MnFish

Progress…

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Maybe the Executive Director they are going to hire will give them some direction.

https://mn-fish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/MN-FISH-Newsletter-April-2021.pdf

That’s a lot more actual content than I’ve seen in one of their updates. Hopefully they keep getting better. I like the sound of the stunted pike program. It would be fun to have nicer size quality on pike. Not sure I like them messing with tournaments although I understand the frustrations with loaded launches due to them.

At least it looks like they are starting to get their feet wet into some actual issues.

mahtofire14 wrote:

That’s a lot more actual content than I’ve seen in one of their updates. Hopefully they keep getting better. I like the sound of the stunted pike program. It would be fun to have nicer size quality on pike. Not sure I like them messing with tournaments although I understand the frustrations with loaded launches due to them.

With every 4th tom dick and hairy making a bass tourney it dies get a little old. Especially the attitudes of some of the guys at these small no name lakes.
But honestly that could happen everywhere and anywhere. But my area gets hit hard for bass tourneys and the attitudes get real frustrating

I think every public launch in the state is to small and there isn’t near enough of them on the bigger lakes.

Bearcat89 wrote:

With every 4th tom dick and hairy making a bass tourney it dies get a little old. Especially the attitudes of some of the guys at these small no name lakes.
But honestly that could happen everywhere and anywhere. But my area gets hit hard for <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass tourneys and the attitudes get real frustrating

Totally understand that. There are more and more leagues every year too. Problems of the popularity of fishing right now.

As I have stated before I am going to keep the faith and continue to support and hope things get better. I have to believe that MN Fish at this point is a bust. All the big names supporting it have to be disappointed. Looking at Pugs posted info $100,000 in contributions with the biggest names in the sport hawking it is very disappointing. With 876,000 licenses sold in MN in 2020, the $ 35.00 dollar contribution rate equates to only 2857 members. Pretty sad for the state of 10,000 lakes. They have to hire someone to get out to the local clubs and make a case why people should join. What are they trying to accomplish? The message they are sending is to vague. Decide on a few issues and get the message out so sports men and women can get behind it. There are a lot of causes they could lend there name to and get people fire up.

I love the CPR on the tourney topic, better for the fish.

Bearcat89 wrote:

With every 4th tom dick and hairy making a bass tourney it dies get a little old. Especially the attitudes of some of the guys at these small no name lakes.
But honestly that could happen everywhere and anywhere. But my area gets hit hard for bass tourneys and the attitudes get real frustrating

X2

tomr wrote:

As I have stated before I am going to keep the faith and continue to support and hope things get better. I have to believe that MN Fish at this point is a bust. All the big names supporting it have to be disappointed. Looking at Pugs posted info $100,000 in contributions with the biggest names in the sport hawking it is very disappointing. With 876,000 licenses sold in MN in 2020, the $ 35.00 dollar contribution rate equates to only 2857 members. Pretty sad for the state of 10,000 lakes. They have to hire someone to get out to the local clubs and make a case why people should join. What are they trying to accomplish? The message they are sending is to vague. Decide on a few issues and get the message out so sports men and women can get behind it. There are a lot of causes they could lend there name to and get people fire up.

Couldn’t agree more! All seem to politically correct and afraid to take an unpopular stance on anything for sake of sponsors. It doesn’t seem to have any leadership at all even kind of. The pace of doing anything and vagueness is tiring and irksome.

basseyes wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tomr wrote:</div>
As I have stated before I am going to keep the faith and continue to support and hope things get better. I have to believe that MN Fish at this point is a bust. All the big names supporting it have to be disappointed. Looking at Pugs posted info $100,000 in contributions with the biggest names in the sport hawking it is very disappointing. With 876,000 licenses sold in MN in 2020, the $ 35.00 dollar contribution rate equates to only 2857 members. Pretty sad for the state of 10,000 lakes. They have to hire someone to get out to the local clubs and make a case why people should join. What are they trying to accomplish? The message they are sending is to vague. Decide on a few issues and get the message out so sports men and women can get behind it. There are a lot of causes they could lend there name to and get people fire up.

Couldn’t agree more! All seem to politically correct and afraid to take an unpopular stance on anything for sake of sponsors. It doesn’t seem to have any leadership at all even kind of. The pace of doing anything and vagueness is tiring and irksome.

It’s because all the founding fathers are major businessmen doing business in Minnesota. They will NEVER do anything that could possibly come back on their brand and hurt them. They want the little guys money, however I’m not convinced they are interested in doing whats best for the resource, especially if it comes at the expense of the brand.

If you aren’t willing to take on the hard issues are you really working for the sportsman?

I hope one of these new board members likes floating 2 corks in the summer.

Four Minnesota angling dignitaries
added to the MN-Fish Board of Directors

Sept 21, 2021

A Bigger Braintrust

Walker, MN (September 21, 2021) – It takes some brainpower to build a better fishery. With that in mind, MN-FISH Sportfishing Coalition added four bright minds to its board of directors, each a veteran in the fishing industry. Joining the board are Danny Suggs, Rob Drieslein, Jimmy Bell, and Dave Hanson.

