Dayton sign musky bill

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S3450353.shtml

What are your thoughts??

I don’t. think its stupid. I don’t fish musky’s but if I would ever hook into one in that 48 to50 inch mark it may as well be the only one I get in my lifetime and I’d like to hang it on the wall.

I don’t fish ski’s hardly at all, but it would be my next choice as a full time fish to chase after Flats and Sturgeon…

All I can say for certain is those ski guys have their act together when it comes to getting laws passed.

Right or Wrong…

Kudos!

This morning I saw a picture of a large Musky caught over the weekend on Waconia. The caption said the fish was “54 inches”. I thought that was kind of a coincidence. I wonder how many “54 inch” fish we start seeing now.

To 99.999% of Musky guys it won’t matter. To anyone who wants a trophy for their wall, the reproductions look just as good and are about the same cost. Let ’em go.

It should be interesting to see if there’s an increase in the size structure of Minnesota musky lakes after this takes effect.

Rootski

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To 99.999% of Musky guys it won’t matter. To anyone who wants a trophy for their wall, the reproductions look just as good and are about the same cost. Let ’em go.

It should be interesting to see if there’s an increase in the size structure of Minnesota musky lakes after this takes effect.

Rootski

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In theory, the more Muskies that get put back into lakes, the fewer we’ll need to put back in through stocking. We have a world class trophy Muskie fishery right now in Minnesota, this should help keep it that way for a few more years. Muskies have never been managed as a food fish and most that are kept were caught by accident. I know that this 54″ top end size is hard for non-Muskie anglers to wrap their head around but these big fish can be caught again and again. It’s hard to put a value on a true trophy.

I think it is great. I wish Wisconsin would follow suit. If you want to mount a fish, a replica doesn’t cost much more. I would guess that most of the muskies that are kept, are by those that get the incidental catch. I guess if you want to eat a muskie, you can always try and catch one in Wisconsin.

I agree with the fact that to 99.999% of musky anglers this won’t impact their fishing year at all. Its for the accidental catches. I mean how many potential state records have been caught in the past 5 years, at least 1-2 per year? Yet since they were caught by musky fisherman… back they went because no one wanted to be the guy that killed a fish 4 oz short of the record. Or even killed one at all for that matter. I think its good to put on paper but won’t have much impact on fisheries because the majority of fish are released anyway. I saw quite a few killed when the min length was 36″… glad those days are over!

Just for reference, does anyone know roughly how many muskies are kept each year by the average angler?
I would guess 99% of muskies caught now, even by non-muskie anglers, are released.

Maybe we can pass a 12point buck or bigger only law too…

I’m assuming this ends all Muskie tournaments in Minnesota then, since all fish under 54″ have to be released immediately?

Pretty sure they all get released immediately anyway… or as immediately as possible after the judge sees the measurement and photos the fish.

54″? Show some guts, make it 60″! I’m hoping they have 36″ limit on walleyes in MN next!!!

Total waste of money pushing that bill around. Isn’t there better things to do. Most are released anyway. Waste of time put the time into better legislation.

If they are so precious that killing one for any reason is taboo, why on earth even allow fishing for them? Hooking mortality kills fish. Period. Maybe not many, but some.

They are fish….just fish. Nothing more. And I truly can not begrudge somebody for wanting to kill a 50″ fish. It does not seem right to me to deny people the chance to keep a fish of a lifetime.

Getting a minimum length limit, then upping it several times over the years has made it so 50 inch fish are not nearly as rare as they once were. So the “fish of a lifetime” is not the same fish as it was 15 years ago…

I’m a muskie guy and I’m against is.

Most muskie guys wouldn’t think twice about releasing a 50+ inch fish and neither would I. The reason I think it’s a stupid law is this:

When a walleye or bass guy gets a bigger muskie, they usually don’t have the equipment necessary to horse it in and they don’t know proper handling and/or release techniques. When you combine the long fight with the improper handling and release techniques, you’re going to be looking at a lot of floaters that could have been kept.

This law isn’t for muskie guys, it’s for the incidental catches. The problem with that is that the people who make those incidental catches are going to kill those big fish due to lack of proper equipment or knowledge.

Great bill.

And you would by surprised how many weekend warriors consider themselves a ‘musky guy’ and say anything over 50″ i’m keeping. Obviously this wont help unprepared anglers from fish mortality.

Call me arrogant but musky fisherman and muskie inc do a much better job at trophy management and keeping populations for the future than most any species. I love fishing walleyes and enjoy eating them, but walleye fisherman are terrible at looking out for the future. I know very few walleye guys and friends that release fish that they could legally keep. Plus most walleye fisherman *cough Mille Lacs cough* think that muskies are eating all their walleyes and would love to kill one. Fact of the matter is 10% of any species anglers are true diehards and practice good conservation.

I live in Madison, WI so it’s only about 2.5 hours to get “up north” in WI where there are lots of beautiful lakes with a 40″ size limit. My largest there is 48″ long.
On the other hand it’s 8 hours for me to Bemidji and 9.5 hours to Lake of the Woods where the limits are 54″ long. I’ve caught and released 7 muskies between 50″ and 54″ long on those waters, plus numerous 45-50″ers.
As a result I now spend 3+ weeks of vacation each year fishing in MN or Ontario and almost no time in northern WI. I spend a lot of money during those trips. Trophy fisheries help many people beyond just the muskie fisherman…if you protect it, we will keep coming.

“Maybe we can pass a 12point buck or bigger only law too…”…per Mark Bruzek

Careful, they might mover that four point minimum rule we have in the SE to state-wide.

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Great bill.

And you would by surprised how many weekend warriors consider themselves a ‘musky guy’ and say anything over 50″ i’m keeping. Obviously this wont help unprepared anglers from fish mortality.

Call me arrogant but musky fisherman and muskie inc do a much better job at trophy management and keeping populations for the future than most any species. I love fishing walleyes and enjoy eating them, but walleye fisherman are terrible at looking out for the future. I know very few walleye guys and friends that release fish that they could legally keep. Plus most walleye fisherman *cough Mille Lacs cough* think that muskies are eating all their walleyes and would love to kill one. Fact of the matter is 10% of any species anglers are true diehards and practice good conservation.

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Walleyes and Muskies are about as apples and oranges as it gets. Casual anglers pursue Walleyes for food and charter captains make livings helping them. Hardcore Walleye guys understand the fisheries and do what they can to protect it. I was a member of Muskies Inc for twenty years and get what your saying, it’s not that Muskie guys care more. Muskies are a sportfish plain and simple and Walleye sells for $20 a pound at the grocery store.

Almost a quote…

Flathead Catfish are a sportfish plain and simple and Walleye sells for $20 a pound at the grocery store.

MN Inland Waters have protection. MN/WI border waters a MN Licensed angler can keep 10 of any size, in WI they can keep 25 of any size.

I need to get to know the Muskies Inc people better.

^^ ^^