Don’t ya just love MN?

There is a block user feature. Holler if anyone needs to know how to use it…assuming I haven’t blocked you.

What I see is why doesn’t fishing the Mississippi river mean railroad track to railroad track Like it means when were fishing between Wisconsin and Iowa. If the tournament is held out of Wisconsin and the check in is there then Wisconsin rules should apply. It would be very simple to hold a tournament from tracks to tracks instead of worrying about where a states border is. When it comes to culling if the tournament is held out of Wisconsin then culling should be what their laws say. I say make it simple and fishing rules are where your trailer is at and a guy can fish from track to track on both sides of the river, it sure would make things a whole lot simpler.

If I remember right these guys fished Minnitonka a few years ago. The local law enforcement and lake shore association did all they could to drive these pros out. Now they have to deal with this B.S.! They don’t want to come back to Minnesota and who could blame them!
The pros spend allot of time and money promoting the sport of fishing and conservation. I think is a DANG shame that because of stupid out dated laws, these guys don’t want to come back. I have fished many bass events on the Mississippi and all the rules and technicalities are very hard to keep track of. I would love to see these law reviewed and revised to keep up with advances in livewells. If tournament fishermen wanted to they could legally club every fish in the head that they bring to the scales but they cant cull? makes no sense to me!

Maybe they should Kep, take them, fillet them and donate to charity, who wants to eat a bass anyway unless your hungry. Wonder how many would be taken on an average tournament, 30 boats equals approx. 150 bass taken from the immediate waters, sounds like alot of fish to me, especially the spawners. All this compared to barely crossing over into another boundry, I think they should keep the fish. 3 tournaments a year equals 450 bass, is it worth it.

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I’m sure we will see an apology about this in the next few days just like the last time this kid ran his mouth.

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This cracked me up!!!

I was thinking the same thing and now maybe I will get a PM.

So you can cull up until you have a limit? This law just gets stupider by the minute.

I know Pug, it makes no sense because legally they can take their fish home. I’m glad the bass guys love their sport so much and return the fish that they like to catch back to the water. Imagine if they didn’t. What makes more sense, taking all those fish home or saying they can cull, their going to be returned back to the water anyway, Id say very few take one back to their motel room to eat. If they all took their fish with them the tournaments would be outlawed and the local chamber of commerce would be on the hotline to the mayor. All over accidently crossing a state line and culling for a sport? I can see both sides but what if the tournament guys took their fish home, then it would matter if they culled, especially for the spawners, but because they release them I see no harm in culling. I can see a rule if their worried so much about the bass guys, in a tournament they all have to be released if they want to cull, no harm done.

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Maybe they should Kep, take them, fillet them and donate to charity, who wants to eat a bass anyway unless your hungry. Wonder how many would be taken on an average tournament, 30 boats equals approx. 150 bass taken from the immediate waters, sounds like alot of fish to me, especially the spawners. All this compared to barely crossing over into another boundry, I think they should keep the fish. 3 tournaments a year equals 450 bass, is it worth it.

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Well for the elite there is roughly 100 boats fishing the first two days, 50 the third day, and 12 the final day. So lets say every boat brings in 5, it never happens but it is the max number worst case for the fish.

That is 500 the first day, 500 the second day, 250 the third day, and 60 the final day. 1310 bass that would be killed and taken from the waters.

For the average tourney, I dont know maybe 30 boats like you say? Around here it is usually 20 or so for a club tourney. Figure on probably 2-3 per week. That is 300-450 bass killed per week.

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So you can cull up until you have a limit? This law just gets stupider by the minute.

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No, on MN/WI border waters you cannot cull regardless of how many fish you have. Any culling of fish is illegal.

this is from the MN Regulations:
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It is illegal to cull fish that have been reduced to possession.

Any fish is considered reduced to possession the moment you place it in your livewell.

Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

The issue is not with the law. This fisherman did not know where he was on the river. Some places on the river the MN/WI boundaries do not follow the main channel of the river.

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this is from the MN Regulations:
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It is illegal to cull fish that have been reduced to possession.

Any fish is considered reduced to possession the moment you place it in your livewell.

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Was that explanation given in the regs? I didn’t see a definition in the regs and asked here what reduced to possession meant. That makes sense. Kind of a funny way to say it though.

