Brian,

Actually the process of making a rule is Administrative Law and the draft of the rule needs to be made available to the public. There is a specific procedure that is required which includes posting the draft in the State Registry for public review. Most Departments formulate a draft before they actually publish it in the State Registry because there is a requirement that all ‘affected and regulated’ parties have time to review and are afforded the opportunity to have input. In addition, the Department is obliged to formulate a SONAR (Statement of Need and Reasonableness) unless it can demonstrate the rule change is not a substantial change from the legislative intent of the law from which the rule was enacted.

It is true that legislative activity that involves the House or Senate is not involved in the enactment a rule but it is true that the legislative underpinning from which the rule was formed MUST be followed. The Commissioner is charged with the responsibility for developing procedures that would operationalize the law… hence “Administrative Rules” are developed.

The process, as I read it, however is not being followed in the classic sense. It looks like the DNR is asking for input BEFORE the rule draft occurs which is backward and a bit manipulative. I could be wrong, of course, they may have a draft that is just difficult to get my hands on. Technically, they just need public input from those that would be ‘regulated or affected”. If you ask people for their opinions… you get public input. However, the public input provided can be easily disregarded or discounted if the people are not afforded the opportunity to review the actual draft before it goes to the Administrative Law Judge. That’s the point I’m making… the public is denied due process, in its most basic form, if manipulations like that are allowed. The DNR can demonstrate you had the opportunity for input but in reality what did you comment about? An idea? A conceptualization? Or were you allowed to what actually is intended to occur? Being able to view the draft language of the rule is the only way to be assurred you are actually commenting on what is intended to occur. Being allowed to review the draft is administratively guaranteed by law and is the way the ‘affected and regulated’ public have legal and legitimate opportunity to document their concerns about a given rule.

The Commissioner, by the way, can’t simply change or change back a rule. The Commissioner has to follow the process related to Administrative Rules (Chapter 14). Are they empowered under the law to orchestrate that process? Yes. But they cannot simply move without regard to it.

The DNR is no different than the Department of Human Services or the Department of Corrections or The Department of Public Safety in that regard. They all have to follow the process.

My final comment is that legislative activity happens in a variety of ways. The law of the land is not uniformly enforced or interpretted… that’s why we have attornies and judges. The legislature making the law rarely has anything to do with what happens next including the interpretations. The Department that operationalizes the law through the promulgation of administrative rules actually is where the most dangerous decisions are made because they determine exactly how the law is supposed to be enforced in the community. The administrative rule becomes an extention to the law and is enforceable to the same extent including negative actions, penalties, fines etc. In recent years, several Departments have decided to opt out of making rules and have decided to simply leave the law in tact without procedures. I doubt that the DNR will opt out. As far as other money being involved… it doesn’t require other money. It only requires PETA and other activist groups of that ilk to start a media campaign during a rule review period that persuades people to speak out for or against a proposed rule… OR someone influential to be part of a committee that actually partakes in assisting the drafting of a rule. That sort of strategy is fairly affective at the Administrative Rule level. You’d be amazed what having a Senator or a Representative calling the rule writers does to the Department. I think we should be vigilant particularly about something that so many of us cherish.

Curt

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I think this law is B.S. My kids always wear a PFD while Traveling, but they don’t need one while their bobber fishing in some back bay. Driving to the lake on our roadways is more Dangerous than anything else they’ll ever do, has anyone seen what the leading cause of death is for those under 18? Not lack of pfd use, drugs or alcohol use,Wheelin or snowmobiling, its Auto Accidents.

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While I understand the sentiment of your post and some of the others, I believe there is another side to the equation that people are not necessarily considering. Before I go there I need to disagree with the portion of your post that listed automobile accidents as the leading cause of death and excluded alcohol and drug use. I think if you go back and research the number of accidents that were alcohol and drug related you’d be amazed at the number. Are all automobile accidents caused by alcohol and drugs? No but the number is noteworthy.

