Paylakes

[DTro]

Curious to hear everyone's thoughts on these. As far as I know they are not legal here in MN, but they are in other states. Ohio for example.

This has come to my attention again recently and it's hard to believe that it is legal for commercial guys to put out a bunch of hoop nets, transport live fish to their own lakes, then charge people to fish for them. I would be really ticked off if I lived in OH.

On the other hand, it might be rather fun to get a group of guys together and have a contest every now and then knowing the big fish are right there. I remember Rushing mentioning to me about "Match or Jackpot fishing" and how the popularity of it was growing and that was the first time I heard about it a year or two ago. Now it seems like it's popping up more and more as browse around the web.

But mostly it pretty much disgusts me.

[Carp-fisher]

I don't really have any problems with the concept of pay lakes. The problem I have is the fact that they're being stocked with fish that have been removed from public waters. I hope these things are never allowed up here, but if they are, they should be stocked with trophy walleyes removed from Mille Lacs or Leech

[muchowja]

I already know of one here in Minnesota. You pay per the half day or day and an additional fee if you keep fish.

[Carp-fisher]

Hmmmmm...need more details on said pay lake. This sparks my interest.

[Alagnak]

Sure, I know of private lakes that u have to pay to fish or rent a cabin on too but they aren't stocked with live fish from area lakes for money.

[Gordie]

No different than high fence hunting IMO and I think it's ............. Sorry this is a family site can't say how I really feel!

[jamjumper]

I couldnt agree more. The continued emphasis on large specimens whether fish or game has gone too far inlcuding high fence and pay type lakes. The real reason for being out there is sometimes lost i feel. Hope pay lakes stay out of MN, especially those stocked with public water fish.

[Lowblazah]

Pay Lakes completely remove the hunt from the whole reason I go out there. When I catch a pig on public waters...I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride. Pay lakes completely remove that...sort of like shooting fish in a barrel. Why would I pay for that. It certainly wont render you any credit with me or those who actually put in the time to chase these beasts the real way.

And the whole taking fish out of our natural resources for someone else to profit off really gets me riled up. I hope if paylakes ever do start up around here that our DNR officials will have a harvesting slot limit on these bruisers.

[harvey lee]

Canned hunts are offered due to the fact that people will use them. Same with fishing if that was offered. If people want to use them and enjoy them, so be it. Not everyone has to enjoy the outdoors the exact way I do.

I remember years ago and people said they would NEVER pay for television. Look now, pay TV, cell phones and everything else. We pay for it all and it is only going to get worse.

Who thought any of us would ever pay for water?

[DTro]

I don’t have a problem with someone owning a pond and raising their own fish and charging people to fish there. This is America after all. But the guys down in Ohio are posing as commercial fishermen so that they can hoop net, snag, trot line, etc and bring back these piles of trophy fish to their paylakes. So really, the root issue I guess is not so much the paylakes, but rather the loophole these guys are using. Sure commercial fishermen can go out and do the same things, but I don’t think they are really interested in dealing with piles of big old catfish.

Put it this way, it would be like legally going out on public land at night with a spotlight and shooting monster bucks with tranquilizers and then transporting them to your high fence 5 acre plot to be “hunted’ by paying customers. How well do you think that would go over?

[harvey lee]

More than likely not at all but if it is within the law, then I guess it would be legal. I do understand what you are saying Darren.

If that were to happen, I would be all over it with sportsmen groups trying to show support to reverse that law.

20 years ago when a law change was made or there was a law I did not like, I said oh well, there is nothing I can do about it.

In the last years I have reveresed my thinking on that. If I now see something I am really against, I will go to every measure to try and see if that law can be reversed. Yes, alot of times I am not going to get the results I personally am looking for but from time to time, it does pay off.

As an example, in town some were trying to run new cable into town and on the outside, this looked to be a nice offering. When one took a harder look at it, one could see that it had the potential of costing the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars if the support for the program was not there and they passed it anyways. I busted my butt going to counsel meetings and talking to people so they could get the whole financial picture of this program.

Happy to say the counsel voted it down. One can make a difference at times and get things stopped or changed.

[JONOV]

I remember talking to a guy who owned and operated one in Kentucky. It was a large farm pond and he had some big ones in there that he wouldn't let anyone keep, and mostly more normal sized ones that people would. People forget how spoiled we are in Minnesota with all of the free access we have to shore fishing. In that area, Pay lakes were some of the only places people could fish without a boat or access to private property (farm ponds,etc.) That isn't the case in a lot of the country. The lake owners are exploiting the natural resource for their own profit, no different than a commercial angler who sells catfish to the food industry.

[Lowblazah]

no different than a commercial angler who sells catfish to the food industry.

Define a "commercial angler" for me. I'm lost.

[Alagnak]

Put it this way, it would be like legally going out on public land at night with a spotlight and shooting monster bucks with tranquilizers and then transporting them to your high fence 5 acre plot to be “hunted’ by paying customers. How well do you think that would go over?

This is EXACTLY the same thing only scales vs. fur. We wouldn't stand for it so I'm not sure why they do down south either? Although a lot of things are different down south. ;-) (like getting married to you cousin for example lol)

[pikestabber]

Define a "commercial angler" for me. I'm lost.

Someone who has DNR/state authorization (all required permits) to use nets and other means of mass-targeting and harvest of fish (most of these means are not legal for licensed anglers). Commercial fishermen then sell their catch to restaurants, distributors, etc...

[Alagnak]

That's still a little different than then taking those fish, transporting them live and then selling them to someone else to make money on again. The end result is the same (they are taken out of public waters forever).

[Gordie]

Canned hunts are offered due to the fact that people will use them. Same with fishing if that was offered. If people want to use them and enjoy them, so be it.

Much like a brothel... These people that run these outfits are nothing more than Fish and Animal pimps.. But its the American way right

[rushing]

I should get moving on building a pay lake since pretty soon we wont be able to use bait or anything else to fish for cats on public waters.

[davidbigreelz]

Castaway lakes, is a company that actually does the stocking for "most" of the pay lakes in Ohio, kentucky, and Arkansas. They say they raise their own stock for smaller species and then for flatheads and blues they have commercial fishermen in a "5 state area" that provide broodstock.

I have a feeling these videos are a pay lake operator filming the "stockers" doing their delivery.

They actually stock everything from carp to crappies and sunnies to suckers lol but catsfish is their priority. They have a channel cat breeding lake but like i said, the big boys are wild caught, just to impractical to grow something that needs 5, 8, 10+ years to grow.

They stock em by the pound, 2.25 - 3.00 per.

I can see how pay lakes can be a good way to get people who may never have a chance to get into fishing(kids, disabled, ect), into it by letting them catch a trophy, but i still don't like the idea of some commercial guys taking hundreds of old mature, breeding fish from natural producing rivers.

Put in some babies and grow your own! lol

edit: It doesn't even seem like it would be fun?!? Why throw a bait into a big gravel square filled with fish? Why not go bison hunting in Como Zoo?