Two lines in MN passed it's first hurdle!

basseyes wrote:

Ice fishing gets two lines.

The Mississippi border waters get two lines.

Am all for two lines on open water. If that’s not acceptable, maybe we should get rid of two lines ice fishing and on the river. Every argument against two lines on open water can be applicable to ice fishing.

Thanks for all the info Brian K.

One of the biggest differences between winter and summer fishing is the overall # of people fishing. My guess is that only about 1/4 of those who fish in the summer ice fish and even those who ice fish probably spend way less hours fishing a week. I also believe that the feeding behavior of winter fish is far less than those of summer and fall fish. Once again just my .02 worth. I don’t have a problem if it changes or not.

Dennis Williams wrote:

I would argue if you have 10,000 lakes all the more reason to simplify and have uniform regs statewide.

Ontario has 250,000 lakes, and pretty awesome fishing. Have you seen the Ontario Regulations? 160 8.5″x11″ pages. 20 separate zones with different seasons and limits.

fishthumper wrote:

One of the biggest differences between winter and summer fishing is the overall # of people fishing. My guess is that only about 1/4 of those who fish in the summer ice fish and even those who <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fish probably spend way less hours fishing a week. I also believe that the feeding behavior of winter fish is far less than those of summer and fall fish.

I’ve seen plenty of small lakes lakes get hammered on by ice anglers when the panfish concentrate in the basins, with no regard to limits or possession limits. In open water, the fish are much more scattered after the spawn

riverbasher wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>

One of the biggest differences between winter and summer fishing is the overall # of people fishing. My guess is that only about 1/4 of those who fish in the summer ice fish and even those who <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fish probably spend way less hours fishing a week. I also believe that the feeding behavior of winter fish is far less than those of summer and fall fish.

I’ve seen plenty of small lakes lakes get hammered on by ice anglers when the panfish concentrate in the basins, with no regard to limits or possession limits. In open water, the fish are much more scattered after the spawn

I support two lines for me, since I don’t bother me fishing. I think others should use one line. Its all about me.

2-3 folks in a boat with a spread of 4-6 lines using boards can take up a lot of room. If you want to throw out a bobber for the kids and cast with another rod, that seems ok to me.

tswoboda wrote:

Ontario has 250,000 lakes, and pretty awesome fishing. Have you seen the Ontario Regulations? 160 8.5″x11″ pages. 20 separate zones with different seasons and limits.

I fish Ontario quite a bit, summer and winter. I have made cheat sheets for our group to trout fish in the winter. Around Nestor Falls you need to know what zone, what lake and if you are in a “blue” border area. We fish a different lake every day.

I am not for over harvesting. I would like to see a 3 or 4 walleye limit state wide. All fish over 19″ go back. All the special regs add a lot of confusion. If you fished the river from Stillwater to Pepin, I wonder how many times the regs are different in that stretch of water for panfish, walleye, sauger, etc.

How it would look on Mille Lacs.

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It’s funny that Ontario is mentioned, because advocates for two lines have often mentioned that border states allow two lines, so why not MN? On the flip side, Ontario doesn’t allow two lines….

Captain Obvious here: Ontario isn’t a state. (sorry, my attempt at humor today).

Exactly. The reason fishing is so awesome in Ontario is they have stricter regs and FAR LESS PEOPLE. And yes, Ontario doesn’t allow two lines either.

And ice fishing is totally different. 90% of guys fishing two lines in the winter are staring at two bobbers within 2 ft of each other. There is much less opportunity to be distracted while reeling in a fish and not seeing that your other bobber went down. Compare that to open water fishing where you can cast 20 yards one way and then turn 180 degrees and cast another 20 yards in the opposite direction. Then factor in wind, drift, visibility, etc and there is no doubt there will be more dead fish.

Since it seems like a good portion of the those in favor of two lines are river fishermen, and in particular catfish and sturgeon fishermen which I totally understand and would likely participate in if allowed. If this current bill gets voted down, would it be possible to draft a bill to allow two lines while specifically targeting catfish and sturgeon, and get the support to get it passed?

Every other state in the union and our border waters are 2 lines per guy, BUT NO….NOT HERE IN MN? COME ON MAN!!!!