MN-FISH is a 501 c3 Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by a volunteer group of leaders in the Minnesota sport fishing and boating community is to restore, protect and enhance Minnesota sportfishing for present and future generations of anglers. MN-Fish 501c4 Coalition mission is to bring a strong, unified voice to state government and represent the interests of all anglers, clubs, organizations, fishing-related businesses, and other stakeholders.

Danny Suggs of Minneapolis has a lifelong passion for fishing and sustaining the resource. He is the former host/producer of “Fishin’ Time with Danny Suggs” and host/executive producer of the P.O.C.O (People of Colors Outdoors) Pro/Am Bass Trail, which aired nationally on The Outdoor Channel and Comcast Network SE. Both shows promoted diversity in the outdoors.

Suggs has also been the director of several tournaments, including the Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour, MN Wild 10,000 Rinks Foundation event, MN Twins Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation, Randy Moss Smile Network and many other national fishing tournament fundraising organizations.

Originally from Champaign, Illinois, Suggs moved to Minnesota to attend Mankato State University (now Minnesota State University) on a hockey and football scholarship. He graduated with a degree in Mass Communications Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism.

Suggs is an accomplished tournament angler, award-winning photographer, outdoor writer and was on the Board of Directors of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers. He has appeared in several outdoor books, newspapers and magazines, television shows and conducts fishing seminars across the country.

Rob Drieslein has been a Minnesota-based professional newspaper and magazine outdoors scribe since 1992. He grew up fishing Mississippi River walleyes and catfish between Winona, MN and La Crosse, WI. In addition to his editorial and general manager duties at Outdoor News Publications, Drieslein hosts the syndicated Outdoor News Radio, writes a conservation blog at outdoornews.com/Minnesota, and has written for several national and regional magazines including Pheasants Forever, American Rifleman, and Northern Wilds. Living in the Twin Cities, Drieslein and his wife of 25 years, Annette, raise three sons and a daughter, all of whom enjoy multispecies fishing the backwaters around Winona, canoe camping trips in the Boundary Waters, turkey and deer hunting, and recreational shooting. Drieslein has a degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.

Jimmy Bell is an experienced professional angler – over 30 years – who prides himself in helping solve problems by analyzing the facts. Bell has exhibited his passion not only as a professional angler, but also working with youth anglers, parents, and volunteers to help grow the sport of fishing. He started the Student Angler Organization and is one of the cofounders of the Student Angler Tournament Trail. These organizations were created to fill a void for competitive student angling that focused on conservation practices. Bell is also the youth coordinator for Lund Boats and President of the Lund Virtual Fishing League.

Dave Hanson has been the CFO of Clam Outdoors since 2008, and part of the MN-FISH team since its inception, assisting with financials for the organization. In 2020, Hanson and Dave Osborne (CEO of Clam Outdoors and current board member of MN-FISH) won the Partners Fishing Tournament, an annual private fishing tournament for charities on Lake Minnetonka. Their winning bag raised over $75,000 for MN-FISH; the money used for expanding the organization’s mission. In his free time, Hanson spends time outdoors hunting and fishing. He serves as a mentor for youth pheasant hunts in South Dakota that promote gun safety and hunting as a lifelong activity.

MN-FISH welcomes the quartet of esteemed fishing advocates to its board.

Looks like a bunch of bass guys and I know for a fact Dave is a huge basshead. Good news for me!

Time will tell what this means.

Be interested to know if James has been contacted in joining.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Looks like a bunch of bass guys and I know for a fact Dave is a huge basshead. Good news for me!

Basshead Huh?

How do I join that club?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
Looks like a bunch of bass guys and I know for a fact Dave is a huge basshead. Good news for me!

Basshead Huh?

How do I join that club?

Denounce all allegiance to the almighty walleye and you can be anything you want…….

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LMAO!!!
I’m thinking of getting a tattoo of a bucket mouth on the side of my face.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

LMAO!!!
I’m thinking of getting a tattoo of a bucket mouth on the side of my face.

IMO they’re building momentum.

https://mn-fish.com/mn-fish-newsletter-november-2021/

Partners:

In less than 48 days, you have the opportunity to help change the future of Minnesota Fishing.

Right now, the state of Minnesota is sitting on a $9 billion dollar surplus. The MN-Fish Coalition, with the help of four lobbyists we hired to walk the halls in St. Paul are working aggressively to secure $37 million to improve boat accesses and $60 million for desperately needed improvement to our fish hatcheries.

At the request of DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen, and with the support of Gov. Walz, MN-FISH is organizing and hosting the first “State of Minnesota Fishing Summit” on May 3rd at Clam Industries in Rogers, MN.

To date, these initiatives have cost the MN-Fish Coalition over $60,000 to implement, but the efforts are working.

