Legislation to move bass opener earlier(C &R)???

[Mark Christianson]

Someone told me that there is/was something drafted up in our legislator offices to move the bass season earlier, but just C And R.

Is that true?????

Please let it be true!

2 things.

I am tired of watching people deliberately fish for bass, while pretending to fish for other legal species before the bass opener.

Secondly, Its just too long to wait to fish for them the way it is!

[Central Bassman]

I have also heard this befor. I think its a good ideal and i would be all for it if it was catch and release

[gspman]

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I am tired of watching people deliberately fish for bass, while pretending to fish for other legal species before the bass opener.

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Not that I'm opposed to it but don't think that moving it up will solve this problem. This problem will exist for any popular species that has an opener.

[Cabela10]

Move it up to when though? Wisconsin opens on the same weekend as walleye opener I believe. I see no reason to open it up on walley opener weekend. I think the best option would be to open it a week or two before Wisconsin, so that we could possibly get some Wisconsin people over to get non-resident license and pump money into our fishing fund.

[Central Bassman]

If we do that Bobby, i think the State needs to BUMP up the price of Non-resident Licenses. It seems like Minnesota has the cheapest Non-residents Licenses around. Minnesota has a lot of lakes with a lot of good fishing in them and we need to get what its worth for them. North Dakota is known for there Bird Hunting and we pay over $200 dollars to just hunt there... Just my .02

[RobertELee]

I could be wrong CB but I thought I read somewhere that MN was going to raise its Non-res. license fees.

[Ray Esboldt]

Minnesota is raising non-resident fishing license fees. I believe an out of stater will pay $39.50 + $1.00 service charge for a license. That's still about $10 less than what we pay to fish Wisconsin.

To the best of my knowledge, nothing made it on to any drafted legislation to change the bass opener. I don't think the DNR is free to move it up on their own.

I know I am going to here it for asking this, but why is it a big deal when the bass opener is? I personally don't care one way or another if they open it in April or open it June 1st.

[Fever]

Ray, I really do think you are just trying to stir the pot with that question. I'm ok with it the way it is but I think there is a high number of people that only fish bass and looking at the open water for so long and not fishing kinda drives them nuts... I also think most bassers are 90% C&R anyway, or am I being too optimistic?

[lotsofish]

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I also think most bassers are 90% C&R anyway, or am I being too optimistic?

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Yes, probably too optimistic. From what I've observed and from talking to other people on the water and other people I know that fish, I would say there are more people that keep bass than people that C&R. The true "bass enthusiasts" however are more likely to C&R most of their fish and are probably catching more than the average fisherman. It's only a guess, but I still think that somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% of all bass caught are kept.

[sicheneder]

i don't agree with that if it would be c&r in until after memorial day. i also don't like that the states keep jacking out of states fees to one up each other.

[Slyster]

I would guess.. from my experience with friends etc.. that more like only 10% of bass caught are kept. AND... I'd also venture to guess that perhaps 10% of bassers keep %90 of the bass! I would say I'm a typical bass fanatic.. and of 1000+ bass (in 3 years) I'd estimate I have kept 5.

[fishuhalik]

In my entire life I have kept 2 bass - one was 23" and 7 lbs 12 ozs and the other was the first bass my wife caught and there was no way she was gonna let me release it. Most of you guys have read my post on the importance of releasing bass. That should be enough said. Now, I know if we open it earlier and put a cpr only tag on it, most bass would be release. However, what's the best way to get bass on their beds? Plastics. And what gut hooks more bass than anything else? Plastics. Have you guys ever had to throw back a trophy bass because you were in a cpr only lake or it was before season and you knew the fish was gonna die? I have and I lost alot of sleep over it. Now, I know most of the southern states allow fishing over beds, and good for them. However, many would argue that while we don't produce 9lb+ bass, we have some of the best bass fishing in the world here in MN, and I would certainly argue that, and I believe it is because of many of the regs we currently have. My point is, as much fun as I know it would be, let the fish spawn and not be bothered. We have been blessed with thousands of great bass lakes in this state, be thankful for what we have and catch the dump out of them for the rest of the summer!

[river rat316]

Yeah thats great thinking Fishuhalik, the problem is the opener hardly ever protects the spawning bass, there almost always still on beds on opener or even just moving on to beds on opener, the sad fact of the delayed opener is that it is all about money. I say open it up to c&r early or even Feb 20 when the catch and keep season closes, that way we can fish for the pre spawn mommas. There would always be the choice to leave the fish sit on there beds, just cause they are there doesn't mean you have to try and catch em. Its always kinda neat to cruise the shallows when there bedding and watch.... I guess kinda like voyuerism ... You see lots of real big fish doing this and it gives you an idea of the quality of the lake without ever disturbing them from doing there thing!