Slot limits

fish-4-fun · January 19, 2007

This is a letter I sent to the outdoor news I also started a petition!!

Remember When....

Do you remember when you could catch a large number of fish on any given lake? I don’t, but I want to enjoy the great fishing that my grandpa did. I am a strong believer that we can bring great fishing back to Minnesota, by doing a few simple things.

We need slot limits on all species of fish statewide. Look at how great the fishing has been on lakes that slot limits are implemented. For example Upper Red Lake, and Mille Lacs. Even a few lakes in Canada have added some slot limits. It wouldn’t hurt to lower daily limits and possession limits either. Fishing pressure is hurting our lakes especially in the more populated areas where there are fewer lakes. We can make fishing any lake in Minnesota a great outing. Let’s bring Canadian fishing to Minnesota!

Now you ask “how do we do this?” Well, it’s simple! Practice catch and release, talk to your local conservation officer about adding slot limits across the state, and start a petition for added slot limits at you local bait shop or keep one in your tackle box and send it to the DNR. People if we can do this we will see improved fishing across our great state within 5 years. We can do it! Please I ask for your help, let’s improve fishing across the great state of Minnesota.

jighed · January 19, 2007

catch and release into grease for me. i only go out to fish for a fish fry. im not into catch and release especially on lakes that get net. im not throwin back fish so someone can net the big pigs. and anyways the big pigs taste delicious dont believe the people telling you that if they get to big they taste awful. i fillet all meat so they are thin sliced. they all taste the same.believe me

fish-4-fun · January 19, 2007

Quote:

catch and release into grease for me. i only go out to fish for a fish fry. im not into catch and release especially on lakes where the indians can net. im not throwin back fish so pocohontas can net the big pigs. and anyways the big pigs taste delicious dont believe the people telling you that if they get to big they taste awful they are just giving you a bunch of

talk

. i fillet all meat so they are thin sliced. they all taste the same.believe me

Wow Im sorry to hear that you feel that way. Fishing is a sport. You would be money ahead if you went and bought your fish at a market then.

huntnfish · January 19, 2007

I am all for a statewide slot limit on all fish and a lower limit on them. There is no reason a person needs to keep six walleyes a day. I would like to see that dropped to at least four, maybe even three. I think a 14-18 inch slot with one over 28 would be good for all the fisheries. That would leave the larger spawning fish to lay some eggs. I would also like to see a slot on Northerns also. Lake Melissa in Becker County is a perfect example of how a slot can help the population. On that lake you can't keep anything over 24 inches. Since that has been in effect I have caught and seen more 36" plus fish than ever before with the largest being a 40 incher a couple of years ago. A lot of lakes that you go to have a very large population of hammer handles and a slot would help with that.

I will have to disagree with jighed about the large walleyes tasting as good as any of the smaller ones. A friend of mine caught a 26" a couple of years ago that was hooked pretty deep and we couldn't revive it so we kept it. We fried it in shorelunch and it was the worst tasting fish that I have ever eaten. It tasted very dirty and you had to cook it so long that it was overcooked. I will take a 16 incher any day before I eat another large walleye like that.

fish-4-fun · January 19, 2007

I think many will agree with me!! I am glad to hear that too.

harvey lee · January 19, 2007

The slots do seem to help. I agree that CPR works and we all need to practice it. I know even when fishing for pannies its tempting to keep all the bigger fish to show but, we will never have bigger ones if we do. Any specie that I have ever eaten has been better tasting if the smaller ones were eaten. I also had a badly hooked 25" eye and kept it to eat as I figured it would die. I wont attempt to eat another one again. Give me the 14-18" eyes for the pan.

fish-4-fun · January 19, 2007

Thanks Harvey.... if you are ever in the Willmar area we need to go fishing sometime, maybe sometime this summer you can take me to the river for the cats!

Surface Tension · January 19, 2007

Did you have a specific lake in mind here for a lowering the limit and what scientific studies are you basing your proposal on?

I believe the DNR is taking very good steps in protecting the fishing for now and future generations on facts and not some feel good notion.

Take the special regs on a lake to lake basis. Or the statewide 1 walleye over 20" for example.

Now I fish because its something I love to do and I also enjoy eating fish. When the day comes that it isn't PC to eat fish other then from the store, that is the day I quit fishing.

