shed traps

Thanks for this post! I emailed my two cents worth!

I wonder if they will value the input as much as they valued the input for Mille Lacs and Red Lake?

I asked the same question to the DNR Brian.

The response:

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The simple and succinct answer is, yes. We are required to hold pubic input meetings to gage sentiment for the regulation. A lot of time and effort is spent gathering and evaluating constituent comment and yes, it does make a difference. This is clearly shown by the recent reversal of the proposal to stock muskellunge in Gull Lake near Brainerd.

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Moving on…

I’m going to try to boil my other long post in the catfish/sturgeon forum down to the facts for ease of reading.

* WI has changed the Lake Sturgeon rules covering their whole state that includes our only Sturgeon season with in an hour of the MN Metro area.

* A harvestable Sturgeon must be 60″, upped from 50″ as it has been. The season will be shorted by two weeks, it’s currently at 6 weeks.

* These WI laws will take effect for the 2009 fall season.

* WI DNR feels that for ease of enforcement and to keep anglers from traveling across the state, taking advantage of the more liberal laws and adding more pressure to the St Croix Sturgeon population…the rules should be the same for all of their waters.

* WI’s data shows a 50 Sturgeon will spawn once before it’s of a harvestable size. Raising the minimum to 60 inches will allow them to spawn twice prior to being harvested.

* More than half of the Lake Sturgeon over 50 inches are females. The can’t spawn until they are around 24 years old and reach 50″. Then they only spawn every 3 to 4 years.

* Males spawn earlier in their life, about 14 years old and then every 2 to 3 years.

* Since the start of the need to possess a tag to harvest a sturgeon in MN and WI, according to the MN DNR…there have been 12 fish harvested From the St Croix River over the last two years. (The tagging law started two seasons ago.)

* The most recent population estimates on the St Croix is less than 4000 fish.

* There is very little or no hook mortality from catching and releasing of Lake Sturgeon.

* Lake Sturgeon can live up to 150 years.

Facts End Here and Opinion Starts*****************

Given the facts above, I believe the season on the St Croix should be left alone at 6 weeks at a minimum and possible extended making the St Croix River a catch and release fishery only.

My reasoning?

Based on the population sampling provided by the MN DNR, I think the population should be protected from harvest until the populations improve. Allowing C&R fishing will not hurt the fishery…although I doubt miss handling of a fish is calculated in the “minimal to none hooking mortality” numbers. This is why supporting a fish is so important!

If we could leave the big fish…the spawners in the river system, 25 years from now we could have a fishery almost equal to the Rainy River system.

* Fact: Over 5000 fish have been tagged in the Rainy River.

Wouldn’t you rather release your fish and have a better chance at a 70 or even an 80 inch fish on the end of your line with in 10 years?

If our CO’s need the same rules across the State of Wi…for ease of enforcement…what about us anglers that have to know the laws for each body of water we fish?? Not to mention the other border water conflicting laws.
Man that reason just don’t cut it with me!

If the season was left at 6 weeks and the River was C&R only, improving the size and numbers of Lake Sturgeon…let the folks from out of town come. It shouldn’t be too hard to enforce a catch, photo and release season.

Which reminds me. Have any of you St Croix River Sturgeon fishers ever been check by the MN or WI DNR while Sturgeon fishing?

Just wondering.

If the rules on the St Croix are to change, let’s make a change that allows our Sturgeon to grow and reproduce at least until we know more about the numbers and habits of these great dinosaurs of the St Croix!

Whether you agree with my thoughts or not, please send your thoughts to:

Comments also may be submitted via e-mail until Monday, Oct. 6, to [email protected] or by calling (651) 259-5239.

I hope to see a large turn out on Oct 22nd…although I have little hope…I owe it to myself to show up and ask the questions in person.

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New regulation proposal for lake sturgeon. Oct. 22, 7-8 p.m., Room 100 A & B, Washington County Government Center, 14949 62nd St., Stillwater

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Briank…founder of the MN chapter of Sturgeon Inc.

I’m certainly not a sturgeon guy. I was in Idaho years ago and watched guys fishing for Sturgeon. Never saw that before. Anyway I was told by the bartender that Idaho DNR would lock you in jail immediately if they saw you remove a Sturgeon from the water, even for photo’s!! What they did was hook them and as they fought them ease the boat to shore. Then the fisherman would hop out of the boat, drag the fish towards shore and actually beach the fish. They would then measure and photo the fish. At no time was it completely out of the water. Nobody weighed the fish, just measured them. Seems to work well in Idaho.

My opinion would be to make it completely catch and release only. I could even go along with the keeping it in the water part. As I said I’m not a Sturgeon guy but it seems to make some sense to protect this species.

JMHO

I’m not sure about the jail part…but taking them out of the water is still against the law.

The reasoning being that a 14 foot White Sturgeon weighing in at 1200 pounds wouldn’t handle the winch that pulled it out of the water too well.

The White Sturgeon are much larger than the Lake Sturgeon of the St. Croix…but you are correct. That would eliminate any chance of the dreaded gill plate hold.

Ohio’s great White Sturgeon….

Awful big PowerPro tied to it’s tail!!

any one got some shed traps out yet? Just threw mine up yesterday, I used the chicken wire zig zags, any other ideas? This is my first year trying them

I think they are illegal in MN, so the most I do is throw some corn by small bushes and downed cedar trees. It hasn’t worked in the past, but some day (maybe today)!

I personally wouldn’t use a shed trap. The excitement in shed hunting is finding them. Go out there n get em

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I think they are illegal in MN, so the most I do is throw some corn by small bushes and downed cedar trees. It hasn’t worked in the past, but some day (maybe today)!

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X2 Yep, they’re not legal. Anyone know the T.I.P.S. # off hand? j.k. but yes you cannot use them in alot of states.

Personally I think antler traps area bad idea. Say a buck gets hooked up and isn’t ready to shed. Could get ugly.

yeah i thought about that, and with mine wire can be broken with my hand, and is pretty much like a woven wire fence. so its not ment to hang up the antler, just to knock it here and there. and dont get me wrong, my favorite exersize is to walk every inch of my propertied to find some bone, but i figured id try something new

A pile of corn under a picnic table.