MN DNR Bass Workshop EARLY C&R season in 2015

At tonight’s DNR Bass Workshop they announced that the rule making process has begun to create an early Bass C&R season to coincide with the MN Walleye opener. This rule (Rule 10) also would allow harvest of smallmouth bass north of Hwy 53 after September (season is only C&R now after second week in Sept.) This would allow folks in the BWCA to take a few Smallies for a meal. But it would also apply to Vermilion and other northern lakes. Regulation changes for catfish and sturgeon are in this rule package.

Of great interest to me is that the MN and WI DNR are conferencing on creating matching regulations on the border waters.

Any progress is progress. Thank you for the update!

Thanks for the UPDATE!

government moves awfully slow

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Of great interest to me is that the MN and WI DNR are conferencing on creating matching regulations on the border waters.

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That would be great if they did this! I didn’t know there was a Bass workshop, could anybody attend?

Crawdaddy There are Bass, Esox, Walleye, Catfish/Sturgeon and Panfish Stakeholder workshops, some have been going on for many years, some are newer. We meet twice a year.The DNR is currently working on an overall Charter that will put more structure into them. So, becoming a workshop member will require a commitment to staying involved and participating. Private message me for more info. But these are public meetings, so anyone could attend.

Thanks Vern!

The catfish and sturgeon changes have been a long time a brewing!

Are there any concerns about mortality, high catch rates or predators raiding the nest when the bass is gone?

There must be studies of egg stealers when the bass is off the bed. At first blush, I was concerned. But then I thought that a bedding bass is pretty aggressive and there probably aren’t many stealers waiting to ambush the eggs. I think it would be a bigger problem for bluegills and crappies bedding where young panfish will travel in a pack to coordinate a hit on a nest being guarded.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for a C&R season a couple weeks before the actual bass opener. I’d actually prefer it be extended to start about the 2nd week of April or so.

There is a big chunk of the year where bass guys don’t get the challenge of figuring out the patterns. Pre-spawn is a big chunk of time. Think of the chunky ladies that might come boat side.

WI and most States have been doing it for a while and C&R does not seem to have an impact on the Bass.

Mwal

Have they actually done a study on it though. Again, I am basically playing devils advocate on this. I personally wouldn’t think there would be a noticeable affect, especially if it is just 2 weeks. That being said, the extra 2 weeks would be nice.

Studies have been done, YOY recruitment is not affected by open season on bass.

As a smallmouth guy I would definitely support a longer season. But I think it should be C&R all season long (Mille Lacs included). Not a better fish to catch IMO, but many other species that make better table fare.

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As a smallmouth guy I would definitely support a longer season. But I think it should be C&R all season long (Mille Lacs included). Not a better fish to catch IMO, but many other species that make better table fare.

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While that may be a great idea for some lakes, a longer season up here is much needed. SM Bass are an invasive species in many lakes up here and are negatively effecting the population of walleye in several lakes. We have no shortage of smallies here, and an extended season will not only benefit canoe travelers in the BWCA have an extra meal, it will help with the walleye populations as well.

Outdoor News just did an article.
Is it time for early C&R bass season?
I say

Hey guys… I also posted this in another forum… FYI

Basically this has gone through all the internal hurdles already and has been “christened” by the Bass Tech Committee. The only part we need to wait for is the legalese… Public comment period.

To address some of the concerns and part of the reason the proposal was even brought forth was due to the DNR’s sampling of bass by electrofishing over the years (mostly since 1993). We have ample data to evaluate whether bass populations are increasing or decreasing. We know that with some exceptions, recruitment (production of young to adulthood) is not a problem, in fact many lakes in central MN have too much recruitment! We have lakes that have abundant year classes of largemouth bass, rivers that have year class successes during low water (which is typical) and have yet to see major impacts from bass anglers or even incidental anglers due to the small amount of harvest that occurs.

Keep in mind that instant C&R has the least effect on the bedding fish (next to no angling at all), the harvest of bass is very low (most bass anglers C&R) and even other anglers claim less than 10% harvest. Currently people do use the excuse “I am fishing for crappie, walleye, pike, dogfish”… Name any other species and yet are catching bass. This also can simplify enforcement.

The current bass opener in many parts of the state makes those fish available to HARVEST and has been that way for a long, long time, yet we have increasing and expanding bass populations all across the state. So as a resource manager why wouldn’t one offer up additional angling opportunity??? Especially if we have data to suggest that there is limited potential impact to the resource?

In any case if some would like to discuss it further, I would be glad to take your questions. Please look up the contact info on the Little Falls Fisheries Home Page . I will do my best to answer questions/concerns.

Thanks.

Sounds good to me. In fact, it almost sounds like we might as well take the time from the end of Feb to the opener and make it catch and release. That would be pretty cool, but I know it requires baby steps.

IMHO the 90% of harvested bass are incidental catches anyway. I don’t think there is a huge group of people who intentionally fish for bass for table fare.