Tonka Assoc Pres. blames tourneys for AIS

http://www.weeklynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=16&SubSectionID=54&ArticleID=7851&TM=31374.68

Fishing tournament participants represent a high risk category. I don’t think it is a coincidence that five of the six most recently infested zebra mussel lakes (Alexandria chain, Gull, Mille Lacs, Pelican and Minnetonka) are all in the highest prize category (greater than $10,000) of permitted fishing contests in Minnesota. These lakes are also very highly visited, but many other highly visited lakes do not have zebra mussels.

Just more lousey reporting…
I could take the time to tear into it with contradictary information and theory but why waste my time. Let the pleasure boaters have their cespool. -Mark

There are many that know the MN lakes (by name) better than I, but a very easy argument would be to look at the infested waters list (http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/invasives/infested_waters.pdf) and find a small lake that either 1) doesn’t have a public access or 2) doesn’t hold money tournament and then ask the question how they got there?

This article is written by the association president. He has had a bias against tournaments along with the Minnetonka lake owners association for a very long time.

The four lakes he mentioned are some of the most popular destination lakes in MN for non tournament boaters. You can’t just blame it on one group of boaters. Tournament fishermen are some of the most conservation minded boaters on the lakes.

AIS are a threat to MN lakes that all boaters need to be aware of and work hard to prevent their spread. But come on, don’t use your bias against fishing tournaments as an excuse for the spread of AIS.

I just responded to the story through their comments page. We all need to respond and overload the system with what we do as tournament anglers to prevent the spread of the AIS problem.

To not respond just gives them more ground. Fisherman need to stand up and raise the red flag when it comes to our love and passion being a scapegoat for a much larger and harder to tackle issue.

Kevin Kerkvliet

All Fishermen (& women) need to stick together and fight these clowns.

All the special rules and regulations for Tournament participants and yet I’ve watch the pleasure boaters leave with what appears to be a hay wagon going down the road.

The same lakes are the most highly visited by Ski clubs and Wake boarders, etc. too.

The Rules/Laws do little to control those guys, yet it only takes a rare few to screw it up for everyone.

Just watch the Tonka landing when there is a major tournament, there more Law Enforcement (City Police, County Sheriff & DNR) along with numbers of Lake Association folks watching every Bass Boat.

Would any Tournament Boater even try to leave a leaf on his boat or trailer?

Will there be a mussel brigade now to accompany the milfoil police?

Seriously…these wine-and-cheese snobs just don’t like people fishing around their docks.

pretty sure at tonka there is a dnr person at every boat launch to inspect your trailer tag it as inspected and pretty much the same as when u come out… why would u blame us tourny anglers for the spread of a weed disease when we know the rules and enforce them on ourselves! we know the problem isnt there its with the pleasure boaters who have no care in the world besides there wake size and the breast size of the bit$#@ that are on their boat……

that guy just looks like a d-bag. comment submitted

Quote:

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There are many that know the MN lakes (by name) better than I, but a very easy argument would be to look at the infested waters list (http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/invasives/infested_waters.pdf) and find a small lake that either 1) doesn’t have a public access or 2) doesn’t hold money tournament and then ask the question how they got there?

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Lake Vadnais – Ramsey County.

-J.

I don’t like Asian bighead or silver carp, they represent the biggest threat to our fisheries. Milfoil is a plus to most lakes and makes fishing better. Zebra mussels I’m neutral on. They have some negatives, but they have turned Lake Erie into the best smallmouth and walleye fishery in the world, so they’re not all bad.