May 28th

[Chad_Fish]

Man when is this state gonna get its [PoorWordUsage] together. I am so tired of driving to the river or across state lines for the past 2 months just to catch some fish. But thankfully opener is almost here!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I know I will be flamed here.. But I am happy we protect our fisheries.. There I said it.. dont get me wrong, I too am crossing the boarder, but having fished for the last couple weeks "Over there" I can truely appreciate what we have here. Flame away.. I can handle it.

[Chad_Fish]

I agree we have some great bass fishing here in Minnesota and hope it stays that way. I just think some changes should be made to our season here. But no point in wining about it when there is still fishing to be had even if we have to put on a few miles to do it. Hope everyone has a great opener and season to follow.

[Craigums]

DD,, I respectfully disagree. Im not a fan of MNs seasons and have thought for a while they should open a C&R season. I've spent the last few weeks in WI because of it. Does anybody know how many states have a bass season like MNs? Seems to me other states bass populations were doing just fine and most of them don't have all the other species to take some of the pressure off the bass

[SledNeck]

I like the seasons how they are.

[simple1]

I think bass fishing is good because of catch and release, not seasons. I have said it before and will say it again. Most bass fisherman are C&R almost completely. This is why and has ALMOST nothing to do with seasons.

Simple1

[simple1]

When bass fish I keep nothing. The same cannot be said for crappie and blugill though.

[Meyer8043]

Really what is MN waiting for. No one keeps bass any more. Like everyone else also said fishing is good because of that not the late start. Plus having open walleye and northern there are quite a few people already catching bass here if not targeting them anyway.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Quote:

Seems to me other states bass populations were doing just fine and most of them don't have all the other species to take some of the pressure off the bass

I'm glad we all have stayed respectful on this. We can respectfully disagree. I base my opinion, which is just that.. opinion. On just what I see and feel. I dont think other states have as good a fishing as we do. I do not feel other states have as healthy a bass population. Yes they can have great days on the water when conditions are right. But for the most part if you read forums across the internet. THey are quite happy with 10-15 fish days. And yes they may catch a 6-7 lb fish but for the most part a 2 lb fish is a decent fish. Maybe I am reading the wrong forums?

I get the itch as bad as anyone. I'm willing to agree that catch and release is working. But the truth of the fact is, not everyone does it. I would even venture to say that we reading these forums may even be the minority. And to be honest I have no problem with people harvesting fish either. But I just cant see how plucking fish off spawning beds can not hurt a fishery at some point.

Now that I have made that argument, I think mother nature plays the largest roll.. She can mess up a spawn.masive water temp drops and heavy winds when fish are on beds ect..

I would like to see a study done. One where as many variables can be taken out as possible, maybe 2 small farm ponds near each other or something.. allow bed fishing in one, and not allow it in the other and see what happens to the population and or fishability of those fish.

[BTL]

I dont think other states have as good a fishing as we do. I do not feel other states have as healthy a bass population. Yes they can have great days on the water when conditions are right. But for the most part if you read forums across the internet. THey are quite happy with 10-15 fish days. And yes they may catch a 6-7 lb fish but for the most part a 2 lb fish is a decent fish. Maybe I am reading the wrong forums?

I live out East, 90 minutes or so from Washington DC. With the exception of the Potomac River and some private waters, our bass fishing does not even come close to what you guys have in Minnesota. Our public lakes are small, and receive massive amounts of pressure virtually all year long.

10 to 15 fish in a day? That's great. I'd consider catching 5 bass up to 2lbs an above average day on most lakes in the DC metro area. When I fish in MN, a day like that is shamefully bad, and seldom happens to me.

We do have big fish, but basically they're caught in late Winter and early Spring and vanish for the rest of the year while millions of dinks take over. My average bass in Minnesota is bigger than what I catch here, easily.

I don't know how big of a role the closed season plays, but you guys really have something special up there.

