Sucker minnow question *DELETED*

[Phunnyfarm]

Post deleted by Phunnyfarm

[redhooks]

Look into herbie or lift-off rigs, lace a rubber band through the nose and attatch a short leader w/ a treble hook for a quickstrike-they are pretty popular for muskies in the fall in Wi and work well for pike here. I would'nt cut the tail cuz you'd lose some action-instead hook a small spinner on the suckers tail for some flash. For a bobber use braded line and inflate and tie on a balloon-this allows you to dictate how boyant the bobber is and will slide up and down on braded line to set your depth, you can also run another rig on a three way w/ a wire walker to slink along the bottom-set the clicker and wait for sweeeet sound! This set-up can be awesome so please be nice to the big green girls and practice CPR. Good Luck

redhooks

[eyefever]

Be sure if you use a quickstrike or treble hook you have a spinner on it, or it is considered three hooks and illegal. Quickstrikes are the only way to go, lots easier on the fish.

[DTro]

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Be sure if you use a quickstrike or treble hook you have a spinner on it, or it is considered three hooks and illegal. Quickstrikes are the only way to go, lots easier on the fish.

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since the law has been mentioned. 12" is also the biggest you can use

[AWH]

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since the law has been mentioned. 12" is also the biggest you can use

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There is a lot of confusion on what the law is there. My understanding is that you CAN use a sucker of any size for bait. Once a sucker exceeds 12”, it is no longer considered a minnow. As such, I believe this is what makes it illegal for bait shops to carry suckers larger than this. But I have never seen anywhere in the regulations that state that it’s illegal to use a sucker of any given length. Am I missing it somewhere? If you want to use one bigger than that, you may just have to catch your own because of the bait shop legalities.

Aaron

[DTro]

Well if it's over 12" then isn't it considered a "fish" and then how do you get around transporting a live fish Unless of course you catch it on the same body of water.

I don't agree with it, but I think that is the case.

[Shack]

Ya, if you are useing a 13" sucker, make sure do not get caught by the DNR.

Clipping the fins might be you only hope!

That is if you are fishing in MN and n ot Wis.?????

Good luck!

P.S.

Were are getting suckers that big right now?

[bubs]

if 12 inches is the biggest by law why do they have bigger ones in the bait stores? there are more than one place that I can buy them in mn

[AWH]

Good point, dtro. You probably have to catch it in the same body of water to be legal. Just because some bait shops have bigger suckers, doesn't make it legal. When I worked at Gander Mtn we asked our bait dealer to get us bigger suckers. They refused because of the legalities. I'm sure there's bait dealers out there that aren't aware of all the laws or are willing to bend them. That's why finding suckers bigger than 12" in MN isn't easy to do, but it's possible.

Aaron

[MuskieMojoTackle]

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Good point, dtro. You probably have to catch it in the same body of water to be legal. Just because some bait shops have bigger suckers, doesn't make it legal. When I worked at Gander Mtn we asked our bait dealer to get us bigger suckers. They refused because of the legalities. I'm sure there's bait dealers out there that aren't aware of all the laws or are willing to bend them. That's why finding suckers bigger than 12" in MN isn't easy to do, but it's possible.

Aaron

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"Except on the body of water where taken, live fish may not be

transported in a quantity of water sufficient to keep them alive unless

the fish are bait or the person is authorized to do so by the DNR."

Here is the rule on transporting fish. There is nothing in the regs that says suckers larger than 12" cannot be used as bait. So as long as I am using them for bait, I should be able to transport them. Not sure how the DNR intended this, but they way I read the regs there is no limit on the size of sucker I can use for bait.

[DTro]

Like I said, I'm not agreeing with it, just stating how I see it.

Minnow=Bait

Bait=Minnow

Sucker Minnow= 12" and under

Bullhead Minnow 7" and under

Anything bigger is considered a fish and unless you catch it on the same body of water you can't transport any live fish that isn't classified a minnow.

Heck some places you can't even transport minnows anymore.

[RK]

Hiya -

There's so much confusion on this issue right now... I know a couple bait dealers that were told in no uncertain terms that they weren't allowed to sell suckers over 12" however.

I have a call into someone at the Fisheries office who will have the answers. As soon as they call back I'll post what I find out here.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Shack]

Was this issue not settled in the cat forum by LFC and Pier?

They contacted a CO?

Bait stores only can sell as a decoy 12" or larger. MN fisherman can not use a sucker over 12" for live bait purpose. I could be wrong!

I think you will get a differnt answer from differnt CO's! One bait store says this and another says that. One sells you this and another sells you that!

Alot of gray and if's!

[AWH]

But as quoted above from the fishing regulations..."unless

the fish are bait"....

So, fish CAN be bait, per the regulations.

Aaron

[DTro]

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But as quoted above from the fishing regulations..."unless

the fish are bait"....

So, fish CAN be bait, per the regulations.

Aaron

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reading this more closely, I can now see your point. Possible loophole??

I have yet to hear of anyone being fined for this, but people have been checked, I do know that.

