It’s an investment but check out Tom Huynh University for a great online course on learning how to use LiveScope and interpret what you’re seeing.

ThunderLund78 wrote:

Have you ever heard of a situation in any lake (aside some prairie swamp lake where everything’s stocked by a sportsman’s club, etc) where the bass were really hurting and needed to be stocked? Both smallmouth and largemouth are very resilient and prolific species and very few are kept for the table. I say game on!

Personally, I think that bass are good tasting fish be that’s not my point.

Let me play the devil’s advocate and ask if bass populations aren’t hurting and don’t need stocking like you say, why change how the Minnesota bass fishery is evidently being successfully managed now?

Leather boots may be made water resistant but I’m not sure that they can ever be be 100% waterproof, even after waxing and applying Sno Seal.

Why all the Lund hate?
Are the Sport Traks themselves failing or the mounts in the Sport Traks? Go into more detail.
In my Lund, the aluminum itself would have to break or bend apart for the Sport Trak to fail. That’s not going to happen unless I really abuse them.
Did it ever occur to you that maybe you’re trying to use Sport Traks for something they weren’t designed for?

Are the Sport Traks themselves failing or the mounts in the Sport Traks? Go into more detail. In my Lund, the aluminum itself would have to break or bend apart for the Sport Trak to fail. That’s not going to happen unless it’s really abused.

I didn’t think you had a Lund with a Sport Trak or any experience with one. And you’re an expert on the strengths and the weaknesses of a Lund Sport Trak? How’d you get your Sport Trak knowledge and expertise?

fins wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Karry Kyllo wrote:</div>
Everything has a breaking point if used for more than its intended purpose. Sport Trak is alot more than just a trademark to catch fishermen. Lund Sport Trak works great if it’s used for what it was designed for.

So it’s not designed for fishing? Not sure what you’re trying to get at? What’s its intended purpose then?

Why argue and be a smart aleck? You know exactly what I mean. Do you even own a Lund with Sport Traks?

Everything has a breaking point if used for more than its intended purpose. Sport Trak is alot more than just a trademark to catch fishermen. Lund Sport Trak works great if it’s used for what it was designed for.

You can badmouth Lund Sport Traks all you want but I’ve been using them for almost 15 years and they’ve all been very, very good.

I’ve tried the crank caddys and have a few but I didn’t care for them.
I have a few Cabelas/Bass Pro Super Magnum tackle bags that I’ve been using for more than 10 years now. They hold a dozen 3700 size boxes (Plano, Flambeau, Bass Pro, Scheels,Fleet Farm…….they all fit nicely as long as theiy’re size 3700 boxes) and they’ve really worked well for me over the years. I use a black Sharpie to identify the cranks in each box and that way I know what’s in a box before pulling it out.

Servos don’t cost much and are an easy fix. I replaced mine at one time and it was inexpensive and simple to do.

Although I liked my Trollmaster, last year I switched to iTroll. It’s really not alot different from a Trollmaster but it has some features that I wanted that aren’t availble on Trollmaster.

I prefer the wired versions also.

In my experience, they both Trollmaster and iTroll work well.

dirtywater wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Karry Kyllo wrote:</div>
I agree that a walleye stamp should be mandatory if youare fihsing for walleyes.

I fish <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleyes exclusively on rivers and 1-2 lakes where the populations are and self sustaining. Why should I pay for stocking in lakes where walleyes can’t naturally sustain populations?

To answer your question, look at it as the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.
I don’t fish on lakes or rivers that are stocked either but many anglers across Minnesota fish in bodies of water that require stocking to maintain healthy walleye populations. I like to keep my money in my pocket as much as you but the five bucks you’d pay for a walleye stamp goes directly into a dedicated account for stocking and it’s needed.
I’d support a mandatory walleye stamp.

I agree that a walleye stamp should be mandatory if youare fihsing for walleyes.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
It’s two lines in the summer why would there be four out.
If you talking 2 people and 4 lines I don’t see an issue.