If I was the type fisherman that didn't eat fish I might like to try and stack the deck in my favor and ask for reduced limits or more slots thinking that would mean more fish by boosting a lake to its full carrying capacity.

Fishing in MN has, is, and will always support harvest as it should based on sound scientific management.

Calling for lower limits across the board is a feel good approach without any scientific basis.

I'll say the lakes I fish have no slots, aren't stocked and all natural reproduction. They do get varying levels of fishing pressure and are very productive lakes. Lowering the limits on those lakes would offset the predator/prey balance they now have.

So I ask what specific lake did you have in mind?

shorefisher · January 19, 2007

My 2 cents is we do not need more rules and restrictions on fishing. I spend a LOT of money each year fishing. On the very rare day I should get six eyes I would like to be able to keep them for a fish fry for the 5 people that would be there to eat them. I think the % of people that are keeping fish is low and not everyone if just out meat hunting. I go home most nights with out fish even if they are bitting but it should be my choice on to keep them or let them go. I here many people say fishing in Minnesota is going down hill I say it is getting better. Yes you may have to look harder but if you put in the time the fish are out there. Its a personal choice and we should all have the choice to take fish home or let them go and there is nothing wrong with keeping fish or fishing for fun. Just because someone is fishing for sport they should not make people who fish for fish feel bad for doing so. Sorry for the rant but I just hate to read post of people having to make up excuses or defend the fact that they keeped a few fish to eat.

jighed · January 19, 2007

i agree with surface tension. every body always has to be pc now adays. i love to eat fish i caught. i dont believe in buying from the store. im sick and tired of everybody thinking i should throw everything back when it is with in the rules

fishinrush · January 19, 2007

I'd have to agree with the lake to lake basis. Even though it can get a bit confusing, it seems to be the best approach. Besides if a lake has a specific slot, it is generally posted at the access.

As far as reducing the limit. Have there been any stidies on the impact of reducing the crappie limit to 10 and sunfish to 20?

More times than not if I am fishing 2 in a boat or fishouse, targeting walleys, we don't come back with 12. 6 or 7 is a great day. If we are lucky enough to find the fish, and they comply with any established slot, I say let us keep the 12.

Luv2angle · January 19, 2007

I don't really think that the slots have to be changed, people just have to be aware of what they are taking out of the lake. EX: South Center in Chisago...I see people all the time keeping tons of little fricken crappies, 6-8 inches. If that lake had 1-2 years of people throwing them back the fishing there would be unbelievable for "slab" crappies!

Peace!

HarryG · January 19, 2007

I think we still have great fishing but not like it used to be. I think we have to re-define great fishing. Catching one and releasing it is great but I do understand the eating part. No one is out seeking carp for a weekend. I do think fishing is not as good as it used to be but I still have just as much fun on the water. I think it is a good move to impose a one over twenty limit and maybe a statewide slot limit would be good too. I still think a walleye stamp would help the situation, just like trout. We do need to be able to keep some fish.

huntnfish · January 19, 2007

I have no problem with keeping fish for a meal. I keep fish for the table a lot of the time. I don't think people need 6 walleyes. What would a lower limit hurt? How many people out there actually can catch 6 walleyes consistently? Four 16-18" walleyes are quite a bit of fish for a meal.

On the slot part, I see people keeping the little dink walleyes all the time. If the small fish were protected a little and given a chance to grow another year of so they might make it to eater size. A few years ago I was fishing on South Twin in Mahnomen county and it was nothing for me to catch 80-100 walleyes in a day, but they were all 6-8". I could see people all around me tossing them into the bucket to take home. There are still some walleyes in there but you sure don't catch anywhere near that many anymore. If they would have been protected a little they would have had the chance to grow a little.

hanson · January 19, 2007

Quote:

I don't really think that the slots have to be changed, people just have to be aware of what they are taking out of the lake. EX: South Center in Chisago...I see people all the time keeping tons of little fricken crappies, 6-8 inches. If that lake had 1-2 years of people throwing them back the fishing there would be unbelievable for "slab" crappies!

Amen to that!

I don't know what the heck it is with fisherman and crappies in this state. If there is any rumor of a good crappie bite, people come out of the woodwork to stock their freezers. Red Lake is a prime example of what folks will do to catch a crappie!

Seeing people keep 6-8" crappies also disappoints me. Rush Lake is loaded with little tike crappies right now that people are keeping. Sure seams like the larger crappies in the community holes have been kept and now people sort through the rest to keep the biggest of the little. Sad.