I believe adults have the right to make their own decisions about what they do. I don’t really have a problem with people being idiots and suffering the consequences as long as the consequence does not include harming children or people I care about. Part of the reason that children are being asked to wear lifejackets is because adults who make their own decisions make stupid decisions that result in the death or harm to children that are in their watercraft or an accident caused by someone else not the parent of the child. How many times have you seen a boat load of idiots exercizing their rights running jet skiis too close to a canoe? A large boat shutting down or running so close to kids in a boat bobber fishing that the wake would throw someone over board? A pontoon boat full of drunken adults laughing and giggling but not paying attention to little 4 yr. old Johnny or Julie? Or the 14 foot alumnicraft with 8 people in it… 6 adults and 2 children… the boat is so over weighted that a shift to one side would sink the boat. In those situations, its the adults that made the decision that affects the child. I’m not saying I agree with over regulation, it many ways I hate more government intrusions but I do understand the logic in this one. When you add in the fact that the majority of people complaining about the need for pdfs for children seem to those living in heavy metro areas you begin to also understand why they would be complaining. Have you ever been to Lake Minnetonka during the weekend? If you have or had, you’d begin to understand why this law makes sense. By 10:00 am, with no wind what-so-ever, the waves by the Oreno bridge are genuine 4 footers coming from all different directions because of the amount of boat traffic. Its not a safe place to have children in a small or even medium sized boat during those times. My own personal opinion is the lake or waterway should be individually regulated according to the level of use and historical perspective on accidents, deaths, etc. The law makers won’t go that direction because the landowners and local vendors for a variety of products complain about the economic impact of regulations that single out certain regions. The end result is a broad based regulation that effects everyone even though it appears to much more applicable in specific regions rather than the entire state.

Anyway… I just wanted to bring a couple other perspectives forward. To each his own long as your each does not harm my own we’ll be fine hahaha.

Curt

Aaron,

The bait you have pictured is a Lake Fork Trophy Bait & Tackle “Craw Tube” or a very close knock off manufactured by someone who custom molded the original product. It is featured in several retail catalogues. The Bass Pro Master Catalogue has it on page 303.

Hope that helps!

Curt

John,

Interesting article. I agree that its impossible to be accurate attributing human intellect or perception to describe what a fish “sees”, feels, or thinks. In this particular discussion, however, I believe (opinion) water clarity and light penetration are the most critical aspects to determining the effect of color and the ability of the fish to utilize color to differentiate organisms in their environment. Studies have fairly concretely determined that Bass are color sensative in clear water. They have also determined that Bass are vibration sensative in murky water. Vibration and/or color are not ruled out in either clear or murky water but the degree to which the fish depends on each varies with water clarity and the conditioned response to their particular environment. How much color has to do with the fishes desire to strike an object is an intriguing question… that may not be answerable without understanding what the color represents. We have not ever really determined what color represents to a fish. We have only been able to determine that fish respond to colors, among several other variables, and their responses are influenced by those other variables in a multitude of ways. The concluding result has been a fairly widely accepted belief that color is one of the least important of the important aspects in chosing a bait… but it has not ever been ruled out hahaha.

I hope we get a chance to gab more. I love these sorts of conversations.

Curt

John,

How much does current play into how you approach the use of a jerk bait? I fish them primarily in lakes and consider them an ideal bait early in the season when the water temp is 40 – 60 degrees as well. I start moving more toward ‘twitch’ baits around 57 degrees though. I noted a number of differences in how we view the jerkbait in terms of hook positions, neutral vs slight drop, the angle of the bait in the water (head down vs tail down or level). I wouldn’t mind having a more indepth discussion at some point. I think the current changes the presentation of the bait and the equipment used substantially. One other point about white belly vs orange belly… My experience has been that in areas where sunnies or yellow perch (perch have a small splash of orange) are the primary forage the orange belly out produces the white however where shad and other classes of minnows like the emerald shiner are present white bellies out produce. So in dark bottom bays fishing very shallow I’m inclined to move toward orange bellies first. In deeper water, over rock piles or deeper sand flats I’m inclined to go with white bellies first. I realize most of my experience has been lake fishing but as I related above, I’d love to have a more indepth discussion about one of my favorite baits.