You are correct. I was thinking 4 in summer and winter. Like I said, I
m not a fan but would be OK with 2 in summer. Still think its more mortality and more pressure on the resources. My vote would be NO to any change to the current restriction.

Would there actually be any more pressure on the resources using 4 lines vs 2 lines or even just 1 line? It depends. There wouldn’t be more pressure on a fishery if anglers get limits using more lines and quit fishing because the same number of fish would needed to be caught to get to a limit.
If every angler stopped fishing when they had a limit 4 lines would be fine but that’s not the case and there seem to be alot of anglers fishing these days that don’t care about the resource. Look at the clickers on Lake of the Woods fishing websites. While the number of lines can be regulated, ethics can’t be so I’m for keeping it as is.

I’ve had my eye on an EFI Pro Kicker for a few years now but my carbureted Pro Kicker never gives me any reason to get rid of it.

Where are you buying your shad raps? I can buy them at Scheels for $8.29, Fleet Farm for $7.79 and Cabelas for $8.29 and even less at some places online.

The Ulterra Quests are very good as well and mine was bulletproff last season as well, There are likely alot of 36 volt motors on the used market because people are going to Quest systems when they can and then sell their older 36 volt motors.

I’ve had a Pro Kicker since 2010 or 2011 and I don’t remember ever hearing the low oil warning beeper or any beeper. If I heard a beeper, I honestly wouldn’t even know what is was without looking it up.
Mine has been a really good motor and I’ve never had to clean the carb although I did adjust the idle using the screw that B-man mentions at one time. I use leaded gas with 10% ethanol and always have and I’ve never ran it dry when done using. I do use fuel additive religiously though and add between every gasoline fill. I have changed the fuel filter in the past for preventive maintenance but I’e never had any fuel issues and honestly I’ve never even changed the plug since it was new. I’ve never had to. I troll alot and it runs like a top, idles nicely and always has. Changing motor oil and lower unit oil is the extent of what I have to do from season to season to get ready for the next year.
I’ll take it out of my shed this spring and it’ll start right off like it always does. It idles so nicely that I can’t even hear it running most of the time.

FinnyDinDin wrote:

We are gonna need your zip code included with your post to decide if you are allowed to weigh in on the topic.

I don’t need your approval for anything FinnyDinDin.

This is a chance to voice your opinions on these bills and try to make a difference. If we don’t take the intitiative, we can’t expect someone to do it for us.
The bills are first going to committee and if they make it out of committee, they will go to the Senate for a vote. Let’s try to stop them now.

Contact the committee members and voice your opposition. It will just take a few minutes of your time and a simple email to the committee members.

Here’s the link to the Environment, Climate and Legacy Committee to which the bills were referred.

https://www.senate.mn/committees/committee_bio.html?cmte_id=3130

Thanks guys!

Ripjiggen wrote:

Wast shooting the messenger so to speak Karry. Just feel that might be inaccurate. I just assumed they needed a warrant for a search and seizure of a home. I know they do in other states as I have watched plenty those conservation officer shows.

You are likely correct for search and seizure in a home. I believe the CO that I spoke ot was referring to entering a fish house or something related to witnessing an actual violation in the field. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear in my initial post.

Good points Bucky. I’ve contacted the author and the coauthors of the proposed bills and asked them what their motovation was to propose these bills but not surprisingly, I got no responses.

I’m told by the DNR that there is support for opening the season with a 3 walleye limit along with the possibility that it will be shut down later in the year and there is also quite a bit of support for a 2 walleye limit initially to help insure fall fishing that feels an initial 3 walleye limit is too aggressive to start with. After internal discussions, the DNR will issue a press release the week of March 10 outlining the open water walleye regulations on Mille Lacs.

