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| I am wondering how everyone feels about the ban on night fishing for muskies in Minnesota since it has already begun on a handful of lakes this year?
Maybe we can do a poll on which lakes we think will be next . . . My guess is Lake Minnetonka.
For those of you unaware, the boat landings at Lake Harriet, Calhoun, and Nokomis are now closed to night fishing and locked with chain and padlock from 10 PM-6 AM.
If you are concerned about these lakes or maybe that your favorite lake will be next. I encourage you to contact the following people at the MN DNR and City of Minneapolis.
Deb Pilger [email protected]. 612-313-7728
Natalie Brown 612-313-7763 [email protected]
If you are resident of Minneapolis I would also encourage you to contact the Park Board Commissioner.
Here are the contacts at the DNR regarding this matter.
Info (DNR) ([email protected]); Ellison, Daryl G (DNR) ([email protected]); Parsons, Brad G (DNR) ([email protected]) ([email protected]) ([email protected])[email protected]
I have respectfully communicated my concerns about this matter with all of these people but I am just one person. They need to hear from us all. I can provide more information on this thread at a later time. But, I think it might be best to aim your questions at these people instead of me. I think simply expressing some concern and asking questions might be a good route to go at this point because it requires them to respond and and have a dialogue versus ignore you if you are just going to complain (not that there isn't plenty to complain about.)
By the way, I have been night fishing these lakes for the last 15 years and they have not been closed after 10 PM despite what some people might say/think.
You may also find both the MN DNR and MPls Park Board's Mission Statement's useful as they both talk about recreational opportunities which this action clearly takes away.
I would also like to challenge you all not respond to this thread unless you have contacted one of the above people. If you have time to type a few characters here. . . please take the time to cut and paste them and send them off to the proper officials.
Thank you.
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | is this ban on musky fishing or all fishing ? |
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| Correct me if I am wrong, but they shut these accesses at night to try and control the spread of AIS, right? It wasn't specifically directed at musky fisherman as the original post implies as I understand it. Probably important to frame it properly to the DNR and lake associations if you're going to contact them. Again, correct me if I am wrong but I thought the night ban on fishing was a natural consequence of these attempts.
You're not at all wrong in the ridiculousness of this crap. |
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Posts: 833
| The city lakes are closed at nights as a means to prevent invasive spread. That these lakes have musky in them is purely coincidental. Whether this approach to preventing the spread of invasives will accomplish anything is certainly debatable, IMO. Also, I think the loss of the abilty to night fish those lakes is a steep price to pay for whatever marginal good might be achieved from this policy. However, I think saying they are banning night fishing for Muskies is extremely misleading. The ramp closures have nothing to do with musky fishing.
Edited by Brad P 6/16/2013 9:11 PM
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| You can walk around the lake and fish it all night for muskys if you wanted to. Its to stop invasives from intering the lake. |
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Location: MN | This post is extremely misleading, especially by its title. And the OP seems to contradict his post with the following:
"By the way, I have been night fishing these lakes for the last 15 years and they have not been closed after 10 PM despite what some people might say/think." |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Night fishing is still open. If you launch prior to the gates being locked, one could stay out and fish till their heart's content, they just couldn't remove their boat until after the gate is unlocked.
If you'd like to make any headway on your argument about locking of gates, I strongly suggest rephrasing your argument to at least be semi-truthful. Flat out lying will get you nowhere. |
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| Apologies if the title is misleading. It was meant to get your attention and it appears to be fairly effective.
What I meant is you can't fish at night out of a boat due to the locked gates. Since most of the people on this site fish out of boats for muskies I thought framing it that way would be most effective in getting your attention and it is pretty accurate. You can't fish for muskies out of a boat so essentially it is banned. Yes walleye anglers and other boat users are effected too but since everyone here pretty much cares about the muskies,I thought it made sense to frame it that way.
What is troubling to me is that nobody seems to care.
Yes, I suppose you could fish for muskie from shore or keep your boat in all night until 6:00 AM but are you going to be OK with that if that if this is the way all the lakes in MN are including your favorite muskie lake?
I know there is a wide array of experience levels regarding the muskie anglers on this site. In case you are fairly to new to the sport, you should know that typically you can catch more muskies in four hours of night fishing than the combined 16 hours of daylight on most muskie waters with rivers maybe being the exception.
Catching them is going to get a lot harder if we can't fish at night. |
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Posts: 82
| The simple truth is this is a tactic that lake associations are using to keep people off "their " lakes. Gate them so noone can have access to public property except people who own the land around the lake. Heck the invasive excuse is even been used to stop muskie introductions in Mn. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | This has been discussed in great detail here.
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=85... |
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| Maybe is people don't fish so much at night they will be hungrier during the day... |
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| Reagarding And the OP seems to contradict his post with the following:
"By the way, I have been night fishing these lakes for the last 15 years and they have not been closed after 10 PM despite what some people might say/think."
