Draining bait bucket on leaving lake??

[BLACKJACK]

Did I read the new boating laws correctly, do you have to drain your bait bucket/kill your bait when you leave the lake??

[BoxMN]

Inconvenient yes, but not as hard as it sounds. Just bring another bag of water (or cooler of water) when you leave the bait store and leave in your truck. Then drain the bait bucket/livewell/baitwell and put your minnnows back in a bucket with the fresh water. PITA for sure, but we did it last year and not so hard, not as bad as I thought. I just left bag - o -water in a cooler in truck, with a couple ice packs and ti was fine, got me back to cabin.

[DTro]

Yes, that is how I understand it, unless you have a bucket of "clean" water in your vehicle that you can transfer them to.

[LMITOUT]

I still would like to see the state statute that spells out where you have to do this for lakes with ANY invasive species.

If I recall, draining bait containers was only required for lakes that had certain invasive species. It was discussed that way back when it was passed but then seemed to magically change when the DNR regs were printed.

[DTro]

I thought they made it statewide...

[DTro]

I know it's not the official statute, but...

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/preventspread.html

[scott b]

I keep my minnows in a small cooler. Will I have to change the water even if my cooler water has never touched lake water? I wish they would have stated flo trolls and not bait containers.

[Meat-Run]

I may be wrong on this but from my conversation with a CO here in Brainerd, as long as the bait never entered the lake water (vise, versus)you do not have to drain your bucket. If you brought the water from your tap water at home and kept your bait in that bucket you should be fine. DO NOT go by what I've heard from my co but I'm still trying to figure this out.

mr

[fishnowworknever]

Yeah I don't see anything stating statewide, only from infested waters. I won't be killing my bait off every time I leave the lake, that is for sure.

[DTro]

Required Action:

Drain water from boat, livewell, bilge, and impellor before leaving any water access. Also, drain bait containers at infested waters. If you want to keep your live bait when leaving infested waters, you must replace water in bait containers with tap or spring water.

[DTro]

Yes, it does seem that bait water transfer is limited to infested waters only.

[TruthWalleyes]

And by infested, i thought all that was of concern was zebra mussels and eurasion water milfoil Spiney water flee? Or is it all invasive species?!?, and if All species...when the heck did they change that?!?

[TruthWalleyes]

Quote from DNR HSOforum:

Regulations on transport of infested water

The following regulations apply to the transportation of water from infested waters (violations are misdemeanors or civil penalties of $50 to $200):

water from infested waters may not be used to transport fish except by permit;

persons leaving infested waters that contain populations of spiny waterflea or zebra mussels must drain bait containers, other boating-related equipment (excluding marine sanitary systems) that holds water, and livewells and bilges by removing the drain plug before transporting the watercraft and associated equipment on public roads ($50 civil penalty or misdemeanor);

water from infested waters may not be transported on a public road or off riparian property on infested waters except in emergencies or under permit ($200 civil penalty or misdemeanor).

[MinDak Hunter]

84D.10 WATERCRAFT REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS.

Subdivision 1.Launching prohibited.A person may not place or attempt to place into waters of the state a watercraft, a trailer, or plant harvesting equipment that has aquatic macrophytes, zebra mussels, or prohibited invasive species attached except as provided in this section.

Subd. 2.Exceptions.Unless otherwise prohibited by law, a person may place into the waters of the state a watercraft or trailer with aquatic macrophytes:

(1) that are duckweeds in the family Lemnaceae;

(2) for purposes of shooting or observation blinds attached in or on watercraft in amounts sufficient for that purpose, if the aquatic macrophytes are emergent and cut above the waterline;

(3) that are wild rice harvested under section 84.091; or

(4) in the form of fragments of emergent aquatic macrophytes incidentally transported in or on watercraft or decoys used for waterfowl hunting during the waterfowl season.

Subd. 3.Removal and confinement.A conservation officer or other licensed peace officer may order:

(1) the removal of aquatic macrophytes or prohibited invasive species from a trailer or watercraft before it is placed into waters of the state;

(2) confinement of the watercraft at a mooring, dock, or other location until the watercraft is removed from the water; and

(3) removal of a watercraft from waters of the state to remove prohibited invasive species if the water has not been designated by the commissioner as being infested with that species.