Curt

MN TS tournament is also on Mille Lacs that day. I paid the entry already. I was thinking my partner was also going to fish the MN TS tournament… but I might be wrong.

I near froze to death fishing there Sunday haha… sleet, rain, SNOW…. 25 mph winds from the NW gusting to 35… I thought fishing was supposed to be fun hahaha. I did bump into a few nice white this weekend on West and was surprised, 2.5 – 3 lb fish. I’ve not ever eaten them but I sure enjoy how hard they hit when they hit.

I hope spring is actually on the way!

Curt

Ryan,

I had a chance to get down there last weekend. The water on west was very clear. East was also clear. The chain was stained like usual but that north wind cleared upper gar quite a bit as well. I about froze to death on Saturday hahahah. 29 degrees in the morning… someone told me it was Spring and I actually believed them hahaha. I noted some very large crappie coming up shallow as well as large sunnies in. That cold front shut the fishing some but not as much as I expected it to be. I’m still trying to get the smallies figured out but didn’t get much of a chance to target them. I’m going to give them a whirl this weekend. They’ll probably be using the Walleye boats as cover hahaha.

Good gabbing with you on the board. I normally am pretty active on the boards but I’ve been too busy this winter. Hopefully I’ll be on more. I usually fish Okoboji until the Minnesota season opens. It will be fun to compare notes.

Take Care.

I use rubber nails. One version is found on page 201 of the BassPro “The Bass Book” catalog and are named T-stops. They are tapered so you can slide the small end through the bottom of the sinker until it protrudes out the top. Simply pull it snug and clip the ends. Much like a rubber band, it doesn’t pinch the line but it hold pretty darn snug. I’ve been using them for the past 4 years on mojo rigs as well.

I hate to see more construction near the water on East or West. The water clarity in West is substantially more stained because of the traffic. The limited amount of vegetation that grows in East is beaten to death by the boaters spinning circles near Parks Marine. I remember when you could see 20+ feet on west… those days are gone. It will be very interesting to see what the future brings.

I did see Muskies on the beds in the dark water on East and West and a few in the deeper edges of their spawning areas on West in the clear water. It surprised me how many really large females were still on the bed. I also noted a few that were beaten silly…

Big sunnies and crappies were also up. Things are progressing quickly their at the moment.

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Walleyes are more abundant. Mille lacs is suppose to be a no-kill tourney lake for walleyes and they are released after weigh-in. The catch and release format I was refering to is to measure or weigh fish on the water like in Muskie tourneys. It has been a great success. But I guess the DNR has more answers than I do, like Dave said. They approved the tourney.

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Derek,

I just wanted to say I sure appreciate your love for the smallmouth and the smallmouth fishery. Regardless of which end of the debate someone finds themselves, its the ultimate love of the fishery that keeps the sport alive. A 21 inch bronze back is a beautiful thing.

Curt

I am just now coming out of hibernation hahaha. I didn’t see the program so most of the information I’m about to say is based on what I read in the posts.

The tactics mentioned happen all the time but not necessarily with the outcome the folks doing it expect. Especially sight fisherman… if you’re fishing beds do you honestly believe hooking one of those fish the day before is going to cause their reaction strike or the nest guarding tendencies to significantly change in the next morning? It might affect a few fish but not enough to amount to much. If you are sight fishing, which I believe was what was occurring, do you think you really are going to sore mouth enough of those roamers to offset the number of biters that will roam the same area? Plus Jeremy is right… if you’re spending your time soremouthing fish that you “know” other anglers are going to use then you’re wasting time unless you believe you have locked in the winning weight somewhere else and there is no chance you will need a few of those fish yourself. To me using that tactic in the spring is more a confidence builder for the angler than an effective way to outsmart your opponent because the fish’s disposition is not conducive to the strategy you’re employing.

Summer time… on lakes… well.. that’s a little different particularly in pressured waters. Pounding a school several days in a row will have a negative affect. Pounding a certain object day in and day out will have a negative affect. The river, again, in my experience can be quite a bit different…but in the spring the same principle applies when you’re hot into prespawn… you could try to sore mouth those roamers but you tell me… would you be able to soremouth enough to stop someone else from catching a decent limit in an area with a large concentration of fish? From another perspective, would they stop eating when a barge went by because someone hooked them the day before? Would they stop the feedbag when the water begins to rise because someone tried to soremouth them?