[bassfshin24]

We definitely have something special here in MN. I can see both sides of the agrument. Im actually on both sides of the argument. I would love a catch and release season all year round but at the same time I cant complain about the rules that are in place right now just because of the excellent fishing we have here in MN. I would however love the season to open when Walleye and Pike. They should just have one big opener.

[Turbodog]

Keep it the same we have to good of fishing for both largies and smallies! Look back to the mid 90's when tonka had a bassmasters held on the lake alot of the pro's had nothing but good things to say about Mn bass fishing !

[kaine]

I have also been fishing Wisconsin this past week and I am fine with making the drive. And am fine with the mn seasons. I don't know why but to me in Minnesota we seem to have a lot more people fishing and keeping everything they catch. If we were to open the season earlier we would have to put a minimum length limit of 14 inches like Wisconsin does which makes sense to a point but I would rather see the larger fish put back. So personally I don't think we should change a thing.

[Meat-Run]

DD,

I think your spot on. My travels have given me oppurtinitys to fish many places and look at MN regulations and see just how consevative MN is and in the long run I'm glad it is. Yes majority of the bass and muskie folks c&r but when bass are on beds that's just added pressure to the females and I think that's why the opener is so late just to protect the females and the bedded bass...I'm all for it. MN does have some of the best pound for pound fish including smallies compared to most southern states I can wait another week and and hit it hard come opener. This is a great post Dietz!

mr

[RK]

Hiya -

Count me in as not wanting a change. As much as I look forward to bass season, I can wait if it helps keep the quality we currently have. I have to disagree on not many people keeping bass. Not many bass anglers do, but I see an awful lot of bass on stringers and in baskets every summer. Part of the reason the fall C&R season for smallies was created was to keep the harvest down when they school up in fall, and the same kinds of concentrations happen early in the spring, in the same bays where crappies go during pre-spawn. A lot of those fish would be kept if the season were open.

I've been on record here before as not being a fan of fishing off beds too. It's something I choose not to do personally. Some years the season's open during spawn, but in early spring years when the spawn is early, fry have a long growing season and survival rates are high, it's nice to have the spawning fish protected.

All in all, when you have to wait all winter anyhow, what's a couple more weeks if it helps keep the quality of fishery we have.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[KickNBass]

Quote:

I live out East, 90 minutes or so from Washington DC. With the exception of the Potomac River and some private waters, our bass fishing does not even come close to what you guys have in Minnesota. Our public lakes are small, and receive massive amounts of pressure virtually all year long.

10 to 15 fish in a day? That's great. I'd consider catching 5 bass up to 2lbs an above average day on most lakes in the DC metro area. When I fish in MN, a day like that is shamefully bad, and seldom happens to me.

We do have big fish, but basically they're caught in late Winter and early Spring and vanish for the rest of the year while millions of dinks take over. My average bass in Minnesota is bigger than what I catch here, easily.

I don't know how big of a role the closed season plays, but you guys really have something special up there.

The winter here has as much to do with it as anything. It makes year round pressure impossible.

Can't punch a jig through two feet of ice.

What's wrong with some experimental regulations on a few select lakes in MN. You KNOW it won't destroy a lake, and if it PROVES to be detrimental to fishing, the lake WILL recover.

Fishing in WI and MN is pretty comparable to MN if not better in certain cases and they have earlier and C&R seasons.

[Duffman]

I'm glad we all have stayed respectful on this. We can respectfully disagree. I base my opinion, which is just that.. opinion. On just what I see and feel. I dont think other states have as good a fishing as we do. I do not feel other states have as healthy a bass population. Yes they can have great days on the water when conditions are right. But for the most part if you read forums across the internet. THey are quite happy with 10-15 fish days. And yes they may catch a 6-7 lb fish but for the most part a 2 lb fish is a decent fish. Maybe I am reading the wrong forums?

I get the itch as bad as anyone. I'm willing to agree that catch and release is working. But the truth of the fact is, not everyone does it. I would even venture to say that we reading these forums may even be the minority. And to be honest I have no problem with people harvesting fish either. But I just cant see how plucking fish off spawning beds can not hurt a fishery at some point.

