boats will be there to check, 2) the boats would be from varied geographical areas/lakes, and 3) a good way to get the message out efficiently. Now if they had an army of COs there going through live wells ect during the tourney, you might have a point.

I think DNR would find a lot more violations if they checked the run of the mill user on a 4th of July type weekend than they would checking tournament anglers.

[smnduck]

If you think Alabama is so great move there. See Ya.. Get goin.

[Jig Master]

and you don't want to be catered to, instead you just want to be not un-catered to?

Wow, you can read minds! Are you related to Miss Cleo?

If you've ever been around bass tournaments down south, you'll know what I'm talking about. There's just not all the red tape and restrictions for holding a tourney like there is in MN and WI. No lakes are "violated." Fish are cared for better by most tournament fishermen than they are by live bait fishermen and meat hogs.

[NoWiser]

Sorry, I don't follow tournament fishing at all. I'm just wondering what exactly the law in Alabama allows that the state of Minnesota doesn't allow? Is it not legal to cull fish in Minnesota? Excuse my ignorance, I'm just trying to educate myself a little.

[Nick Kuhn]

The way I see it is a contest is a contest. Everyone knows the rules, and every angler faces the same challenges. You could catch 200 2lb fish and lose to a guy who only caught 3 fish all day. Doesn't mean the winner is a better fisherman, just that he got lucky per the rules. No matter how you set the rules for a bass tournament, the better angler almost always wins. And no matter how you set them, someone who got lucky can still always win.

[Swimmer]

I think DNR would find a lot more violations if they checked the run of the mill user on a 4th of July type weekend than they would checking tournament anglers.

And they do.

[Ray Esboldt]

You know, though against the permit process initially, I think the process right now is pretty fair. It prevents two big events from banging into each other on a lake, and kind of lets the small events exist. Seems to work pretty good. I am not real fond that we pay for people to administrate this process as I doubt that it is self-funding.

I will say that I am annoyed more than anyone if I show up at a lake and there is a tournament, but it's public water. I've had my rants against DNR policy but this one is not on my relatively short list.

[varmithtr]

My quote earlier about violiting a lake really had nothing to do with mortality rate on bass. Actually, many lakes have too many bass because even our tourist friends from middle america have realized bass tastes awful compared to other game fish. Some lakes are getting stunted growth. Violate was probably the wrong word.

What I got out of the post was that someone mentioned that because of the big bad DNR, us poor folks in small towns up north wont have the priviledge of having all of the benefits of having big name, big time bass tournaments around.

What I am trying to say is please don't speak for us. Perhaps a resort owner or two, and the guy who sells premium gas would benefit, but we have plenty of tourists to fill the restaurants, shops, etc... I can assure you, a great majority of residents have no interest in 100 22', 250 hp boats having a rooster tail contest buzzing accross the lake, pushing out average local and tourist fisherman, tubers, pontooners, and anyone else just out enjoying the wonderful lakes we are lucky to live around.

I think Minnetonka would be a great place for it. It is a great fishery, and I think the folks down there are pretty used to the commotion.

[polarsusd81]

"The creel and possession limits provided for above shall not apply to fish

held live for release by the sponsor or its designated agent after a bona fide

fishing tournament provided they are released unharmed to the public

waters from which they were taken as soon as reasonably possible on the

same day they were taken."

Here is how I see this regulation. I think it is saying that creel and possession limits do not apply to the sponsor or designated agent so long as the fish are going to be released. Not that a tourney angler can keep as many fish as they want in the well or double dipping as someone was saying. Too many people try to read more into what is being said than really needs to be. I am all for tournaments, so long as they are within reason. That meaning lets not hold an Elite tourny on a 400 acre mud hole. Common sense goes a long way.