The tactic, if thats what you want to call it, has its most significant affect when you know where someone elses fish are and you go there purposefully to pound them to soremouth them and to redistribute the school because of the pressure being applied. Its not something I do but I’ve sure seen it. I’ve also seen people haul fish particulary object oriented fish to other locations. You can call it whatever you want to call it but when you pull in seeing someone do it in an area you’re counting on or you have someone who has located their fish follow you all day so they can simply burn what you’re fishing then the tact takes on an entirely different perspective. I’ve seen some pretty serious discussions generated over that tactic without very pretty outcomes. But…if you’re willing to play it to the edge then you’re willing to except the consequences… no whining afterward.

Now that I’m awake and my gill plates are moving again for the season… its good to be out of hybernation… now pass me a pointer minnow … I’m hungry hahaha

If I caught that fish… well.. I’d expect the alarm to go off and to be waking up any minute…

Curt

Man… those pictures make a guy’s gill plates twitch! Time to go find some smallies!!

Curt

GREAT JOB guys!! Now… if anyone needs to win a boat on Tablerock its the owner of that poor sinking Champion! We’ll be rooting for you down there as well!

JC… its true… my nickname is Cold Front Curt hahaha and you can clearly see why I have it hahaha!

Curt

I would say the guy on the back deck is at a severe disadvantage… one false move and… water temp check hehehe.

Curt

Thanks for sharing that Dan! Its very cool when we can share what we love with those we love. Nice pictures as a bonus!!

Curt

Ever notice that going to Anger management classes tends to really tick you off?

heheh

Curt

Same as Reel Guy. 3/0 or 4/0 Gammy’s. I also like to insert jigs but we’re just talking about hooks.

Curt

Seems like some folks have to resort to binoculars, following people prefishing, cutting them off to get to the better fish, and even following them in the tournament… With greater publicity more and more people follow the boats they believe will lead them to the fish. Alot of guys don’t even fish the tournaments they just follow the boats and mark their maps. We look for Herons and new fisherman look for Bass or Walleye boats its seems.

I finally decided that I could get aggrivated to the point of morphing into something that even I do not recognize or I could let it slide off and try to continually be a better fisherman in spite of the eeeediots. These days I seem to walk the middle drifting more to one side than the other on different occassions.

I have adopted a few new rules though…

1. I rarely ask anyone for their spots. People that know me know that I will actually tell you to shut up if you start telling me your spots and I’m prefishing the area you’re speaking about because I don’t ever want to be accussed of stealing someone elses water. I believe if I find it I have just as much right to it as the next guy. I’ll ask about patterns and presentations but not specific spots except in very rare circumstance like a trade or a general conversation about a lake with a very close friend or if I’ve not ever been on the body of water before and I end up hearing about spots when I ask for general information about the lake.

2. I am not responsible for you, your boat, or your occupants if you follow me…. There is a small rock bar on a lake that I tournament fish quite a bit. The rock bar resembles a very small wing dam… it is about 22 feet long, 3 feet wide and 7 inches under the water on top. It has 20 feet on one side and 15 feet on the other. I have a habit of cutting the engine, trimming up, and gliding over the top of the bar to settle down just outside a sunken island that is near it. I fish the sunken island… if you follow me you’ll leave your lower unit on the bar and put your passenger in the water… A number of years ago an individual followed me and when I cut my engine he decided to race past me… he asked me for a tow… I told him sure… soon as the tournaments over. There’s a few closing dams that are very interesting when the water drops… ones that if you don’t hit them just right they hit you… I have no problem leaving you to fend for yourself if you follow me and park yourself on one. I’ll stop long enough to fish you out of the water but I’ll not tow you anywhere.

3. If I catch you using binoculars on me and I’m in the right mood I’ll go as far as pulling up the trolling motor up and drive my boat up to yours, introduce myself, take a picture and give it to folks to post on the board or I’ll post the description with boat numbers. If you believe you need to use binoculars to fish the fisherman then the rest of us might as well know who you are so we all can get acquainted.

