2017 MN Fishing Regulations Online

Click Here to view the 2017 MN Regulations

Learn how we spend your license dollars

You may have heard that the DNR is seeking a hunting and fishing license fee increase in the 2017 legislative session.

More details can be found on the DNR website about how we put your license dollars to work. If you believe Minnesota offers recreation worth paying for, it is important that you speak up.

And continue to supply our Wardens with 3/4 ton diesel trucks, loads of equipment that is not in use 50% of the year, etc, etc.

I brought this up to a local official recently and he seemed to understand the public perception issue. If you are raising prices for the right reasons I don’t think people really have a problem with the rate increase. But when you over indulge with new equipment and equipment that does not protect the resource but rather is a partially an over reaction to public & political opinions (dare I say AIS, etc) then the public is once again non-supportive of your actual needs.

The increase is coming, nothing is likely to stop that. What does need to happen is the state & DNR officials need to a reality to check for their actual needs to maintain the resource.

Again – just my $.02.

Here’s something we all know, costs won’t go down (fuel, vehicles, supplies, labor, etc) that’s a given. With inflation adjusted our license actually costs less today than it did 50 years ago. They aren’t asking for a whole lot, just enough to hold steady. If the cost of keeping things on track is the same or less as 1 doz crawlers, I’m all in. Is there waste? Of course there is, name a business that there isn’t. Is there mismanagement? Yep, just like a lot of companies. Not saying it’s right, but just a fact life. I bet a lot of us can name a few things to save some money where we work. Most of us can also say we get a modest cost of living increase in our wages from time to time, shouldn’t the DNR folks have that luxury too?

In regards to multispecies, across the board, MN is probably top 5 in the nation. Let’s keep it that way.

Or… we could just start whacking away at things we don’t think we “need”. Unfortunately the low hanging fruit will probably be right in my wheelhouse. Catfish, Sturgeon, etc. We all know if it’s not spelled walleyes it’s not important, right? The highly successful rebirth of the Sturgeon didn’t come without a financial cost, but imagine the cost of allowing it to be destroyed again…

I completely agree Dtro.

I had a chance to go through the synopsis last night.

First thing I noticed was all the advertising. I hope those ads covered all the cost of the 30% post consumer waste booklet. They should be printing less I would think. I haven’t had a paper synopsis for at least 4 years.

The second thing I notices was the “don’t use lead” ad. The way it’s worded makes it look like manufacturers wanted to change over to non lead hooks and sinkers.

Now for a few more positive comments….

I thought the FAQ pages were very good. It covered what laws need to be followed on the border waters and where VERY clearly. Culling and what an AIS inspector can do including keeping us off a lake. (I didn’t say I agreed with the laws, just that the explanations were well thought out).

It talks about why the DNR is asking for more money and where to get more information on the topic.

I’m not sure if it’s a mistake, but the way I read the bullheads as minnow explanation, I now can have unlimited amount of bullheads (under 7 inches)? It was 288 per licensed angler. Checking on that. @LCDNRFisheries

Personally I think it’s the best synopsis I’ve ever read. Congrats to the men and women that put that together!