Just a quick reminder that the Southern Open is this Saturday. Looks like the weather will be clearing up and it should be a great event.

Hope to see you there!

Only 2 weeks until the MFBA Southern Open on Pools 4 & 5. See above for details. The mandatory pre-tournament meeting will be at Slippery’s on Friday night. Registration will be from 5:00 – 6:15 and the meeting will start at 6:30. Entries will be accepted until registration closes at 6:15.

Call Lanny Isensee at 507-259-7656 or Rick Pelletier at 952-270-3864 for more information.

Hope to see you there!

Marty,

Are you back in town for good now?

Rick

Thanks!

Scott Bonnema won the boater side with 16.15 and Chris Harvey won the non-boater side with 14.32.

Full results should be posted on our web site later today.

big spotted bass and a few giant smallies!

I’ve got 6 gallons of it, make me an offer. I live in Nowthen, just south of St. Francis.

I had this happen to my trolling motor a couple of years ago and it turned out I had a bad seal in the head of the motor, so water was getting into it.

The entry deadline for this year’s event is Saturday, June 27th (postmarked).

Tournament waters go off-limits on Sunday, June 28th.

See link above for all of the details.

There are still openings in this event. Don’t miss out on the chance to fish with the legends of Minnesota fishing, plus a shot at the $15K first prize.

Check out the link above for more details.

Glen,

Coon Lake is up in East Bethel (north of Anoka). We can definitely use some help with weigh in.

Shoot me or Jeff an e-mail if you’re interested. My e-mail address is [email protected] and Jeff’s is listed above.

This is for the MFBA Junior State Championship and the date of the event is Thursday, June 11th. We have 58 kids signed up, so we need 29 boat captains. Currently we have around 25 signed up.

Two of these kids are going to qualify for the National Guard Junior World Championship which will be held in conjucntion with the Forrest Wood Cup out in Pittsburgh. Their boat captains for that event will be FLW Tour Pros that don’t qualify for the Cup.

We have yet to have anyone volunteer for this event that hasn’t had a great time and look forward to coming back the next year.

If you willing and able, shoot Jeff an e-mail at the address above.

Congratulations to Robert Benbo (team Cabela10) for winning the first event of the year in for the MFBA League. Robert had 8,672 points.

In addition to the prize Robert won from Fantasy Fishing, he will also be receiving the Rapala gift pack from the MFBA.

As a reminder it’s not too late to join Fanatsy Fishing or the MFBA League. With the way the points work at the last few events, it’s still wide open for anyone to win the overall title.

Again, going forward the prizes for each event will only be available to MFBA members.

Congratulations again to Robert for his league victory.

Just a reminder that the deadline to get your team in for this week’s tournament on Guntersville is 11:59 PM tonight!

So, go out to http://www.fantasyfishing.com and get your team in for a chance to win $100K!!! It’s quick, easy and best of all FREE!

And don’t forget to join the MFBA League. We’ll be giving out prizes in addition to what FLW will be awarding. The information on the prizes and how to join is posted above.

In addition to the prizes for the overall champion, we are going to be giving away prizes for each of the individual events as well. For the first event on Guntersville this week, the prize will open to everyone. Going forward, individual event prizes will awarded to the highest finishing MFBA member.

If you want to learn more about the MFBA, come to our annual informational meeting on 2/28 at 10:00 AM. It is being held in conjuction with the Fishing Tackle Swap Meet at the National Guard Armory in St. Paul.

The prize for this week’s Guntersville event is a digital Rapala scale, Rapala measuring board and 6 Rapala crankbaits. We’ll announce the individual event prizes the Monday before each event.

See above for the information you need to join the league. FYI, you can belong to as many leagues as you want and best of all, it’s free!

Good luck and remember the deadline to get your team in for this week’s event is 11:59 PM on Wednesday.

