Proposed New Limits – Minnesota.

From today’s St Paul Pioneer Press.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/5490024.htm

Jon J.

What do you guys think of that?

I like it!

Keeping in mind that most people fish with another licensed person in the boat, I am for the change. Two anglers can have 2 fish over 20 in their 12 fish limit. That is plenty of fish!

Jon J.

I like it……I think in time we will all have slot limits on all Mn waters. The DNR is moving in that direction I think?

I think they should have done that a long time ago.

If I’m reading this right, it looks like the current law only allows one over 24(walleye) and 30(pike). I had never heard that before.

That old slot was published and then kinda forgot about unless you read the game laws every year, and it surprises me how many people don’t.
This new reg. won’t affect much in regards to group fishing. Like Jon J. said they’ll still be able to spread 20″ fish out over the amount of people in their groups.
I would like to know how the Mille Lacs bite of the last few years skews the DNRs data as to how many walleye per person per trip are caught and kept?
I would hope they exclude it.

I think they are moving in the right direction. Lenght limits on all lakes would be OK with me.

FEAR NO FISH!!!!!

Looks good to me.

I am with Revermann here on this one, by saying this should have been done years ago. I find it interesting that people do not realize that today’s fishing has been as good if not better than the olden days and what do we contribute to this? Smarter conservation, more anglers practicing catch and release on the bigger fish, better water qualities which in turn pumps the food chain and forage base up a notch,etc…..

I am all for the change! Like Jon said, that is plenty of fish for several meals for a couple people.

I am definitely for preserving our resources and making sure there are enough fish in the future. I’m also avidly involved in catch and release as well as selective harvest and agree that these are important steps that everyone should be taking, but I also feel that these should be done on a volunteer basis and the DNR should spend more time & money on education on how to safely practice releasing of fish and the importance of it. The problem that I see if they make this law (or any of the new regulation laws on size limits) is what if you accidentally gut hook 2, 21” fish real bad and they are going to die anyway and you can only keep 1 (I think that everyone can agree that this happens). Now you face criminal charges if you keep both fish, and could possibly loose your right to fish. On the other hand if you let 1 of the dead fish go, it will just rot. I feel that this is a waste of a beautiful creature to let it rot away. Again I ‘m very much pro catch and release and practice selective harvest every time I am on the water, but if A fish is going to be dead anyway due to the placement of the hook or depth of water it was taken out of, I feel that we should be allowed to keep it so it does not become wasted. Fishermen need to take the responsibly upon themselves. The way the DNR is heading with the laws on fishing, someday soon you will need a lawyer with you in the boat to tell you if you can keep that fish or not. Just take a look at the trout regulations if you want a good example of this.

I think you hit it on the head about responsibility. The problem is I think you would start seeing alot of gut hooked fish and anglers saying “I had to keep it”

Personally I have no problem w/ 1 over 20″. I do have a couple issues-tourneys will get a little boring and more meaningless. A lot of guys can catch a bunch of 16-19″ fish on a decent lake. Those 21-24″ fish are a little more hard to come by (hence the new reg I suppose).

One rule I HATE is leaving a patch of skin on. What is the current rule for transporting a fillet of a fish over 24″ and those under???? How do they currently tell a 23″ filleted fish from a 24″? Honor system? I would hate to see it where the fish cant be filleted out at a resort and taken home.

I would rather see a 15″ minumum on all lakes before lowering the 1 over 24″. But I am for both.

But that is just me looking for the “evil” next step that often follows good legistlation. I eat about 2 meals a year of 15-17″ fish-so it doesnt effect me much.

So what do you all think would be better? 15″ min or lower the 1 over 24 to 1 over 20?

I think that if you throw back a ton of 14’s-those fish are only 2 years away from 20″ anyway.

Dave brings up a good point. As the law is written , any fish taken from a lake with a slot has to be left whole. Technically all of our lakes , except for special regulation lakes , have a present slot of 1 fish over 24″. I doubt anyone just does a gut and gill on their fish to keep them ready for a road check.
I remember seeing too many fish pictures of multiple fish over 24″ last year. There may have been a group fishing to try and justify the amount taken but I think there are too many people fishing without ever reading the regs.

Again I agree Dino. I’ve encountered way to many people who don’t know the regs. when hunting and fishing and think ignorance is a justified excuse.

Hi All

Minimum size limits on all lakes isn’t very sound managment. Each system needs to be looked at and evaluated before making such changes.I would much rather see the meat hunters keeping limits of 12″ to 14″ walleyes, than to fill their livewells up with bigger fish.

A state wide “one over 24 Law” works, because it saves the prime spawners, no matter what lake you happen to be on. Forcing all anglers to only keep fish over a minium size, could have a negative effect on some bodies of water.