Greetings, I haven’t been on the board much but thought I’d update you all on some issues I’ve been working on.
I have been working with other angling groups to make some changes in the MN fishing contest rules. We are a long way from getting this done, but here is were it seems to be going. Nothing is written in stone yet. These are changes for open water not Ice contests.
Change the threshold of who needs a permit from 30 individuals to 25 boats.
Eliminate the charitable exemption.
Exempt contests/events that harvest rough fish.
Exempt contests whose total cash/in-kind prizes total less then $500
Cut the permit fees in half (25-49 boats) $60, (50 + boats) $200 , Offsite $250 and $500
Require DNR to adopt a web based online permit application system
By 2011 the DNR will develop a process for contest organizers to complete a “best practices” certification , to insure proper fish handling and release.
Allow fishing tournaments to use public accesses to do weigh-ins
