Protect the Panfish Too

[goose89]

hat's off to walleyeguy and fishface. well said! we need to change the old ways and make a meal out of some of the smaller fish and let some of the larger ones back. unfortunately, old habits are hard to break. it's backward thinking to some.

later,

goose

[Tonka Boy]

I visited the Sportman show last night and was fortunate enough to attend the Crappie seminar. I heard something that really surprised me: "Crappie tournaments have the #1 payout of all tournaments, including bass and walleyes". They are simply the biggest. So if you don't believe panfish will get their time in the limelight, just wait. It is only a matter of time before crappie tournaments catch on big time in our locale. Once that happens you can bet all the regs will be closely scrutinized. My 2 cents...

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Tonka Boy

[goose89]

tonkaboy, i hope you're right! the crappie situaiton statewide is pretty poor right now, in my opinion. later.

goose

[merc]

Lakes with a larger average size of northern also have a larger average size of sunfish. Lakes with a lot of small northern have small sunfish. Coincidence? I think not!!!

[blue_healer_guy]

I think we should just leave it alone. Slots on panfish? There's enough lakes now that we have to take a ruler to. There are certain lakes that just produce big fish, and there are lakes that just produce runts. That's probably gonna be the case no matter what is done. With the c/r and select harvest idea, that's great but I think it's not to well accepted with the older generation. I released a 8 lb walleye a couple years back and my dad thought I was crazy!

[walleyehawk]

Fishface for head of the DNR!!

Don't close panfish. If they are not available, you might as well close the lake and close the businesses that live off the fisherman during that period of time-if gamefish is also closed.

What about the parents that take young kids out to start them fishing? This is the best time for those long on enthusiasm and short on patience.

No biological reason either. More panfish--we have enough. If you want size, use slots. If you want to limit harvest, use limits.

Besides, we have people out there that use panfish as an excuse to go bass fishing. What will they do???

[rockhardinmn]

A interesting bit of info. Today i ran arcoss a warden on the lake and we got to talking . acording to him the idea of a length size limit like it was stated above has been discussed .He said it may not be to far off.

[Guest]

"Besides, we have people out there that use panfish as an excuse to go bass fishing. What will they do??? "
Amen!

Personaly I am not a panfish fisherman. I do love to eat sunnies and Crappies, but release them most of the time. I do enjoy panfishing through the ice, but would much prefer to fish bigger gamefish in open water. I fish Crappies in the spring by default releasing probably 90%. I don't really give a rip about fishing for sunnies in open water. I think sunfish are for little kids and the only way I would be intereseted in fishin them if 10 to 12 fish were the rule which ain't gonna happen no matter how strict the regs are.

As far as a true no fishing for at all closed season walleye are the only fish it makes sense for in this state.

[Corey Bechtold]

Check out the Outdoor news this week, there is a very interesting article about Sunfish and how there are few lakes that have big sunfish left in them. They experimented with 8 lakes, four by Walker and four by St.Cloud. After five summers the lakes with the limit dropped to 10 started to see bigger sunfish show up. Other factors will also improve the size of sunfish like releasing larger predator fish like pike and walleyes.

If you have a chance, check out this article. It may shed some light on this subject.

[fishface5]

Management has worked for Muskies, Walleyes, Trout, and even Bass. I think selective harvest is a better tool than strict C&R. Why shouldnt it work for panfish? I think 8'' to 10'' sunnies are very possible. The longer the DNR waits, the longer it will take to get quality panfish in this state. What sizes do you guys think should be released, or kept? what about limit numbers? Should the DNR do more experimenting, or should they start managing the lakes for bigger panfish? I'd like to see them take a more agressive attitude towards panfish mngt.

[M.T. Bucket]

To see what effects Minnesota and other states have seen from various panfish management approaches, check out the February 2004 issue of In-Fisherman. The article is called "Managing for Huge Panfish"

Suprising depth for a fishing magazine article.

[Guest]

Make it so you can only keep 2 Sunnies between 7 and 10 inches a day.

Despite my dissing Bluegills earlier, I would love to be able to get them 7inches plus consistantly through the ice. Big Bluegills are fun through the ice if you can get em.