the trout regs?

[fish2live]

does anyone else think that the dnr has gone to far on alot of the streams? i grew up in southeastern minnesota and trout fished all my life up till this year that is i refuse to buy a stamp because the dnr won't let me fish the way i want. i believe in slot limits but, why does it have to be artificial lures only? is it because trout are to easy to catch? if that was the case the trout would have been long gone by now. i think the dnr wants to cater to the fly fisherman. and another thing about artificial lures how many times have you caught a 11 or 12 inch trout deep in the gills so even if you wanted to release you can't. i can't remember the last time a trout swallowed my #12 hook and didn't live, because i would just cut the line and retye.

if you did that with spiners or raps that would get way to expensive.

the reason i am opening this thread is because besides my family and friends i am wondering if anyone else feel the same way?

thanks

steve

[WxGuy]

It's clear that some people are unhappy with the regulations, so no, you're not alone.

For the record, you must be speaking of only 7 streams with the slot/artificials regulations, and only 2 of those see a lot of traffic.

Canfield Creek, Garvin Brook, Gribben Creek, Hay Creek, Logan Creek, Trout Run Creek, North branch Whitewater River are the 7 with that regulation. I guess I don't mind a 10-15 minute drive, so I've had no problem finding streams with either C&R regs or just the 5 fish limit regs.

Gribben and Trout Run especially could use some harvest of those fish under the slot by the way, so keep some fish if you're into that sort of thing...

So am I to understand you completely quit trout fishing because you're unhappy with the regulations?

[fish2live]

well i am mostly not happy with the way the dnr is handling the streams that i grew up fishing (trout run mainly)and that is why i quit. imo i don't think they took live bait fishing into account and since whining to the dnr will do no good cause my pocket book is not as big a trout unlimited i will do the only thing i can do and that is not support the streams with my money. sounds harsh but, why put my money to something that is limiting the way i like to fish?

[Abrams]

I see what you're saying. Some streams need protection because they get hit hard during the season (Hay, Vermillion, WW, Trout Run). Keep in mind not all stream are limited to artificials, just some. Personally, I'm more conservative and I have never kept a trout from any stream in Wisconsin or Minnesota. Not because I don't like trout but because there are under such pressure. Biologically many of the river are put and take anyway so a keeping a few too eat is totally fine.

[SteveWilson]

Nope, the DNR hasn't gone far enough. I think that barbless hooks, artificials, and C&R should be the standard regulation for all trout streams. Where the local population can be shown to support harvest then have special regs allowing bait, barbed hooks, and harvest.

[fish2live]

the thing that i just don't understand is why not live bait? i could maybe see if they were worried about invation but, then just don't allow minnows.

[DEADhead]

The reason no live bait is allowed is due to the fact the there is a higher tendency for trout to swallow live bait, resulting in a more difficult release and greater likelihood of mortality. There have been many mortality studies done on trout angling; the DNR did not forget about live bait fishing. While there are several techniques, such as tight line angling with live bait, that can have similar mortality rates with methods using artifical baits, the truth is, many anglers are not competent enough to pull these techniques off. Hence the 'artificals only' designation. Also, believe me when I say that DNR Fisheries is in no way favoring the fly fisherman or Trout Unlimited; instead they are trying to manage trout to provide more fish, and hence more fishing opportunities to others.

It is sad to hear that you will not not buy a trout stamp, just because you don't like they way the streams are managed. Sounds selfish to me. Active fisheries management like the regulations in place in SE MN are a good thing, and beneficial to trout in a highly fished and pressured region. In my opinion, the recent changes in trout stream regulations on SE MN are too little too late. The resource had been abused for way too long by too many. But it is a start in the right direction.

I would think that people would support regs that would protect fish. This is no different than people criticizing slot limits on walleyes and pike. It's this kind of mentality that saddens me today; where individuals' wants and needs come before the rest of society's.

[fish2live]

so you can honestly say that floating a nymph with a strike indicater is less likely to hook a fish deep than floating a night crawler, minnow, grasshopper, waterworm or any other live bait?

[DEADhead]

Definitely. Most nymphing is done with a tight line anyways. I've never had a trout swallow my fly into it's stomach; could be that I never waited long enough for it to swallow it when setting the hook. But using powerbait or live bait, I've had countless numbers of hooks end up in trout stomachs. Hooking those fish deep weren't a concern to me since I was planning on harvesting them anyway (stocked trout in lakes). But when fishing streams for wild trout, I always fish with a tight line, barbless hooks, no live bait, and the fish is released.

Just keep in mind that there will always be some fish mortality when a fish is caught, no matter which method. It's just that the mortality rates for fish caught with live bait increases. Also the use of a J-hook greatly increases fish mortality as the likelihood of gut hooking increases. Use of a circle hook will greatly increase chances of hooking a fish in the lip and not the gut.

[fish2live]

well i guess that makes sense. well good luck to all on the trout water. oh and by the way i hope i didn't sound snotty with this post just wanted hear some other opinions.

[galaxyman]

I also have fished Trout Run for 40+ years and have found myself frustrated by the regs this year. I also have the same opinion that the DNR has taken Trout Unlimited's "side" totally and has pushed the live bait fishermen away. However, I like to fish trout and did buy a license this year and have caught and released trout on barbless hooks and artificals the last few days.

Others that use this forum have helped me sort out the regs. I'll still fish live bait just not on T.R. I enjoy the experience too much to give it up so have accepted the change. I C&R 100% of the trout I catch anyway.

[mark p]

It seems like many of the people who are unhappy with the special regs are those that have 1 "special" stream that they like to fish most of the time and it now has a regulation that does not allow them to fish the way they would like. There are only a few streams that only allow artificials, as WxGuy pointed out, and for those willing to fish other streams there is plenty of great fishing to be had.

I have had good fishing this year on several streams that do not have special regulations. For those that are flexible there are many good streams left to fish.

If the DNR managed every stream for artificials only that would be a problem, but as it stands now there are plenty of streams where live bait is allowed and each artificials only stream has others that allow live bait close by. Personally I'm thrilled with the new regulatons and think in the long run they will improve the size and/or numbers of fish on those streams. This is something that many people declared they wanted at the public meetings held by the DNR and having a few streams managed this way makes sense. The DNR is trying to manage streams to satisfy as much of the fishing public as possible. One side thinks they went too far and the other thinks they didn't go far enough. That probably means they came up with a good compromise.

[DEADhead]

Quote:

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One side thinks they went too far and the other thinks they didn't go far enough. That probably means they came up with a good compromise.

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interesting reasoning; you're probably right!

[broken poles]

I'm on your side fish2live. I did not buy a trout stamp last year and might not this year.don't get me wrong , I love to fish . In 2004 I trout fished 3-5 days a week and caught several hundred fish through the season. I kept exactly 7. Two of these swallowed a spinner halfway into their stomachs and the rest were only because I took a friend fishing and he begged me to keep enough for a meal. we may have different reasons for not liking the"new" regs but I think that the dnr has gone a little too far to the MTA and TU side of things.Whew! thanks for listening ,I feel much better now.