I didn’t know forsure Lenny and now I do, If its on the hook and you don’t want it, just throw it back. If its already in the livewell or on a stringer then you have too keep it. I wasen’t sure but you cleared it up, that’s the way it is here too. Sorting fish that are already in the livewell is you decided to keep it. I still think they should go from railroad track to railroad track, then theres no guessing where the state boundry is, everybody knows its the railroad tracks, no GPS needed. I don’t know, maybe there a good reason why Minnesota does it.

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If its already in the livewell or on a stringer then you have too keep it.

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Not necessarily if worded that way. We can after a days fishing return fish to the water. (Example: I need three fish for dinner but only caught two. I can return the two fish to the water)

What we can’t do is cull or sort. Meaning taking one fish out to replace it with (in most cases) a larger fish.

The actual law as it’s written…
6262.0100 GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON TAKING FISH.

Subp. 5.
Possession of fish while on state waters.
A.

Fish that are taken by angling and not immediately released into the water after capture are considered to be in possession. Once a limit of fish has been reduced to possession, no culling or live well sorting (the act of replacing one fish with another one) of that species is allowed.
/end

Replacing one fish for another that’s already in a live well or on a stringer, meant as a statement and not as a question, I understand Brian, that’s the way it is here too. If fish are kept all day and you want to return them to the water unharmed, you can.

Not necessarily if worded that way. We can after a days fishing return fish to the water. (Example: I need three fish for dinner but only caught two. I can return the two fish to the water)

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I’m not sure if that is true either. Technically you have already reduced those two fish to posession which means they can no longer be released. I don’t think the DNR wants you to drive around for 8 hours fishing with those two fish in the livewell and return them to the water later to see them stressed out and come belly up an hour later. That is the way I interpret the MN Fishing Regs book.

I’m a very huge walleye fisherman and agree that it’s a conflicting thing. More proof how backwards and stubborn the Powers to Be in Minnesota are. As far as the culling rule goes, being able to cull for bass tourneys in WI is a fairly new law. This was first enacted 2-3 years ago. It’s like the ridiculous/stupid bluegill limit that MN set for the river, too. REALLY!? Gotta make sure which side of the river your on for bluegills! Really!? MN needs to go back and make their rules coincide with WI rules in regards to the Mississippi being a boundry/border fishery. The stupid thing about WI culling law is that it ONLY applies to bass tournaments and that’s all. Any other tournaments can NOT cull!! So let’s not get into the bass vs walleye fisherpersons debate. If it’s good enough for one it should be good enough for all!!

It’s good you brought that up soldiersdad1.

I’m part, you hit on the reason why we have different laws on the same water. MN feels it’s right and WI feels they are right. So they pick up their marbles and both go home leaving US to deal with mess.

However, starting this year the two DNR’s are at the table going through the laws to see if they can work out some if not all of this mess.

They are starting with the catfish and sturgeon regulations. Once complete they hope to move on to the other species. Hey! It’s a start!

Regarding the experimental bluegill regs, I’ve heard rumblings that MN will be dropping them soon. (Remember, in Government the word “soon” is not defined).

As far as returning fish to the water, might want to check with your local CO. I did. His interpretation is the one you need to worry about…really.

I’ll go with Don Barone’s take on this one
it’s kinda long so I’ll link it rather than copy all the text here
but it’s definitely worth the read

Barone’s Open Letter to Palaniuk

Lots of good in that letter.

Thanks for the link.

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I’ll go with Don Barone’s take on this one
it’s kinda long so I’ll link it rather than copy all the text here
but it’s definitely worth the read

Barone’s Open Letter to Palaniuk

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WTF? Its long because he thinks every sentence is a paragraph and needs a line break. I didn’t read it, but after listening to Palaniuk, I don’t think he needs any advice or a pep talk. He didn’t whine about the rule or Bassmasters DQ they handed down.

It funny how here again we have a regulation where everyone is interpreting differently. I am guess it is another rule that probably is enforced differently by different COs as well.

Going by Brian’s reply, reduced to limit only happens when you have reached your limit. Others claim it is once you have one on the stringer or in the livewell.