Here is some good news..

Mille Lacs anglers will be able to keep some walleyes this year

http://www.startribune.com/mille-lacs-anglers-will-be-able-to-harvest-some-walleyes-this-year/505844052/

Personally I don’t give 2 hoots one way or another. If it passes, depending on it’s cost, I’d probably do it since most my fishing during the summer is for sunfish. Second line would have a minnow under a big bobber looking for a Pike.

I need all the help i can get!

This may be a heck of a summer. Fishing with two lines AND being able to smoke pot.

2… Make it 3 lines please.

Then I don’t have to stay 30yds from the magical Minnesota border where I can run 3!!!!!!!

75% of the time I’ll avoid the mn line so I can run 3. If I fish MN water where only 1 is allowed… There’s a bite worth it.

When I first experienced 2 lines…I had not realized what I was missing.

In my opinion (which is just that) MN inland fishing is far and away better than Wisconsin, the Dakotas, and Obviously Iowa…due to countless variables.

MN also has the 1 line restrictions.

Ontario has even more strict regulations and look at their fishing

I’m not anti 2 lines. I just can see how easy it is going to be to convince people (legislators) and other anglers that the 2 lines is a bad idea. For what it’s worth, I’m still betting my chips towards this NOT happening.

Two lines for cats and sturgeon is pretty much unenforceable. It’s been talked about.

I’m using a broad paint brush here to make my point…

If a person drew a line across the state just North of the metro area, that would show the division of folks that support two lines and the folks that feel it’s going to hurt the fishery. The exception to this (generally) is the muskie angler that would like to cast and soak a sucker at the same time and the person that trolls. Just something I’ve observed with no data behind it.

buckybadger wrote:

Ontario has even more strict regulations and look at their fishing

Ontario doesn’t even fit in this conversation, it’s apples to bananas. Ontario has more lakes than people that fish and a lot of them are to remote to have decent access. Of course they are going to have outstanding fishing.

I’m not attacking you at all Bucky, several people have mentioned Ontario.

Ontario doesn’t even fit in this conversation, it’s apples to bananas. Ontario has more lakes than people that fish and a lot of them are to remote to have decent access. Of course they are going to have outstanding fishing.

I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Most fisherman already struggle to keep fish. I would argue most also struggle to effectively keep just one line in the water as well.

Online forums such as this snap a very small picture of the overall anglers, and many here take it much more passionately which is the reason we all reached out into an online forum to be part of a conversation, bc we care, whether it’s about 2 lines, panfish limits, or the latest debacle on mille lacs. But it’s a reality, that the large majority of anglers are weekend warriors, the maybe couple times a year let’s rent a cabin, go up to the inlaws, etc. And with the busy work schedules, kids sports schedules, etc time is getting crunched outside of vacations. People simply don’t have enough time to fish as they use to.

To circle back now, many anglers when this gets passed will be like Hecks yeah! 2 lines! And they will buy the permit, and then let the games begin. Your trolling motor clinics, and marine shops will be flooded with lower units wrapped in fishing line, Cabela’s will be packed with guys to replace all the lost rods, broken rods, lost tackle from snags on bottom or as mentioned above gets wrapped in motor from forgetting about 2nd rod when going around a point, playing a fish, etc. It’s tough managing 2 lines for an experienced guy, 2 for your average weekend warrior, forget about it.

Fishing for most, as most iterate over and over here is much more than just catching. Once anglers find that managing 2 lines can be a big PIA most of the time and takes away from the fishing experience you will see the permit #’s drop back down.

With all that said, I’m a big shore fish guy, and if people ran 2 lines there it would suck really bad! Entire spots would be taken up by just one angler. So I’m on the fence about it still lol.

I started out in strong favor of this because I was only thinking about myself. I have more doubts and questions the longer I consider:

– What I worry about is the multiplication factor. I almost always fish alone from a small 14-footer. Mostly trolling the river. Sometimes I have my young kid along. Two lines is easily manageable. 4 would be a mess, we’d never even try that. Maybe someone with more skill and better gear could pull that off just fine. But how honest are people with themselves about their own limitations?