Now that I have made that argument, I think mother nature plays the largest roll.. She can mess up a spawn.masive water temp drops and heavy winds when fish are on beds ect..

I would like to see a study done. One where as many variables can be taken out as possible, maybe 2 small farm ponds near each other or something.. allow bed fishing in one, and not allow it in the other and see what happens to the population and or fishability of those fish.

[ShoreGuy1984]

"I get the itch as bad as anyone." I do too. I also like how there is a open and off season. Are lakes are frozen for half of the year anyways. Im willing to sacurfice the first two open water months(April and most of May) for some good spring, summer, and fall bass fishing. Alot of people, that I talk to, think bass are included in the May 14th opener. They dont even know that the bass season opens two weeks later. I think there are a ton of people that fish during off season and dont even know its off season, yet I might be wrong. These are the people that you see on the shore with push buttons and bobbers that dont really understand anything about fishing. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against them, there just enjoying the great fisherys like us.

[BTL]

The winter here has as much to do with it as anything. It makes year round pressure impossible.

Can't punch a jig through two feet of ice.

What's wrong with some experimental regulations on a few select lakes in MN. You KNOW it won't destroy a lake, and if it PROVES to be detrimental to fishing, the lake WILL recover.

Fishing in WI and MN is pretty comparable to MN if not better in certain cases and they have earlier and C&R seasons.

Yeah you're probably right that the long, cold winter plays a big part in the good open water fishing. It's a natural closed season on it's own. You guys also have so many lakes that the pressure is much more spread out, that and bass are probably only your third most popular fish anyway.

I don't really have much of a stance on this issue though. I only come up for a couple weeks a year, so the closed season doesn't really affect me. In fact it benefits me if anything. If I lived there I'd likely be in favor of more liberal regulations.

[Nick Kuhn]

In no way would opening the season up earlier improve the quality of the fishing. YOU might have no problem catching a fish off a bed and return it without disrupting the spawn. But remember there are plenty of anglers out there who eat whatever they catch (and many of these anglers also fish from shore). Now, if they walk around they will see bass on beds, they will catch them, and they will go in a bucket.

[ShoreGuy1984]

"But remember there are plenty of anglers out there who eat whatever they catch (and many of these anglers also fish from shore). Now, if they walk around they will see bass on beds, they will catch them, and they will go in a bucket."

You couldnt say it any better. And most of these people will put bass in the bucket starting the 14th becuase I bet they dont know that bass opens two weeks later.

[CHM]

I think things should stay the same. Most states are south of MN.

If you think people don't keep bass, stop in at any MN State Park fish cleaning house any day of the week in the summer. You might change your views on that!

Waiting is good.

[SledNeck]

The type of person that would eat a bass probably doesn't pay attention to seasons anyways

[Craigums]

Looks like im in the minority here. I agree with you guys on the point that the season shouldn't be open to keep fish until the majority of the fish are done spawning. But I would really love to see some sort of catch and release season be implemented. Waiting till memorial day weekend to even fish seems crazy to me (admittedly im no fish biologist however). Either way its just over a week away and until then it looks like I'll be taking one more trip to WI... Or just fishing for Pike in MN

[KickNBass]

In no way would opening the season up earlier improve the quality of the fishing. YOU might have no problem catching a fish off a bed and return it without disrupting the spawn. But remember there are plenty of anglers out there who eat whatever they catch (and many of these anglers also fish from shore). Now, if they walk around they will see bass on beds, they will catch them, and they will go in a bucket.

It certainly wouldn't improve the fishery, I have no argument there but I bet it wouldn't hurt it either given it's a catch and release season.

You need to weigh the benefit to the fishermen vs the harm to the fishery.

The same argument could be used to reduce the open season. I bet nobody here wants that.

And as others have pointed out, there's plenty of bass fishing going on right now, intentional or not.