4. I noticed a while ago that guys that resort to this sort of behavior also tend to stretch the rules so, again if I’m in the right mood, I have absolutely no problem reporting folks that blow slow zones, fish too close intentionally, or are unsportsman like on the water.

5. I follow the rules myself, try to be as courteous as I can, share information with folks that ask, and try to represent tournament anglers in a good light since most of us really are pretty good folks.

6. Never treat nontournament anglers like they are less than tournament anglers when it comes to fishing an area. If they are on it first I move on to a different spot. Allot of these folks will become tournament fisherman. They will learn from us… our bad habits as well as our good ones. I’d prefer to show them the good ones.

I know I sound gruff and I’m really not as gruff as I sound but I think we have a responsibility to be the best we can be to the general and specific public. Part of that responsibility is to address this issue like many others that cause ill will. I guess I’m just willing to address it straight up on the water or on the bank. I think grumbling about it without confronting it just enables it to continue.

Anyway, hope things get better JC. You know you always have my support.

Curt

Oh yea I forgot to add. The pictures taken were of fish on clips not a stringer (my poor aching fingers) and all were released after we significantly areated and recirculated the water with Catch n Release. We released the fish individually making sure each were in good shape before sending them off.

You’ll also note how similar my boat looks to JCs hehehe. It was fun to have a limit that could compare to those that have graced the bow of his Triton as well.

To BB Bane:

Heya bud! I hope we have a chance to fish sometime together. I’ll have to make a trip to Wisconsin for a cup of coffee and conversation… a few fish ta boot is always a bonus hahaha!

Curt

The top weight that day of the MN Team Supreme Tournament was just over 25 lbs for 6 fish with the largest fish just over 5 lbs.

My Berkley put us at 27+ for 6 fish (don’t know what the bag weight added in would have done) and our large fish is what JC is holding in the picture.

It was a tough deal to have the water declared off limits with the notification occurring right after I drew boat #6 hahaha but… that’s fishing. We had fish going in other areas but both of us were um… ticked… so we dropped from the tournament and fished during the tournament hours as if we were fishing the tournament itself. We followed our prefish plan. We figured our #1 and #2 spots would be untouched by other anglers particularly with the boat draw we had. We had all but largest fish pictured by 8:30 a.m. That big fish caused us to release a 4.0 lbs largemouth.

It was truly one of those days to remember. They don’t happen nearly often enough. The look on JC’s face… well… it went like this. JC sets the hook “Got another good one” Curt turns, reverses the trolling motor “need help?” Curt reaches for the net. JC “No… doesn’t feel that big” Curt see the fish flash deep “Not that BIG… bejeebus How BIG is BIG to you?” JC’s rod bends as the fish torques “um…. maybe I do need that net” Curt laughs grabs the net.. fish dogs down… fish dogs down… JC “Ya Baby!” Curt nets the fish. JC looks up… grins “Its a pig… get the net” We both laugh.

It was a great day and a great ending to what could have been a miserable memory.

In defense of Team Supreme, the ‘former’ tournament directors were evidently notified by the DNR on Thursday before the tournaments Saturday and Sunday. Several anglers were notified but they missed my cell phone number. It was a heart breaker to find out 10 mins before blast off that a certain section had been declared off limits by the DNR. My experience with Team Supreme Tournaments has been absolutely outstanding. This particular happening was a fluke… an aggrivating fluke… but a fluke none the less.

Curt

They eat it down south. They prepare it by skinning and then cubing the fillet, soaking the cubes in salt/soda then pressing the the cubes with paper towels and repeating the process. Once finished the cubes are seasoned and deep fat fried. My brother-in-law reported them to be very tasty as long as you pressed, soaked, and repressed the cubes.

I know they eat bullheads, quillbacks, small carp and buffalo and just about anything else they want to hahaha. I don’t enjoy catching them particularly when they take over the bass bays. You have to be careful though… if you decide to kill them they have a tendency to get revenge… they don’t slime the carpet like northern do .. they crap all over everything and the stench remains whether you like it or not.