That’s what I was thinking too. But last night I was flipping through the guide on Dish Network and apparently I am now getting Versus. I didn’t change my package, so they must have just added it. I’ve looked before and never got it.

Lakemaid Beer

Quote:

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now they only have to come out with a DT1

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Something tells me they will, perhaps in 2009.

Brent,

Good luck down there, I’ll be pulling for you!

Rick

Word is that fishing is pretty tough down there right now. I’m sure somebody will figure them out, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a slugfest.

10/4/2007 Document 2
6212.2500 PERMIT CONDITIONS. Repeal
6212.2525 PERMITTED FISHING CONTESTS
Subpart. 1. Limitation on number of boats. Contest participation will be limited to not more than one boat for each ten acres of contest water.
Subpart 2. Equipment Requirements for Live Release.
A. The live-well and fish-holding equipment requirements under items B and C are mandatory for all live-release contests to minimize negative impacts to fish.
B. Boat live-wells and holding tanks shall:
(1) Have at least one gallon of water per pound of fish held; and
(2) Be equipped with a functional water pump or circulation system capable of maintaining dissolved oxygen at five parts per million or higher.
Subpart 3. Contest Denials. Permits may not be issued for the following.
A. Tagging or marking fish for special contest rewards.
B. Contests being proposed on waters managed for trout, except Lake Superior.
C. Contests that promote or allow fizzing (the act of inserting a needle into the fish’s gas bladder).
D. Contests were boat take-off procedures result in unsafe boating.
E. Contests where use of live bait may cause increased mortality.
F. Contests on waters where the commissioner determines the activity may compromise the fish management or research data being collected.
G. Contests that the commissioner determines will have excessive negative impact to fish and fish habitat.
H. Contests on opening days, holidays, and other high use periods that the commissioner determines result in unacceptable safety risks.
Subpart 4. Permit Conditions.
A. Conditions may be specified in the permit for the following areas for the purposes provided in 97C.081, subd. 4.
1. Seasonal and daily restrictions;
2. Geographical restrictions;
3. Fish handling procedures;
4. Daily and possession limits;
5. Types of equipment;
6. Contest length, or
7. Treatments to prevent the spread of diseases and invasive species.
B. The commissioner shall consider the following criteria when determining conditions to be included in the permit:
1. Whether the activity will advance knowledge, understanding, interpretation, or management of a fish species, fish community, or water body;
2. Impacts on other public uses, research efforts, educational events, or management activities;
3. Impacts to spawning fish or areas, rice beds, critical habitat, or to the fish community;
10/4/2007 Document2
4. Whether the activity is detrimental or helps achieve management objectives for the specific water body;
5. Whether contest activities during high use periods are anticipated to cause unacceptable safety risks; and
6. Whether contest activities during high use periods are anticipated to cause user conflicts.
Subpart 5. Restrictions on weigh-ins.
A. Permits will not be issued to release walleye, sauger, and their hybrids(Sander genus within the Percidae family) alive after a weigh-in from:
(1) Memorial Day to Labor Day for all inland and border waters located in and south of Traverse, Grant, Douglas, Todd, Morrison, Mille Lacs, Kanabec, and Pine counties, except Lake Mille Lacs.
(2) From June 14 to Labor Day for all other inland and border waters, including Lake Mille Lacs.
B. Permits will not be issued to release bass (Micropterus genus within the Centrarchidae family) alive after an off-site weigh-in during July and August for inland and border waters, except Canadian border waters.
C. Permits will not be issued to release northern pike (Esox lucius) and trout and salmon (Salomonidae family) alive after an off-site weigh-in.
D. Permits for fishing contests involving muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) and sturgeon (Acipenseridae family) will only be issued for formats using immediate release as defined in M.S. 97A.015, Subd.26C.
E. Notwithstanding items A-B, permits will not be issued to release fish alive after a weigh-in, except for immediate release at the location of where caught when water temperature or water quality conditions may lead to undue mortality of released fish.
F. Permits will not be issued to release fish alive after an off-site weigh-in when:
(1) 100 or more fish total will be weighed-in for the contest; or
(2) Fish will be held more than 2-1/2 hours from the time they leave the contest waters until they are returned to contest waters.
G. Permits will not be issued to conduct an off-site weigh-in if the contest organizer cannot prevent the spread of invasive species or pathogens to other waters from activities associated with the contest.
6212.2600 POSSESSION OF FISH.
For Text of Subps 1 – 2 see MR.
Subp. 3. Authority to hold and release fish. In contests where fish may be returned to the contest waters, the permittee may be authorized to hold healthy fish and release them immediately following weigh-in. Suitable release sites may be specified in the permit for the purposes provided in 97C.081, subd. 4. The commissioner shall consider the following criteria to determine when a specific release location should be included in the permit:
1. water or habitat quality at or near release sites would result in undue mortality of released fish;
2. barriers such as dams or channels that may limit natural fish movement or
10/4/2007 Document2
redistribution;
3. genetics of the contest fish and the fish population where they are being released;
4. preferred fish habitat, home range of the contest fish, or where the fish was caught is beyond what the fish species has been reported in the scientific literature to reasonably navigate;
5. release of the contest fish at another location would lead to localized depletion of fish stocks from contest waters were the contest fish were caught and removed; or
6. release of contest fish may result in the spread of diseases or invasive species.
Subp. 4 Gifting and donating fish
To prevent the waste of fish, the tournament organizer may be authorized in the permit to collect up to one limit of fish per contest participant for gifting to a non-profit organization or institution. The organizer must submit a plan for collection and distribution at the time of application. Distribution of donated fish by the organizer or group receiving the donated fish must be at no cost.
16212.2700 CONTEST OPERATION.
Subpart 1. Restriction on use of public accesses. No contest may preempt use of a boat ramp or parking spaces at public access to contest waters. The organizer must submit a parking plan at the time of application for approval. The plan must include provisions for
utilizing the parking sites, off-site parking, and location of weigh-ins.
Contests shall not use more than 50% of the parking spaces at state-owned sites unless authorized in the permit.

