Throw nets for minnows?

[MuntzAngling]

I have a throw net from ocean fishing and I was curious if it is legal to take minnows with it for personal use as bait. Regs say landing nets and minnow seines and traps are ok...

[DTro]

Nope you can't use it. Sorry

[MuntzAngling]

So minnow seines are the two man operation type?

[DTro]

Yes

Seines, Dip Nets, and Traps are about your only options, and even then there are restrictions on what size you can use.

[Get'n Jiggy]

So minnow seines are the two man operation type?

A good "Minnow Man" will stake one end and use bread or oatmeal for chum.

[bobbymalone]

My shad problems could be solved for the year with a single well placed toss of a cast net

[Stick in Mud]

Tell me about it. On our early season BWCA trips, the shiners are up shallow in huge balls, followed by fish that much prefer the real thing to any artificials. With one toss of a throw net, we'd have more minnows than we'd need. But alas.

I get the reason for the law, but it is frustrating. Thankfully, a dip net or a trap will work decently well.

[SteveD]

Page 78, 2012 Minnesota Fishing Regulations under Minnows and Leeches:

- It is unlawful to use throw nets.

[bobbymalone]

I get the reason for the law

you do?

I'm not looking to string up a gill net from one side of the river to the other.

[Duffman]

you do?

I do

It's a quick easy way to empty a trout pool.

But alas, us honest folks suffer from the non-use of throw nets because of dishonest folks.

[Bobby Bass]

Remember when my older brother brought one of them nets home from Vietnam back in the late 60's. Made one toss with it fishing for smelt when the smelt run was a real smelt run. Must have been an easy 1000# of fish in it. Net fell apart when a bunch of guys tried to drag it out of the river...

[IamZombie]

Hmm, wonder if they should maybe change this law given the new bait laws.

Like I could use a throw net on a lake to catch minnows for use in the lake I'm going to fish, and then when I'm done, put the unused minnows back in the lake.

Same minnows, same lake, same water?

[reinhard1]

i would not have a problem with that as long as people using these type of nets have proper fishing ethics. someone could do a lot of damage to a stream for example if alone with one of these. we just dont have enough CO's to cover what the law's are at this point. good luck.

[DTro]

Hmm, wonder if they should maybe change this law given the new bait laws.

Like I could use a throw net on a lake to catch minnows for use in the lake I'm going to fish, and then when I'm done, put the unused minnows back in the lake.

Same minnows, same lake, same water?

Not only are they concerned about AIS, but they are more concerned about people catching gamefish with them.

Our Catfish workgroup approached the idea of changing this law with the MNDNR, but they were not having any of it. So we backed off to at least being able to use a hook/line on the same water to catch bait. Hopefully that will pass this year....fingers crossed.

[Grum]

Hmm, wonder if they should maybe change this law given the new bait laws.

Like I could use a throw net on a lake to catch minnows for use in the lake I'm going to fish, and then when I'm done, put the unused minnows back in the lake.

Same minnows, same lake, same water?

That a great idea, makes good sense. But it would cut out the bait shops and with all the AIS problems it might be considered too risky if the net is used on an infested lake and one that is not on the same day. Doubtful it would happen.

[IamZombie]

i would not have a problem with that as long as people using these type of nets have proper fishing ethics. someone could do a lot of damage to a stream for example if alone with one of these. we just dont have enough CO's to cover what the law's are at this point. good luck.

[fuzzyray]

I have another question tied to the idea of catching my own minnows (which I have been doing off and on most of my life). Do the new AIS regulations of emptying your bait containers carry over into catching my own bait as well? I know known infested waters are clearly off limit for catching any type of bait but what about the other waters? If I seine minnows do I have to bring my own water from home to put them in or can I use water that I caught them in? I posed that question to Skinner the head of the DNR Invasives program this past year and he was unable to give me an answer "we are looking into that". It's still my understanding that that all of us have a right to take water from waters of the state (up to a certain amount before you have to get a permit). Is this still true? 2 years ago a talked with an DNR informant at an access near Alexandria. He told me that we had to drain our baitbuckets when leaving the access but the state laws allowed you to take water from a lake that is not designated as infected so I could walk back down to the lake and take a bucket of water. It seems there are many laws we are dealing with here that are conflicted. It would be nice to have a strait answer. Can anyone clarify any of this? Thanks.