Ripjiggen wrote:

The major item in SF 956 is that a search warrant or a court order would be required prior to conservation officers conducting searches and seizures. In talking to my local CO, this would mean that even if they witness violations, there would be cases where they could do nothing but watch because of no warrant or court order.

I have a hard time believing this is an accurate statement.

Like I said Ripjiggin, that’s what I was told.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I’m all game with the search warrant, but I doubt that means if they witness a violation they need a warrant. That doesn’t seem right and I assume the officer had it wrong. But no way should any officer be able to barge in any one’s homes with out a warrant. And if they know full well of illegal activity then a warrant will be easy to obtain.

The second one makes 0 sense so I have no real opinion on it besides it’s another terrible law maker trying to over reach.

That’s according to the CO I spoke to.

Finny,

It’s likely a combination of all of the above, but if in fact netting had the negative effect that some claim, a sustained decent walleye population for the next decade or so should be proof.
That being said, nature can definitely affect a system for 20+ years. It’s not unprecedented.

I think the problems with walleyes in Mille Lacs in the past are due to issues much more complex than just netting alone. The poor walleye fishing at times can be attributed in part to climiate change which affects walleye recruitment by disrupting the timing of ice-off, loss of spawning habitat and clearer water which can be in part attributed to AIS infestation. There are likely other factors at work as well.
It’s easy to blame the DNR for mismanagement and they may have made some mistakes but remember there isn’t a manual to go by to properly manage the Mille Lacs walleye fishery when there are so many variables at the same time and hindsight is always 20/20 isn’t it?
It could that there was just a perfect storm of variables that were uncontrollable and unmanageable. Maybe conditions in the lake have now satbilized and the DNR has finally figured a few things out about how to manage Mille Lacs. We’ll see.

Who are you talking about needs their money?
Another fact that seems to get lost in the whole AIS conversation is that lakeshore owners do not own the lake and there is no gray area. Lakes in Minnesota belong to everyone in the state and everyone in the state has the legal right to enjoy them, yes, even the city folk that you wrongly blame for the spread of AIS.

It depends on how you define a successful season. 14-3 is a great season by any standard and bad teams are on every team’s schedule.
The Vikes record next year will in all likelihood not be as good as 14-3 but a playoff run would make it a more successful season by most standards.
We’ll see. Us Vikings fans always hope for the best and expect the worst.

I agree Gary that the better bang for the buck is education and it’s the reasonable cost alternative to wasting money on AIS inspections. One of the earlier posts stated that “I’m all in favor of these launch kids, if 1 rig is found bringing something in, then it’s a success”. Huh? Doesn’t he realize that the battle to stop AIS has been lost and that battle was lost long ago. What kind of success is finding AIS on one boat when how many boats prior to when AIS inspections were started entered the lake contaminated with AIS or how many boats use the lake accesses during the hours that inspections are not conducted? That doesn’t even take into account the theory that AIS may be spread by birds and wildlife.
We all remember the predictions of the end of sportfishing in the Great Lakes when zebra mussels were first discovered as you refer to Gary but mother nature adapts. To my knowledge, sportfishing on the Great Lakes now is as good as it’s ever been for the most part and Minnesota lakes are no different.
There is no way to stop the spread of AIS in our Minnesota lakes either but like the great lakes, mother nature will adapt in Minnesota lakes as well.
The fisheries here in Minnesota in the future may not look exactly like they do today but our fisheries have always been dynamic and I believe they will be just fine. Many also seem to feel that all lakes are meant to be walleye lakes, bass lakes, etc., but in reality that isn;t the case. Every lake is better well suited for some fish species than others.
Fish populations go up and fish populations go down and that’s always been nature’s way, even before mankind was on the scene. It’ll always be that way.
I think that more of a threat to the fish populations in most of our lakes in Minnesota exists from the loss of habitat and pollution from runoff than AIS.
Why not invest the money now spent on AIS inspections in education and focus on some of the problems that can be remedied like habitat loss and runoff?