Would you guys oppose

[Muskiefool]

say 10-20 Trophy Northern Pike Lakes with say a 26-40 slot with no spearing ban???? this is just hypothetical

[Mike89]

just my thoughts, but we are not spearing muskie's. there is nothing wrong with slots, but if you check a few lakes with them already, they do not always work. I have the best catch and release of any one. buy that I mean I don't have to do any but wacth them swim. It's awsome to just watch.

But the question is, are asking about protecting a "muskie lake" or just asking about any lake?

Mike89

[musky_tail05]

Where in his post did he mention anything about muskies???

[Muskiefool]

I'm talking about taking some lakes and turning them into trophy Northern Pike Lakes by protecting the big fish, I know in allot of cases a slot is looked at as a spearing ban and the 24 inch pike is tough to determine for spearing, so I just thought 26 as a number, I think it would be nice if MN had the potential for some 25+# Pike other than the occasional anomaly, I assume most here love pike and understand it's not a garbage fish like so many anglers have treated them for 100+ years, I would just like to here what the spearing community thinks about this idea as a point of friendly discussion.

[Early Riser]

I don't oppose setting up a protected slot for pike on a limited number of lakes. In most cases slots seem to be helping, and in others the data is a bit more equivocal. There are a few lakes that have it already. Are there already enough of those? Probably not, but designation has to be done carefully, and not to the extent that too much pressure starts to be concentrated on other lakes close to the procted bodies of water by those who want to harvest a few of those 26-36" fish.

It is possible that the current regulation of 3 fish with not one over 30" actually leads to fewer fish killed on some lakes because people would stop fishing or spearing sooner rather than continuing to catch and unintentionally kill slot fish during the course of a day while going for a trophy or limit of eaters. I am not sure about that but it is a factor to be conidered.

[fisherking01]

We have enough laws already. I would encourage posters placed at accesses encouraging protected slots, but the enforcement efforts just don't go far enough the way it is now. It boils down to individual protection of a particular water, and there are so many opinions on what is ok to do that this will be a debated issue, even with the science plainly set out.

Just my opinion, brent

[Bowfin]

 Originally Posted By: Muskiefool

say 10-20 Trophy Northern Pike Lakes with say a 26-40 slot with no spearing ban???? this is just hypothetical

This is more than hypothetical. Northern Pike slots were put on over 70 some lakes 5-6 years ago with no spearing ban. The DNR is currently proposing to add to this number of lakes. See my comments under "How Valuable are our Big Pike" thread. No - I am not opposed to these slot limit lakes and have learned to live with them on one particular lake. I am opposed to the continued expansion of slot limits to the point the DNR may impose a statewide slot limit on all lakes. A statewide slot would reduce fishing opportunities and the chance to ever "go after the big one".

[Tagstew]

people think that spearing is so easy and we take all the big fish out of the lake which is not the case i suggest that if havent speared try it and see how many 40 inch fish swim by good luck i sat out yesterday for 6 hours and got 2 24inchers

[Muskiefool]

I'm not being critical, I'm just wondering how many support or are opposed to the idea of a BIG slot on a few lakes that have the potential for trophys, I'm not talking about a restorative slot like those imposed on lakes that have trouble with size structure.

[bassNspear]

Welcome to FM Minnow!!

There is alot of times that you go out and not see anything big at all. Its been a little over 3 weeks for myself, to see a fish bigger then 35 inches. On the other hand, i seen three fish today that were nice eatting fish, 23-28, but was enjoyed by watching them swim by. its something that you can only see through a spear hole.