[AWH]

Hopefully the DNR can decide what they want the law to be and spell it out clearly in the regulations starting next year. Can't really enforce something (if it's even illegal at all) that's as vague as this one.

Aaron

[MuskieMojoTackle]

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But as quoted above from the fishing regulations..."unless

the fish are bait"....

So, fish CAN be bait, per the regulations.

Aaron

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reading this more closely, I can now see your point. Possible loophole??

I have yet to hear of anyone being fined for this, but people have been checked, I do know that.

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I've read the regs up and down trying to figure this out. Nowhere in there does bait = minnow.

You are only prohibited from using all or parts of gamefish, goldfish, or carp. A sucker over 12" is considered a rough fish. Nothing in the regs prohibiting the use of rough fish for bait (except carp). So, according to the regs I can use whatever size sucker I want for bait.

Also, the way the regs read, the same should go for bullheads.

Obviously, whatever Rob hears back from his inquiry will be more accurate, but the way the regs actually read suckers and bullheads as bait have no length limits.

[B420]

During ice fishing season we exclusively use the biggest suckers 12-16" we can find for ice fishing. We simply ask the bait shop to order them and they are there waiting for us. Been checked by the DNR before and it hasn't been an issue. I think this rule is about as lame as having to attach a spinner to your treble hook. I hope the DNR has bigger to fish to fry then worrying about the size of your minner

[MuskieMojoTackle]

Update on this...

I talked to a guy who knows a CO in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

This CO stated that it is perfectly legal to use a sucker longer than 12" for bait. The issue lies in finding them. It is illegal for a bait shop to sell them, they may be able to obtain a special license, because they are no longer considered minnows. So, if you can find them (catch them, raise them, buy them from private hatcheries) it is perfectly legal to transport live suckers longer than 12" and use them for bait.

And, for all the catfish guys, according to the definitions in the MN Fishing Regs the very same should hold true for bullheads.

[PierBridge]

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Was this issue not settled in the cat forum by LFC and Pier?

They contacted a CO?

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That was the cast-net Law.

It's just another of many confusing Laws we have, the only thing that matters is the CO's interpretation and the Judge's if you go to court.

How many times have we called the DNR office or asked a CO a question on a particular Fishing, Hunting or License issue and we get different anwsers depending on who you are talking with.

That's just plain crazy if we can't transport to USE a Sucker Minnow larger than 12"'s.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

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Was this issue not settled in the cat forum by LFC and Pier?

They contacted a CO?

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That was the cast-net Law.

It's just another of many confusing Laws we have, the only thing that matters is the CO's interpretation and the Judge's if you go to court.

How many times have we called the DNR office or asked a CO a question on a particular Fishing, Hunting or License issue and we get different anwsers depending on who you are talking with.

That's just plain crazy if we can't transport to USE a Sucker Minnow larger than 12"'s.

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you CAn transport a sucker longer than 12" if you are going to use it for bait

[DTro]

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Update on this...

I talked to a guy who knows a CO in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

This CO stated that it is perfectly legal to use a sucker longer than 12" for bait. The issue lies in finding them. It is illegal for a bait shop to sell them, they may be able to obtain a special license, because they are no longer considered minnows. So, if you can find them (catch them, raise them, buy them from private hatcheries) it is perfectly legal to transport live suckers longer than 12" and use them for bait.

And, for all the catfish guys, according to the definitions in the MN Fishing Regs the very same should hold true for bullheads.

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Good info, thanks for the effort.

I have one question though, if that also holds true for the bullheads, I wonder why the DNR is currently working on changing the length limit on bullheads?

[Shack]

I would say so bait stores could legally sell larger minnows?

I would say this quite interesting! Brings up a couple questions I have now!

1) Bait stores or bait venders could raise there own bullies and suckers that are over the minnow limit and sell them? I could be missing something or is it only for personal use!

2) I catch an over 7” bully up in the Mississippi North and use it for bait down in Mississippi pool 2!

I tell ya, I am a law abiding sportsman, but all I would have to do is say "I just caught them" and hope that species is the waters I am fishing?

I tell ya, if’s if’s and more if’s!

[PierBridge]

No really Officer I talked to a guy who know's a guy who know's CO and HE said she said!!!!

I think the DNR is probably as confused as we are over this.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

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Quote:

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Update on this...

I talked to a guy who knows a CO in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

This CO stated that it is perfectly legal to use a sucker longer than 12" for bait. The issue lies in finding them. It is illegal for a bait shop to sell them, they may be able to obtain a special license, because they are no longer considered minnows. So, if you can find them (catch them, raise them, buy them from private hatcheries) it is perfectly legal to transport live suckers longer than 12" and use them for bait.

And, for all the catfish guys, according to the definitions in the MN Fishing Regs the very same should hold true for bullheads.

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Good info, thanks for the effort.

I have one question though, if that also holds true for the bullheads, I wonder why the DNR is currently working on changing the length limit on bullheads?

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That threw me for a loop as well. Not sure.