Fishing opener advice!!!

[ascotinmpls]

As somebody who is originally from the UK (where we have no season opener concept) can somebody please explain it to me?

If the Season opener for bass isn't until May 24th, does that mean you cannot fish for them until that date, or does it simply mean that you have to release prior to that date?

The idea of waiting until April/May/June to me is just ridiculous...many of the rivers and lakes look ready to be hit to me, and i'm itching to get out.

[Sandmannd]

You cannot intentionally fish for them. If you are casting bass lures and get caught you will get fined. Now if you are fishing for another species, like panfish and a bass takes it. You are fine as long as you let it go right away. The reason they close the seasons and wait to open them again is to give the fish a chance to spawn. No fishing pressure during spawning is a good thing for the fish and for us in the long run.

[ascotinmpls]

Makes sense. So what fish are open all year round? I'm looking for something to do this weekend, and had planned to maybe go out on the Mississippi (coon rapids dam area) for a while.

Get a change of scenery from the PS3.

[Nick Kuhn]

I'm pretty sure you can't fish for that species if they are out of season. If you catch one by accident it's not illegal per say, but the fish must be released. Certain bodies of water are open to fishing all year. If you wanted to you could hit Pool 2 right now and go catch bass and walleye.

The reason it's there is to protect spawning fish to keep overall populations up.

[Sandmannd]

Panfish are open and non-game fish. You can go to the DNR site to find the regs. You can go down to the Mississippi in pool 2 and catch what you want, but that is a catch and release only. Some nice little piggies in there though.

[Tim_Anderson]

ascotinmpls,

As the other guys mentioned, pool 2 would be the closest thing. You can also fish border waters (Wisconsin/Minnesota would be the closest to you). Lake Pepin area and Redwing, all the way down to Lacrosse/Lacrescent down in the southeast corner. On the border water, you can keep some fish if you want.

[Dave B]

You have some decent catfishing at the Coon Rapids dam. They are fair game all year round.

[Muddog]

Your from across the pond. Carp is always open. Look for dark bottom shallow areas.

Good luck.