Curt

Yep that smile is a trophy for sure Nice picture. Reminds me of JC when he was a kid. He didn’t care what the fish was as long as it was a fish and the bigger the better hahaha. Wait a minute… didn’t I see JC with a sheephead grinning the same way in a picture taken by Blue not too long ago? Some things never change

Curt

Hahahaha! Ya.. I’ve had days like that. Fishing is way toooo funny sometimes especially after the fact when you get a chance to cool off and look back at it. Its particularly bad when the day starts out with a minor disaster either doesn’t improve or goes down hill from their. Minor disasters always seem to come schooled never a loan roamer hahah.

Years ago I was fishing a tournament on local with a guy I’d met in my first MN State Tournament. We got along great during the tournament and caught fish ta boot so he called me and asked if I wanted to fish a tournament on his home lake. I hadn’t ridden in a real bass boat till the State tournament so I was pumped to fish with him again. I get to the landing at 4:30 am its 39 degrees out and the steam is not rising from the water (it was the lower 40s). He gets to the lake and he sees right away that I have my adrenaline pumping over amped to fish… you know what I mean… excited to the point you do really stupid things like can’t find your sunglasses cause they’re on your head… anyway. He laughed and said “you excited?” I said “of course!! I can’t wait. Aren’t you?” He says ” a little but I’ve fished alot of tournaments here” and he laughed. He hands me the boat rope and tells me to stand on the dock to swing the boat around soon as it pops off the trailer. I follow directions of course… I’m the rookie he’s the basspro in my eyes. He backs up the truck pops the brakes … boat doesnt move…. He sticks his head out and laughs sorry I forgot to unhook the boat… He takes the hook off and repeats the procedure and the boat doesnt move. I’m waiting jittery and over amped for the tournament just can’t wait to get going kind of attitude and he backs up again… nothing… He’s cussing and swearing so I figure ok… walk down the dock and go push the boat off… He gives the truck hell slams on the brakes. The safety chain to the boat breaks it flies off the trailer the tow rope tightens and Im perfectly horizontal traveling at about 20 mph out to sea hahahaha. Im in rain gear and bibs (cloth anchor) trying to swim to the 4 ft area and finally get there my voice is now 2 octaves higher… the onlookers give me a round of applause and give my partner all kinds of crap. He helps me get drained and gave me a spare set of bibs to wear. We jump in the boat no keys… he goes to get his keys and while he’s away the auto bilge starts… no plug in hahahaha We get our boat checked, he arrives realizes whats happened, runs back and gets his truck we put it back on the trailer, the field blasts off, we get the water out the plug in and finally take off. We are using crankbaits… he has one on his rod an one he decided to use so he walks up front rod under his arm puts the one he’s going to use on his bump seat and drops the trolling motor down… the trolling motor never stops cause the brace came unscrewed so its hanging by the cables… Im trying not to laugh cause its so ridiculous… he’s cussing pulling up the trolling motor by the cables. I’m looking for something that will work to tighten the brace and I see the screw and handle sitting on the floor. I tell him I’ll grab it and he says ok and sits on the bump seat…. His eyes get the size of silver dollars LMAO his butt is firmly attatched to the Bomber 8A with over size trebles and the bump seat. To make a long story short… we ended the day pulling the treble hooks out of his rump with a needle nose pliers, got the trolling motor fixed, lost a reel handle into the water and ended up in 5th place… what a day hahahaha.

I’ve had a few funnier but none that started out quite that way hahaha.

Curt

I’m with d-nort. Get em up and get em to the boat… if you can’t get em up right away I prefer to hold the pressure and try to get the boat to them… since that sucks most the time hahaha I much prefer getting them up and skiing them to the boat. Trying to manage a push pole while holding the pressure on a fish is more coordination than I’m capable… and holding the pressure while my partner push poles doesnt always make my partner happy hahaha.

Curt

…. I hope its not virus…. makes how we handle the fish even more important.

