We will get a C&R Bass season next year

[RumRiverRat]

The changes will be adopted.

2 week C&R season will open with Walleye and Pike.

It is a start.

[eyeguy 54]

[M1dwestF1sh]

Id be fine if all bass season was C&R. I personally don't keep bass and think it'd help grow bigger bass.

[bassinboy3]

Good to hear now we wont look like felons pulling bass boats around before memorial weekend. And I would be game for a all season catch and release myself with the ability to keep one trophy per season if needed.

[EBass]

All RIVER bass (smallies and largies) catch and release year round! But I'll take the extra 2 weeks.

[RuddyDuck]

That's good news. I'm already looking forward to next years opener!

Curious, does any one have an official link to an article on this, I couldn't find anything on the DNR site, but I just could of missed it.

[Search Function]

That's good news. I'm already looking forward to next years opener!

Curious, does any one have an official link to an article on this, I couldn't find anything on the DNR site, but I just could of missed it.

It won't be official for another couple of months at earliest. All the proposed rule changes made it without needing a hearing before the Administrative Law Judge. Now they are going through all the comments submitted during the comment period and considering any suggestions that were made. The rules will also need to go to Office of Administrative Hearings for a legal review before being finalized.

[river rat316]

A total C&R season is a horrible idea, most lakes need some harvest to keep them at their healthiest, otherwise they get the big head small body syndrome. There is nothing wrong with a little selective harvest, and lets be honest, hardly anyone keeps bass anyway so those that do generally don't hurt that much anyway.

[KickNBass]

I don't want a total C&R season either, but C&R during the closed season would be great.

I also think that the big head / small body syndrome is the sign of insufficient forage more than anything and it can be caused by receding lake levels (i.e. Chisago) as much if not more than the C&R regs.

[BrandonJ]

Does this mean I dont have to hear the term "green crappie" anymore. Or will you just go for those 2 weeks before walleye opener now. You people know who you are.

[RuddyDuck]

I think it is official now, as I found this on the DNR page!

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/seasons.html

Now I have to figure out what lake to hit for the early opener!

[eyeguy 54]

[leechlake]

I'm not a bass fisherman, people keep them? Yes I've seen the Mille Lacs smally photos from last year.

Good to see some logical change occurring. Happy for you bass fisherman.

[CCGinMN]

This is overall great news!! With everything there is good and bad. I'm kinda cringing right now, thinking about how many bed fish will get pillaged over and over again.

LOL, this past year I helped one of my dad's neighbors pull their docks in. To reward us, they treated us to a fish dinner. Of course the fish consisted of all bass. As a walleye snob, I was actually suprised at how good they tasted. I personally don't keep any bass but I wouldn't see anything wrong with it on a lake with a huge, stunted population like Sugar or Sylvia.

[Todd S.]

CC-I don't think it will be as bad as may some think. Given climate changes year in and year out it's hard to say on any give year or lake when fish are on the beds, heck there's always a chance that we could still have ice! I also compare our fishing to WI and they open up first Saturday in May, and there's a healthy population of fish just over the boarder, I know they prolly don't get the pressure we do here, but fish population is very strong in western WI none the less. Just my thoughts I guess....

[Raider4ever]

Whoo-Hoo!!

[HellaBass]

2 less weeks of pretending to fish for northerns

[Raider4ever]

2 less weeks of pretending to fish for northerns

Yep-yep.

[RuddyDuck]

Well, I bought my 2015 Fishing license last night and grabbed a new reg book. I looked inside and there it was, May 9 C&R Bass season opens! It's officially official now!!

I suppose this is the first time that Mothers Day affects a MN Bass guys fishing plans!

[bonebaby0]

That's Awesome!!!

[Bagman101]

Whew. Now I'll only have to use the term 'accidental buckets', during crappie season!

[smallie_hawgin]

This is overall great news!! With everything there is good and bad. I'm kinda cringing right now, thinking about how many bed fish will get pillaged over and over again.

LOL, this past year I helped one of my dad's neighbors pull their docks in. To reward us, they treated us to a fish dinner. Of course the fish consisted of all bass. As a walleye snob, I was actually suprised at how good they tasted. I personally don't keep any bass but I wouldn't see anything wrong with it on a lake with a huge, stunted population like Sugar or Sylvia.

CC, Just to alleviate a little of the "cringe"... Most of MN we actually have more than sufficient recruitment of bass. In some cases we actually have so much without any harvest, that bass are overabundant to the point of affecting growth. To be honest the biggest thing that many have suggested (in and out of the DNR) is that the quality may be declining in some of our more pressured lakes. Some may argue that summer league fishing (those that do actual weigh-ins) may have an impact (through delayed mortality) over time. If one thinks about the amount of pressure our fisheries withstand in more metro areas, it is amazing we don't have more issues.

On the C&R season all year, as was mentioned, many of the bass fisheries around the state can withstand some harvest. Some really need some selective harvest to sustain, maintain or even improve growth. Keeping some bass under 14" in most of our fisheries will actually be a benefit to the overall population.

We'll see about increasing angling opportunities in the "off" season, however, if we consider this for one major game species, one can't avoid discussions about the others. This is where the whole ball of wax, can of worms etc. becomes more complicated... Just an FYI

[RK]

Interesting stuff SH.

Although not being a biologist my argument is purely based on anecdotal evidence, I've really come to believe some level of harvest is beneficial. I fish a lot of bass lakes that have the C&R - 1 over 20 rule, and in a lot of cases it seems like the lakes with this reg kind of plateau in terms of size. They'll have loads of 3 pound fish, but not many big ones, and in some cases noticeably fewer than before the regs went on. It's a little deceptive because there are certainly all kinds of bass in these lakes, so I'd bet if you averaged it out the size average is about the same or maybe a little better than it was pre-regulation, but it's more 15" fish and less 20s. Just fewer quality fish. Between lakes I fish an lakes I keep tabs on through friends that fish them, I've experienced this or heard about it from Ottertail and Cass counties to the Metro, on probably a dozen lakes overall.

I will say though this seems more true with largemouths than smallies. In some cases both are in the same lake and the SMB are still getting big while the LMB kind of top out at 18".

I don't think there are a lot of guys going out and keeping limits of bass, although I'm sure some do. It's more accidental catches while fishing panfish or just fishing for whatever bites. Maybe that level of harvest on some lakes is beneficial?

I do definitely think weigh tournaments done badly have a negative effect. After watching the club team up by my cabin weigh in a couple times, I can't imagine their survival rate is real high. I think it's worse on lakes like Leech where fish caught in Boy Bay get hauled to Walker for a weigh-in. There's a lake where the size average has unquestionably declined, and several guys I know who know the lake well are convinced transport tourneys play a role in it.

I'm excited about the early C&R season this year. Be fun to go fish some very early season fish - it's kind of a whole new thing to learn, which I always enjoy. Still loathe bed fishing, but a later opener rarely interfered with that anyhow...

[thatoneguy]

RK - for the past handful of years virtually all bass derbies on Leech have launched out of Horseshoe Bay or Trappers Landing - not the city park. I think there's still legitimate reason for concern, though, as Horseshoe Bay is still a looooong ways from Boy Bay or Federal Dam or Sucker Bay.

Additionally, I know a lot of tournaments have just dumped the fish right outside the resort harbor after weigh-in, resulting in great catches of 4- and 5-lb bass by Iowan tourists for supper.

It needs to be done better, for sure.