By becoming one of our 2022 MN-FISH Coalition Benefactors, you will be invited to attend our Minnesota Fishing Summit and connect with industry leaders, DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen and staff, pro-anglers and other key stakeholders who are working together to improve fishing in Minnesota. Seating will be limited, so act now.

Gov. Walz is expected to attend, as are key DNR officials including Commissioner Sarah Strommen and Deputy Commissioner Bob Meier.

Please Help Us, Help You!

MATCHING FUNDS – One generous MN-FISH Benefactor has agreed to pledge up to $30,000 in matching funds to help cover the MN-FISH cost to conduct these initiatives. Therefore, I am asking for your generous donation to help us reach our fundraising goal of $60,000.

With our available matching funds, each dollar you donate will be doubled and become twice as powerful!

Matching funds checks should be made out to MN-FISH Coalition and mailed to:

MN-FISH Sportfishing Coalition
125 1st Ave. NW
P.O. Box 7
Osseo, MN 55369-9906

Please email your wishes to my attention:

Peace,

Jeff Arnold
MN-Fish — Founding Board Member

bigfatcroixbaby wrote:

Only in Minnesota would you have to PAY for the opportunity to BEG for a little bit of your money back! You can’t make this stuff up.

X2. Had to read it twice to see if it was satire. Sad deal all the way around. How hard is it or should it be to tap into 1.2% of the surplus in the land of 10,000 lakes?

bigfatcroixbaby wrote:

Only in Minnesota would you have to PAY for the opportunity to BEG for a little bit of your money back! You can’t make this stuff up.

Not to mention, as part of a group that you might have already paid to be a member of. I did inquire what the $ threshold was to become a “2022 coalition benefactor”.

So they are after $97 million. Seems reasonable given what tourism brings into the state. Their problem is that it’s really doubtful that either Walz or Strommen show up. Unless you pledge votes Walz will send the money to where the votes are. Strommen will do what she’s told.

Heres the other issue……if they secure the $97 million or any portion of it how much will actually make it to the intended purpose? Surely the DNR will syphon off a large portion to feed the corporate infrastructure. When it’s all said & done 2 accesses will be fixed, 9 trout raised and 17 walleye stocked. MNFISH will claim victory and slots will be instituted on 97 more bodies of water.

The above is my opinion only and in no way to be taken as fact.

3Rivers wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bigfatcroixbaby wrote:</div>
Only in Minnesota would you have to PAY for the opportunity to BEG for a little bit of your money back! You can’t make this stuff up.

Not to mention, as part of a group that you might have already paid to be a member of. I did inquire what the $ threshold was to become a “2022 coalition benefactor”.

I just messaged them asking, how can I attend the MN Fishing Summit. Let me know if you hear what the requirements are to attend.

Duplicate post.

BigWerm wrote:

By becoming one of our 2022 MN-FISH Coalition Benefactors, you will be invited to attend our Minnesota Fishing Summit and connect with industry leaders,

From the press release……….

By becoming one of our 2022 MN-FISH Coalition Benefactors, you will be invited to attend our Minnesota Fishing Summit and connect with industry leaders,

Mob & the Feds use to call it extortion before the politicians called it doing business.

I received the notice a couple weeks ago to find out how to become a coalition benefactor and didn’t hear back as of yet

I think you donate money, become a member.

BTW, I’m not a member of MN-Fish.
Because I’m a member of the Catfish Workshop, I was asked to attend. I haven’t a clue what it’s about except for the following.

“Invitation: First State of Minnesota Fishing Summit

Dear Brian,

On May 3rd, the MN-Fish Sportfishing Foundation & Coalition is hosting a critical event: the first-ever State of Minnesota Fishing Summit.

Our primary goals for the Summit — identify the barriers that prevent better fishing and the strengthening of fishing’s economic benefits in Minnesota, so we can begin working together to eliminate them.

As a key stakeholder, I am asking you (or designated rep) to join us.

Gov. Tim Walz will be addressing the Summit. Also attending: DNR commissioner Sarah Strommen, and other key DNR leaders; Steve Grove, DEED (Employment and Economic Development) commissioner; and Lauren Bennett McGinty, head of Explore Minnesota Tourism.

This provides us opportunities to ask high-level questions.

Time: 12:00-12:30 registration/box lunch (provided); Meeting: 12:30 -4:30pm
Location: Clam Industries, 12135 Brockton Lane, Rogers, MN 55369

Space is limited and time is tight so please RSVP by APRIL 20 by replying to this email.

RSVP Now
Sportfishing is a leading contributor to the state economy, generating more than $4.2 billion in economic impact. In addition to anglers and resource leaders, we want to hear from businesses that depend on quality fishing so we understand the challenges you face.

If you have questions please contact MN-Fish Executive Director Mark Holsten (651-308-6109).

– Ron

Ron Schara
President
MN-Fish Sportfishing Foundation & Coalition