Curt

After reading all this, even though I disagree with Ray, I am tipping my hat to him He has courage and conviction. Gotta like that. He’s not so different than the rest of us. He’s just on the other side of the equation and he’s demonstrating pretty clearly to me he’s willing to share those feelings straight up. So… we may disagree Ray but you have my respect for saying what you believe needed to be said.

One more thing… I’m not a suck up. If I thought you were a dogfish I’d say it hahaha. I just honor honest expression when I see it.

Curt

I have to agree with Lawrence. I do both. I still love catching crappies and giant yellow perch I like just being on the water really… don’t have to catch anything.

Curt

Ray,

Part of what you’re saying is true, part is opinion, and part I’m having difficulty understanding the logic. I agree with you… some of what is considered “us” (tournament Bass fisherman) includes eeediots that have very little sense and don’t seem to employ it at the time you’d think it would matter the most hahahaha. On the other hand, every group of individuals has that portion of their population. I could say the same thing about resort owners that allow their customers to take quad limits daily and help them clean and stack the fish. I try not to include those eeediots as part of who I picture when I look at the group of resort owners out there. Most of us support resorts to the best of our ability and appreciate the hospitality and fishing wherewithall that we find talking to the owners.

This discussion is not really about tournament anglers or resort owners. Its about public policy and the economics of government. Heck … its not even about the fishery in many ways. I detest special interest groups pressing the buttons of government to create policy because it either supports the politician through campaign donations or the current government by revenue generation (additional cost of permit increases revenue and mark my words will be used as a rationalization to support the decision). It wouldn’t make a difference if I were for or against culling, this part of the equation remains the truth. PETA also influences the government and threatens the fishery. CAA (Campaign for the Abolition of Angling… yes type that into your search engine and read in shock at their activity) also influence the government and threaten the fishery. I just wish someone would look at the total picture first. In doing so one of the first thing we’d find is that we are the largest and most efficient predator so the first group to be controlled is us… we have a choice to either kill the entire fishery or support good management practice by educating the public and practicing what we preach… the best situation is balanced harvest and habitat preservation including water quality review. That all takes money… fisherman buy licenses, resort owners buy licenses, we pay taxes on all of our equipment and the land we own etc. etc. We’re actually on the same side of this with differing opinions.

I have mixed feeling about what you posted because I see a difference between the precautions taken Bass fishing and the precautions taken walleye fishing. Until recent years walleye tournaments had enourmous mortality. Your fears were justified. I read report after report until tournament circuits started requiring more sophisticated aeration systems and implemented dead fish penalties. So part of me hears exactly what you said. On the other hand, I paid to fish a walleye tournament where the DNR implemented no cull no release claiming that the high mortality of fish from tournaments on that particular body of water justified the determination. I raised my hand after scratching my head and said ” you mean that I can’t release the fish I kept alive because you believe a large portion “might” die?” The answer was “yes”… now that is pure stupidity. I walked away and forfieted the entry fee.

On the other hand… no cull does not mean no release… it means once livewelled you can’t release. It doesnt prevent anyone from gut hooking and releasing 70 walleyes and only welling their limit to kill to eat or take pictures of. The largest difference between catch and kill vs catch and release is you see the percent mortality of the tournament fish released… you don’t see all the fish taken in catch and kill cause they float in garbage cans after someone takes pictures and decides not to clean them or they are taken for food… 100 percent are dead in any case… they will not procreate… they will not provide the numbers to support the resorts or the tournaments in the future unless properly managed.

On this issue I support everyone’s ability to cull but it wouldn’t matter either way because I also believe we have an obligation to the water, the fishery, and to each other in the process. We should be able to discuss this rationally without getting defensive. If we ever were able to do that consistently we would become a very educated group about what makes the economy of fishing work as well as what is necessary to preserve the fishery. My gut hunch is that would require all of us… that we are intrinsically connected either because of our love of the water or the sometimes subtle trail of the money required to sustain what we love.

Long as we fight the groups that will cause us the greatest amount of damage will continue to move forward relatively unchallenged. My guess is that most of the folks that frequent the boards have never heard of the Campaign for Abolition of Angling in spite of how many times the group has attempted to influence Federal and State legislation.

Anywho… just the ramblings of someone who loves the water.

Curt