The Mall of America weigh in was a one time thing back in 1996. There is no way an event like that would get a permit now, which is one of the reasons FLW and BASS haven’t been back since then.

The overwhelming majority of bass tournaments in MN have a live release percentage of over 98%.

Not that any of this is relevant to the WI culling discussion, which I agree is not something the DNR will ever resolve. It will have to come from the legislature and it will have to apply to all anglers.

DNR Fisheries Chief Ron Payer will be speaking at the MFBA meeting on 12/8 to address the proposed changes.

Here is the link to the meeting information:

MFBA meeting

Doubt it. He probably just let him hold a couple of his fish for the picture so he looks like a good guide. Or at least that’s what he does to me!

John,

Glad to hear it! When are we going out?

Rick

The shallow bite is still pretty good out there, although the wind on Sunday made it pretty tough. Flats with cover on them and a breakline nearby were the ticket for me.

I would guess they’ll be biting pretty good again this weekend. Just hope I can make it out there.

Agreed. I wasn’t trying to take anything away from you, I was just responding to the comment that you were struggling a couple of days before that. I’ve fished out the back (and the front) of that boat many times and have never faired that well.

Sometimes it’s just all about drawing the right partner with the right connetions.

For what it’s worth, I received my first permit for 2008 in the mail today and none of these specific changes were included.

nugget,

If you’re looking to fish as a co-angler, there are really only a few options in MN. Silverado, BFL, Weekend Series and a new circuit that will be run by the Minnesota Federation of Bass Anglers (MFBA). Details of the new circuit will be released in early December.

Bottom line is you need to look at what you’re trying to get out of a circuit (knowledge, advancement opportunities, etc.) and what resources you have (time and money) to obtain it.

Team tournaments are another option, but bring a whole different dynamic to the equation.

Rick