-What about the boat loaded up with 3 or 4 guys? 6 or 8 lines from one boat? If this passes I’d like to see a provision that stipulates a maximum lines/boat, regardless of whether they all have the 2nd line endorsement.

-As butthurt points out above, my other concern is with shore angling. If you’ve got 4 guys fishing a public dock, or a certain eddy, there’s a huge difference between 4 lines and 8 in my opinion.

It’s not mandatory you fish with 2 lines, but it sure would be nice to have the option.

FWIW – If it passes, just raise the license fee $5 for everyone to make life easier on the Wardens.

My god, in the era of $100K rigs and $40K wheelhouses a $5 increase will not affect anyone. Hell I throw out over $5 worth of minnows after each time I go out fishing.

Dennis Williams wrote:

I fish Ontario quite a bit, summer and winter. I have made cheat sheets for our group to trout fish in the winter. Around Nestor Falls you need to know what zone, what lake and if you are in a “blue” border area. We fish a different lake every day.

Nice! We’ve fished a bunch of the same lakes then… there’s about a dozen easily accessible from Crow. Great idea with the cheat sheets!

sticker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
Ontario has even more strict regulations and look at their fishing

Ontario doesn’t even fit in this conversation, it’s apples to bananas. Ontario has more lakes than people that fish and a lot of them are to remote to have decent access. Of course they are going to have outstanding fishing.

I’m not attacking you at all Bucky, several people have mentioned Ontario.

Then why do they have such strict regs? Hmmmm…. maybe they want to keep it that way!!

Every single argument against it can be applicable to an ice house with 5 guys in it, asleep with 10 rattle reels down over a community spot with 200 houses on it. Most are ok with that cause they are acclimated to it. Just cause it’s law doesn’t make it the moral high ground and just because it’s not currently legal, doesn’t mean the sky is falling if it becomes legal. Fishing is good in mn and Ontario because of geographical location, not man made regulations alone.

For the guys who approve of the two lines:

1) Do you honestly think it will not increase harvest?

2) Depending on your answer, do you think limits should be adjusted then?

basseyes wrote:

Every single argument against it can be applicable to an ice house with 5 guys in it, asleep with 10 rattle reels down over a community spot with 200 houses on it. Most are ok with that cause they are acclimated to it. Just cause it’s law doesn’t make it the moral high ground and just because it’s not currently legal, doesn’t mean the sky is falling if it becomes legal. Fishing is good in mn and Ontario because of geographical location, not man made regulations alone.

Fish metabolism is also different in the winter. And the picture you paint is for a limited time of the year, usually late winter when the ice is thick enough for all that vehicle traffic and fishing has slowed down by then anyway. Thank goodness.

lindyrig79 wrote:

For the guys who approve of the two lines:

1) Do you honestly think it will not increase harvest?

2) Depending on your answer, do you think limits should be adjusted then?

Limits in MN should be adjusted irregardless of whether we’re allowed to use 2 lines, 10 lines, or 1 line. 3 or 4 walleye with 1 over 20″, 5 or 10 bluegill with 1 over 9″, 5-10 crappie with 1 over 14″, etc. So many lakes with the potential for not only trophy panfish and bass, but numbers too, but sadly we’d have to legislate to reduce harvest of fish because there’s still too many out there that scoff at selective harvest and just want to pile for the social media pics and freezer burn.

I think there’s plenty of support from minnesotans to use 2 lines…every MN tagged boat I see out here in SD whether it’s glacial lakes or on the missouri river, all of those guys have no problem using 2 lines as allowed here. Personally, I’d likely never run 2 lines when bobber fishing bluegills or occasionally for walleyes, but for moving presentations, cranks or bottom bouncers, I’ll run 2 lines all day if allowed.

In the big picture, i believe any changes to harvest would be negligible at best. Two rods would be cumbersome more often than not in most situations, IMO.

Trolling or anchored up it would be useful and help dial in a bite faster, and in those situations, i could see it having a slight effect(very slight)

As far as statewide regs, our biggest, best eye lakes already have special regs, and it has been determined that reducing the walleye limit from 6 to 4 is basically meaningless anyway, so why bother with that?

I spend a fair bit of my time either anchoring or troll cranks, and for both methods, i would love being able to run 4 lines foe me and my boy. Bring it on!!!