Subd. 4.Persons leaving public waters; report.(a) A person leaving waters of the state must drain boating-related equipment holding water and live wells and bilges by removing the drain plug before transporting the watercraft and associated equipment on public roads. Drain plugs, bailers, valves, or other devices used to control the draining of water from ballast tanks, bilges, and live wells must be removed or opened while transporting watercraft on a public road. Marine sanitary systems and portable bait containers are excluded from this requirement. A person must not dispose of bait in waters of the state.( The commissioner shall report, by January 15 of each odd-numbered year, to the chairs and ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees and divisions having jurisdiction over water resources policy and finance. The report shall advise the legislature on additional measures to protect state water resources from human transport of invasive species.

History: 1996 c 385 art 1 s 10; 1999 c 92 s 7; 2004 c 243 s 27,28; 2008 c 368 art 2 s 5; 2010 c 361 art 4 s 25

[LMITOUT]

That language doesn't refer to bait containers which are called out specifically on waters that have certain invasive species. Either that, or a clarification on invasive species.

[LMITOUT]

And by infested, i thought all that was of concern was zebra mussels and eurasion water milfoil Spiney water flee? Or is it all invasive species?!?, and if All species...when the heck did they change that?!?

Exactly.

[Meat-Run]

This is from MidDak hunters post:

"Marine sanitary systems and portable bait containers are excluded from this requirement. "

This is exactly what I was thinking. So if I bring my bait in my little bait bucket, don't put water from Leech Lake in it I shouldn't be dumping my bait out at the end of the day or trip...yes/no??

mr

[Moe Szyslak]

Place two empty gallon milk jugs in your truck. If they ask show them the empty jugs (leave a few drops in them). Done. Just be smart people

[TooTallTom]

Yep, risking spread of invasive species to save yourself about ten minutes is smart.

It's not that much trouble to follow this law. And how much trouble it is isn't really the issue. It's the law, and it's one that is worth following.

[TruthWalleyes]

Yep, risking spread of invasive species to save yourself about ten minutes is smart.

It's not that much trouble to follow this law. And how much trouble it is isn't really the issue. It's the law, and it's one that is worth following.

The risk isn't there if no native water is transfered into your bait container. I NEVER pull water out of the lake, nor use a flo trol style, so don't really see how i'm risking spreading the invasives.

Reguardless of my statment above, if on waters infested with spiney water flee, or zebra mussels, water must be removed from your bait bucket and replaced with tap or spring water prior to leaving the landing...even though there is no risk of spread in this case.

[TooTallTom]

Hi TruthWalleyes, I have no problem with someone transporting their bait in a container that never sees infested water. That's no issue.

I was responding to Moe Syzslak's suggestion to keep a couple of milk jugs (with a small amount of water in them) in the vehicle, seemingly to throw off any C.O. who might suspect that the person might be trying to transport their bait/ infested water illegally. It seems to me like setting up the decoy jugs in order to break the law would take just as much, or more, time as just following the law in the first place. Plus, if you just follow the law, you don't have to worry about being cited or, worse yet, transporting invasive species.

Sorry for the confusion.

[Chode2235]

The regulation seems to make sense, and may be a bit of a pain; but IMO it's a small price to pay for keeping fewer of our lakes infested with invasive species.

Probably a good practice to implement across the board.

[Big Fish Hunter247]

How are you supposed to drain the water from the impeller on your motor? Running the motor without water will damage the impeller won't it?

[fivebucks]

The water drains out of your motor when you are on land and put the motor in the down position, at least on all my motors.

[cementhead21]

My concern would be this. I do as the law says about draining water from my bait bucket/boat and then transfer bait to a cooler with water. Who is going to make the call that I actually did this at one of these inspection points? I can just see the person/co in a bad mood claiming I did not follow the law. I can see this as a bad he said she said issue comming