I will say this, it sure seams like the lakes with special panfish regs are seeing marked improvements in the size structure of panfish. When appropriate regulations are applied to the right body of water, the results can be very good.

If our goal is to have better fishing & larger, trophy fish on certain lakes, we may have to make some sacrifices to achieve that. If that means a slot limit applied in the appropriate way, I'm on board.

BobT · January 19, 2007

Quote:

On the very rare day I should get six eyes

Your comment pretty much says it all. I do support slots and limit restrictions but as SurfaceTension has pointed out, across the board rules will not likely prove beneficial. Each lake is different in its own way and the harvest must be regulated accordingly.

It's no different in my farming operation. My soil is heavy loam but just 4 miles away it is very sandy. Each must be treated differently, fertilized differently, different crops planted, etc.

Bob

FZ · January 19, 2007

According to DNR data, a number of fishing licenses sold in Minnesota reduced every year. Very few young people get into fishing. Add slots and reduce daily limits are not we need, it will further discourage people starting fishing and damage local economy. Just see more fishing boats on your lakes and you cannot catch big ones do not mean there are more people start fishing. It’s only mean at this information age, words get fast and technology gets better.

BobT · January 19, 2007

My guess is that there are fewer younger people fishing because their parents aren't getting them interested at an early age. Why? Because they have lost interest due to the fact they haven't had good success themselves.

I think that if we don't take action to improve our fisheries, the decline will continue. I wonder what kind of fishery we would have today if we had done a better job of protecting it 30, 40, or even 50 years ago.

One of the lakes mentioned early in this thread was Red Lake. We all know too well what can happen if we don't do a good job of regulating our carelessness.

I will even take it a step further and add this. Today, many lakes have problems due partially or even significantly to agricultural run-off. I wonder too what our fishery would be like had we done a better job of regulating that in the past.

Bob

braves57 · January 19, 2007

A minimum would be nice for each species! I wonder how much meat the guy on rush got off the 4 6-inch perch!?! or the guy on forest that had 20 4-inch sunnies on the ice?

It's sad but people do need to be policed, because there is a large population of people that are not smart enough to police themselves!

That's my 2 cents!!!

shorefisher · January 19, 2007

First people get bashed for keeping a 26" eye and then people get bashed for keeping 6-8" crappies or 4 inch sunfish. What do you want from the guy who wants to eat a fish? It is talk that a 9" crappie teste better then a 12" crappie from the same body of water. I am sure I am wrong here as I am sure there are a few here that do sport fish sunfish. I have been fishing my whole life and never met a sunfish sport fisher. Want sport? Fish carp in the river with 2# test. I just think it is personal choice and that there are not as many of the "not smart enough" people out there as you think.

theminnow · January 19, 2007

I personally Don't know if you need to lower the bag limit. but I do support slot limits. I see it more times then not though, People, keeping fish that are in the slot (I have seen friends of mine doing this) Needless to say I dont fish with them any more. This ticks me off more then anything, the slot limits are there for a reason. When I go fishing, I mainly target crappies/walleyes, And I would like to see a slot limit on crappies something like nothing under 8" and 1 over 13" This would not have a drastic impact on getting huge slabs, But I think you'd get more "Decent" Sized crappies in the long run. I too have seen plenty of people keep tiny crappies and It's like why? I typically keep 9-12" crappies for my dinner table

BobT · January 19, 2007

In some situations taking the smaller ones actually has advantages. It has been my understanding, and I have seen this with aquariums I have kept, that when a body of water is overpopulated, the fish tend to remain smaller in size. I think that's why it is that generally speaking, the larger lakes have better potential for producing larger fish. This could also be because the larger lakes are not over pressured like smaller ones simply because of the area involved.

That's why I think each lake needs to be managed according to its characteristics. I don't believe it can be done across the board.

Bob

fish-4-fun · January 19, 2007

Quote:

According to DNR data, a number of fishing licenses sold in Minnesota reduced every year. Very few young people get into fishing. Add slots and reduce daily limits are not we need, it will further discourage people starting fishing and damage local economy. Just see more fishing boats on your lakes and you cannot catch big ones do not mean there are more people start fishing. It’s only mean at this information age, words get fast and technology gets better.

But is this because of the rules and regulkations or is this becuase fishing isn't as great as it once was??

fish-4-fun · January 19, 2007