I mentioned this because some people from the park board or DNR may claim the landing has always been closed at 10 PM. That is false but depending on who you talk to they may try to tell you that as one person tried to with me before I set them straight. |
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| Just reviewed the old thread you included Steve. There is some false information there from mojo 1269 which may have led people to fall on one side or the other of the issue. And mojo this is not an attack on you or any hard feelings. I think your intentions were good and you were sharing your insights based on your experiences. But you have always been able to fish late out there. You just have to know where to park. |
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Location: The desert | guest - 6/17/2013 6:13 AM
joshb,
Trust me people care. I am the one who started the original thread. I have been in contact with Brad Parsons at the DNR and voiced my extreme displeasure with the situation. The approach I took was to tell Brad that if the DNR is going to allow this type of restricted access I would rather they cut stocking all together. Why are my license dollars being spent on stocking if the access has closed hours?
I personally cant wait to see the inspectors huddled in their cars trying to keep warm at 6am and 10pm in November. Adjust the hours in the summer and cut the hours in the Fall if the city wants to continue with this foolishness. I have also not told them once that the last lake I was in was Tonka or any other ZM infested lake. It is none of their GD business what the last lake I was in was or how long ago it was.
And you wonder why it gets closed....
You have only yourself to thank. |
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Location: The desert | joshb - 6/16/2013 10:00 PM
Apologies if the title is misleading. It was meant to get your attention and it appears to be fairly effective.
What I meant is you can't fish at night out of a boat due to the locked gates. Since most of the people on this site fish out of boats for muskies I thought framing it that way would be most effective in getting your attention and it is pretty accurate. You can't fish for muskies out of a boat so essentially it is banned. Yes walleye anglers and other boat users are effected too but since everyone here pretty much cares about the muskies,I thought it made sense to frame it that way.
What is troubling to me is that nobody seems to care.
Yes, I suppose you could fish for muskie from shore or keep your boat in all night until 6:00 AM but are you going to be OK with that if that if this is the way all the lakes in MN are including your favorite muskie lake?
I know there is a wide array of experience levels regarding the muskie anglers on this site. In case you are fairly to new to the sport, you should know that typically you can catch more muskies in four hours of night fishing than the combined 16 hours of daylight on most muskie waters with rivers maybe being the exception.
Catching them is going to get a lot harder if we can't fish at night.
So framing your argument deceptively is your best method of getting people's attention? And then you find it shocking that "no one cares"? I think a lot of people do care, but they'd rather not associate with deception. You frame it as a state wide ban when in reality this affects few lakes. And later in your rant you go on to contradict. It seems rather obvious why very few would want to have you leading the fight against this.
You also can't seem to grasp the distinction between the MNDNR and the Mpls. Park system. It is my understanding that the park system has made this decision. Please correct me if I'm wrong, however you'll certainly understand why I'll have trouble believing you. You haven't really established much credibility thus far.
Could you please provide a credible link to the idea that this will be the norm at all lakes in Minnesota? I won't wait up for it, however, as it isn't out there.
Furthermore, whoever is concerned about this in November needs to do a bit more fact checking to understand why this wont be an issue. I know educating oneself on the issues can be a tough task for some and it's easier to get outraged, but a little reading might go a long way. |
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Posts: 110
Location: Albertville, Minnesota | Joshb, thanks for posting the contact info. First off, I see that you directed your initial post as muskie fishing because most people that view this forum are muskie fisherman. I also took your initial post as more of a question, do you believe other lakes may be affected by this ban? I would yes. And guest, it is non of there GD business were I was fishing last, especially if I have done everything properly to make sure my boat meets the laws "to help" not transfer "potential" invasives to other lakes.
I haven't responded on this message board in sometime, but I do check out reports or messages like this time to time.
Chris |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | Serpant - 6/17/2013 9:37 AM
But PP 102, some of your post drive me up a wall. You have not provided nothing to this thread with the exception of being combative to a current/and potentially a more crazy issue here in MN. Key word, potential.
Chris
PP102 is giving you an honest answer with a background in the subject. the fact you don't like the answer may trouble you, but it's also from a viewpoint in the know on the subject. i believe he is soon to be paid by your state to control AIS.
that was a solid double-negative, for a moment i thought the subject was Kentucky AIS. :0) |
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Location: The desert | If I haven't provided nothing, I'm doing well.
If people would take a little time to read the other threads they would come to find out that I'm on the side of the boaters here. As I understand it, so is the MN DNR. This policy set forth by the Mpls. Park system goes above and beyond state law. I'm merely pointing out that there are good ways and bad ways to go about tackling this issue. Starting off with a blatant misrepresentation of the facts is going to get you nowhere. Being upset about restricted access is not wrong. But lying in an attempt to bolster your point is foolish.
I'm not being combative, I'm simply presenting the facts. You may not like them, but they are what they are.
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Location: The desert |
So a proposal from August 9, 2012? Do you have the results from the meeting. Did you attend the meeting? |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Some people don't want to discuss the facts regarding this subject, they want to complain and inflame, yet offer no reasonable alternatives or options one might support.
The first post in this thread was titled improperly and that has been pointed out; I thought the rest was pretty well said. Unfortunately, the misleading title and beginning paragraph somewhat diminished the argument.
The subject was debated at length already and the exact same direction was taken, so the author apparently did not see that thread before posting or thought the input from the same guy who disrupted the conversation last time might be different...it wasn't..