Which brings up something I’d like to point out. I don’t think any fish that was on a stringer should be returned to the water. It would be likely that stringer fish is too stressed and beat up to survive IMHO.

i beleive where this man was fishing, according to photos, is in an area that a whole portion of the main channel is in Wisconsin.. I believe he was fishing at or near the west channel. that area alone, there is no exact line, on that closing dam to designate Wisconsin or Minnesota. he could have been within feet or maybe, actually in Wisconsin..You have to understand that the main Channel in downtown LaCrosse is all Wisconsin, on both sides of the bridge. Heck even people who live here don’t know the exact line. because they believe its the “main channel” when it is not.
this man never put 6 fish into his livewell at any time. that would be illegal.

I feel a little dirty just for being on a bass fishing site…

Ya, it’s a good read and I think most of us can relate. This “kid” handled his DQ with humility which to me shows a lot about his character. I think he’ll be fine.

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This “kid” handled his DQ with humility which to me shows a lot about his character. I think he’ll be fine.

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And that’s what being a sportsman is all about.

Agreed Grub….
Just like they don’t know that from the I90 bridge down to the west channel is entirely in MN…

It only took 1 citation for me to figure that out

1 look at a good map will tell a guy.

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Looks to me like you have a creeper on your hands josh markell

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Hey Chickenhead, I know where you live

I just want to say that I didnt read any of this thread, but I disagree with most of it.

You should not wonder why that is happening. WHEN MN AND ITS CITIES START THROWING MONEY TOWARD EVENTS SUCH AS THE ELITE SERIES TOURNAMENT, I AM SURE PEOPLE WILL START SHARING THEIR MONEY WITH YOU.

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The tournament and all the publicity says “LaCrosse Wisconsin.” The only connection to Minnesota is the boundary of the river. Where are the anglers staying? Where are all the alleged fans staying? Where is everybody buying their food, gas,drinks? The money is being spent in Wisconsin.
I may not agree with the rule, but it is the rule. Break the rules and that whats happens. Feel sorry for him but you can’t blame Minnesota.

And since the state has so many terrible laws and rules regarding fishing maybe everybody should stay away.

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Yes the law sucks that is why WI rid itself of it for tournaments. But the real issue is the boundary line and how its explained to these guys. It is very easy to get caught up in the moment when you know you are doing so well at something that you are headed for a win. Having lived in La Crosse and fishing the river for nearly 35 years it was not till about 10 years ago that I found out the boundary was not straight down the main channel. Everyone on this forum knows the power of water and how it moves islands. I am wondering when the last time measurements were taken to actually make the boundaries. It would be very interesting to see just how close he was to WI, probably closer then the 100 yards that has been mentioned. At any rate you can bet it will be some time before the Elites come back to fish such a great fishery. But I bet their return to WI will be next year, just to a different city.

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You should not wonder why that is happening. WHEN MN AND ITS CITIES START THROWING MONEY TOWARD EVENTS SUCH AS THE ELITE SERIES TOURNAMENT, I AM SURE PEOPLE WILL START SHARING THEIR MONEY WITH YOU.

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The tournament and all the publicity says “LaCrosse Wisconsin.” The only connection to Minnesota is the boundary of the river. Where are the anglers staying? Where are all the alleged fans staying? Where is everybody buying their food, gas,drinks? The money is being spent in Wisconsin.
I may not agree with the rule, but it is the rule. Break the rules and that whats happens. Feel sorry for him but you can’t blame Minnesota.

And since the state has so many terrible laws and rules regarding fishing maybe everybody should stay away.

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I’m not looking for money. If you read the post it’s pretty plain my point was why does Minnesota need to change it’s rules. It’s a Wisconsin event ran by BASS. Minnesota has nothing to do with it yet the OP wants Minnesota to amend it’s rules.

When you consider the Mississippi is shared by MN and WI in this part of the US you probably should think about how much MN has to offer? There is some great fishing on the MN side of the river. (Even Aaron Martens acknowledged that and the fact he did not fish on the Mississippi because of the culling law and the boundary line. The boundary line is just to hard too follow.) Also some great locations to handle such an event. A lot of MN businesses can benefit from $1,000,000 worth of tourism. One gov’t regulation is preventing the benefits. And now that same regulation will affect surrounding communities in another state. Its amazing how it works.