2 lines open water and 4 lines for ice fishing in MN? It could be coming…

Id be happy with 2 lines in open water or ice fishing. I can’t see myself using 4 very often, if ever.
One thing to think about is the neighboring states, they all allow more lines than MN. Is the fishing worse there because of extra harvest? Definitely not. Go west and you can use 4 lines all year long with no season closure. Personally I think the fishing is better in the dakotas than here. How is that possible? Yes, there are more people here, but there is also far more lakes in mn to spread the pressure around.
The change is long overdue and will not affect the fishing any more than FFS, increasing population, or any other factor.

Ripjiggen wrote:

It’s two lines in the summer why would there be four out.
If you talking 2 people and 4 lines I don’t see an issue.

You are correct. I was thinking 4 in summer and winter. Like I said, I
m not a fan but would be OK with 2 in summer. Still think its more mortality and more pressure on the resources. My vote would be NO to any change to the current restriction.

Yawn.

Every year we hear about “This is the year”

…for those placing wagers, I’m in on the “this will get lumped with something else and will never happen” side.

I ice fish ND a lot and have never used all 4 lines in the winter that I legally can. Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you have to use it lol. I can definitely see how running tip ups would be nice with 4 lines available

Nodakk wrote:

I ice fish ND a lot and have never used all 4 lines in the winter that I legally can. Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you have to use it lol. I can definitely see how running tip ups would be nice with 4 lines available

That’s the big point I think critics are missing.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you have to do it.

I know guys that have 3 people in the boat and only have one guy that really fishes at a time (scoping walleyes and it works)

I can also guarantee you I’ll never take the boys ice fishing and run 12 lines, but 3-4 by myself would be nice at times.

More lines does not always mean more success-More lines tax mobility and focus. In open water they tangle.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
It’s two lines in the summer why would there be four out.
If you talking 2 people and 4 lines I don’t see an issue.

You are correct. I was thinking 4 in summer and winter. Like I said, I
m not a fan but would be OK with 2 in summer. Still think its more mortality and more pressure on the resources. My vote would be NO to any change to the current restriction.

Would there actually be any more pressure on the resources using 4 lines vs 2 lines or even just 1 line? It depends. There wouldn’t be more pressure on a fishery if anglers get limits using more lines and quit fishing because the same number of fish would needed to be caught to get to a limit.
If every angler stopped fishing when they had a limit 4 lines would be fine but that’s not the case and there seem to be alot of anglers fishing these days that don’t care about the resource. Look at the clickers on Lake of the Woods fishing websites. While the number of lines can be regulated, ethics can’t be so I’m for keeping it as is.

I have always been of the opinion that it is pretty much a useless regulation. Why not make it as many lines as you want in open water? You want to run 20 rods, good – tangle up as much crap as you can. Seriously – how much hassle would most people ever be willing to deal with? I believe it would self regulate at 2-3 lines max for 99% of the people, because very few people could manage more than a couple on their best day.

We are 3 lines for open water and ice here in WI. Ice fishing, I typically have my 3 lines in unless Im strictly bluegill fishing. I would have 1 jigging rod, 1 deadstick and 1 tipup in for pretty much everything else (sometimes it would be 1 jigging rod and 2 tipups)

Open water, I will use 3 lines for trolling or if Im spot locked and jigging (2 jigging and 1 deadstick)

It can get a bit hectic at times but that makes for more fun (or frustration lol)