'Guest', perhaps offer actual alternatives or solutions we all can support as a 'community', drop the alarmist attack verbiage, and maybe you won't have folks point out the weaknesses in your arguments and approach. |
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Location: The desert | Guest - 6/17/2013 11:27 AM
pointerpride hasn't caught very many muskies and doesn't live in MN. He only graduated from college a few years ago. What makes him an authority on MN AIS issues, again? As usual, he's just looking for a petty argument. Useless.
Also, I would guess that joshb is Josh Borovsky: http://www.promuskieguide.com/
What does catching muskies have to do with AIS?
Minnesota must have thought fairly highly of my AIS knowledge to hire me. |
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Location: Dawson, MN | What would be the point of closing Minnetonka at night... it already has every invasive species in it... pointless... |
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| The MMPA had an AIS specialist speak to us and I find it funny boaters are catching the most heat for the spread of the zebras when the last few lakes that got them were lakeshore owners bringing them in on docks and lifts from infected waters. If they want real results it's time for these item's to be registered so we know too where they are and are going.
Edited by DLC 6/17/2013 12:53 PM
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Location: The desert | DLC - 6/17/2013 11:51 AM
The MMPA had an AIS specialist speak to us and I find it funny boaters are catching the most heat for the spread of the zebras when the last few lakes that got them were lakeshore owners bringing them in on docks and lifts from infected waters. If they want real results it's time for these item's to be registered so we know too where they are and are going.
You are very correct in your statement. Docks and boat lifts are a serious concern. |
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Location: The desert | guest - 6/17/2013 11:56 AM
The alarmist attack verbiage comes only from those who want to restrict and deny access. The idea that I should come up with an alternative that we can "ALL" agree on is comical. Here is one: 24 hour access with no restrictions!
Let's see if we all agree.
Feel free to add your own suggestions. I am sure the fireside reading has made you an expert as it does on nearly all topics outdoor related.
I would agree with 24 hour access. Restricting access only alienates the largest group of people we want on our side to help prevent/slow the spread.
Bragging about lying to inspectors, however increases the likelihood of more restrictions. |
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Posts: 82
| See I think this issue needs to be brought up at a national level, most of this stuff is either brought to us by ballist water on ships or aquaculture. Seems once it's here then its our problem while these industry's go unchecked and guilt free. |
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Location: The desert | DLC - 6/17/2013 12:05 PM
See I think this issue needs to be brought up at a national level, most of this stuff is either brought to us by ballist water on ships or aquaculture. Seems once it's here then its our problem while these industry's go unchecked and guilt free.
The issue of ballast water is pretty heavily regulated, you just don't see much of it on a state level. Unfortunately the regulations came too late as mussel introduction came in the mid 80s.
The aquaculture/aquarium trades are a very valid concern especially with illegal fish introduction and various exotic plant species. While there is some regulation you are correct that there isn't enough. The Internet makes obtaining many types of plants and fish pretty easy. At a state level, the funding simply isn't there to put a whole lot of effort into it. |
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Posts: 120
| Ya know, reading along with these threads and living in Minneapolis (SOUTH! SIDE!) 15yrs now I cant help but notice that the levels of Brew-ha-ha ramp closings inspire and the numbers of boats I've watched on the chain lakes seems a little out of whack. It's not that people don't launch boats here, they do, but the electric only restriction, pulling a rig through the metro, and parking keeps most out.
Now, I believe the new restrictions are dumb. Mainly on account of the chain lakes already being full of invaders and the low trailer traffic, but I'm still surprised at the uproar. It's a troubling precedent but what do you expect? Boat and trailer inspections were left to the owners, ran on the honor system, and failed. Stand on the other side of the fence for a second. It's your job to stop the spread of AIS, self policing doesn't work, why wouldn't mandatory inspections and ramp restrictions be the next step?
One other note: you can still fish the chain lakes at night from a boat. You just have to launch it from shore.
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Posts: 770
Location: Ames, Iowa | I don't want to be the negative one here, but until the states' DNRs can stop people from being selfish, we'll soon see the proliferation of zebra mussels across all of our waters. They can't do that now, and it's too late to blame everyone for something already out of the bag. In Minnesota, all it takes is a fisherman to decide he's going to drop in at Mille Lacs then Leech the next day without a thorough cleaning. In Iowa it's a stop at Clear Lake followed by West Okoboji or Brushy Creek. And it just takes one idiot, and they are out there and they don't care that the state demands they go to the trouble of a good boat cleaning. These critters are already in Winnie and Mille Lacs, doesn't that mean then that they are in the Mississippi and the Rum? The fact that elitist lakeshore owners can petition the state to close ramps on public lakes to keep public boaters out of "their lake" is an irritation but will hardly slow the advance. With native fishermen, commercial harvesters, canoers, pleasure boaters and sport fishermen all moving craft from one water body to another, it's hard to envision stopping the spread across all of the rivers and lakes in both states. Prevention continues to be a worthy effort but it seems we have to move toward control and managing/lessening the problem already upon us through a bunch of new research. I'm hopeful there's a control out there yet undiscovered. |
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