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| The MN DNR is asking for public input on dock size in MN public waters. Watercraft owners have until Jan. 19th to take the 27 question survey.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/survey/watercraft/index.html
Those who don't own watercraft can e-mail concerns to [email protected]
I hope we all can agree that dock sizes in many popular MN muskie lakes is out of control and ruining prime spawning habitat in the process!
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Posts: 580
Location: deephaven mn | is the survey for all watercraft owners? i think dnr sent out surveys randomly but not to all watercraft owners.
i am correct in saying this? |
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | Yes, all watercraft owners can take the survey online.
Aaron |
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Posts: 112
| The survey that I took required your watercraft registration number.
I have a couple of extra number from my canoes, if someone wishes to participate.
Edited by Seilers 12/21/2008 7:57 PM
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | January 19 is the deadline for completing this survey.
You need a watercraft registration number - I am not sure if it actually has to be from MN or not. |
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| Dock size? Are you kidding. Now we are gonna have the Government tell us dock size. Are we talking marinas or private owners? Thats going alittle far in my book and should be no ones business as far as I'm concerned. Docks are structure. Structure holds fish. Lots of fish. Build them as big as you want. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | shoreline where docks are built are spawning habitat and one of the most misunderstood and profound effects on natural reproduction ... they should be even tougher on them than they already are if the fishery is the priority. |
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Posts: 531
Location: Hugo, MN | If you've ever been on a metro lake such as Minnetonka, you'd know why this is an issue. Kudos to the DNR for finally doing something about it. |
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| Isnt spawning usually over by the end of June when most people put their docks out. I can understand marinas taking over a lake with docks, but private owners. My best fishing has been under the biggest docks on the lake. I think docks protect fish and I like them. Way way way over the edge on this one. No support from me. |
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | No - most of the people in northern MN put the docks in the water between ice out and Memorial Day Weekend. There are very few docks that aren't in after Memorial Day Weekend.
The big issue really isn't about functional docks although there has been talk about dock width and lengths. The really big problem is "structures" connected to the docks. In MN you can't build a deck or party platform on the shore so over the years people have decided to go around the rules and just build them over the water. The DNR didn't want to enforce the rules that said these are illegal without permits so they went ahead and tried to find some common ground to make a rule that would make most of them legal and therefore not have to do the hard thing and the right thing and enforce their own rules that already existed.
These party platforms are sometimes 15 feet by 15 feet with barbecue grills, benches, rubbermaid storage sheds, umbrellas, and anything else that can be placed out there to make life on the dock more entertaining. Who cares about these things you ask? I for one care that these platforms are out there mostly in about 5 - 8 feet of water and right on top of the breakline on a lake in the Northwoods of MN. If you fish too close to one of these structures people come out of their "modest lake cabin" and start yelling at you to leave. Big vast weedbeds and other structure is what fish need to thrive - 20 feet of weeds, then 30 feet of sand bottom, then 20 feet of weeds and so on doesn't cut it. Over time the weedbed doesn't make it. It ends up disappearing altogether.
I live in northern MN and these things didn't seem like a big deal when it was only one or two here and there but as all of the lakeshore gets developed - it starts to look more and more like Minnetonka up here in the Northwoods. That is exactly what I don't want.
Edited by brmusky 1/8/2009 10:01 PM
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | shoreline grasses are a part of what is carried from there into the water ... when these things get disrupted so do all of the structural components of the lake that ties into it. changing this effects spawning areas and has an effect, if it didn't you wouldn't see the effort to regulate.
or you could just argue to argue. the minnesota dnr knows what they are doing and i applaud them for working on this issue because it's important. properties on water there and here have an easement and the "lake property" is not owned by the homeowner but is intended to be protected for the best interest of the water. giving it away for development will change the activity of everything that connects to it.
same thing relates to proximity of building, location and specifications for septic systems, management of runoff etc... regulation may take away something you feel you "own" but that's exactly why people who know what they are doing make laws to protect lakes and streams.
i lived on a lake in southern minnesota during a very unregulated time and you could walk on the water for the pea soup it became through abusive property owners and unregulated shoreline ...
what lake do you live on 4amuskie? |
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| If this is what is going on then of course it is wrong and I would support proper legislation to end this practice. Docks are one thing. Structures are totally something else. I will check this out now. Thanks for your clarification on this. |
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| Survey completed. Thanks again for the information. |
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Posts: 291
Location: Minneapolis | brmusky - You've hit the nail on the head. Vermilion looks a lot more like Minnetonka these days than it does LOTW.
I'll add that part-and-parcel with building a big entertainment structure at the end of the dock is clearing the weeds around the entire "dock structure". I've had people bragging up their big, swinging arm rakes that clear out all weeds within a 25' radius of the dock. Not good.
The survey pertains to private owners.
A dock that's big enough for a couple boats - no problem. A dock that's big enough for the Queen Mary, plus all her support craft, plus gazebo and grilling area, that's excessive. And I don't see this as evil government intruding on private property owners' rights. The lakes are PUBLIC property. Those giant docks are intruding on OUR lakes. |
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Posts: 175
| The prime muskie spawning habitat in Leech Lake (and presumably others) is Sand Grass. The timing of dock-in/dock-out is not relevant. Boat traffic negatively impacts Sand Grass. Period. Do bigger docks equal more boat traffic? I don't know. I do know that a large dock structure for multiple properties is harder on the spawning structure than are individual docks. Especially because the dock site is typically the least desirable (i.e lowest) part of a development. This equates to the site wiith the best spawning habitat. The MN DNR and other states agencies need to protect spawning habitat. Up to now, MN has allowed science (mostly) to dictate regulations. This is another step in the right direction. |
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| Not saying I don't agree with the arguments, but if I owned a million dollar house on a lake and somebody told me that I had to reduce the size of my dock because a fish needed more bedroom space, I would probably have a sizable problem with that. That being, said I don't...so regulate away. |
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| it's inaccurate to paint all lakeside homeowners, and especially all expensive lakeside homeowners with that broad of a brush. there are many lake homeowners who care passionately about the health of the lake, and act responsibly on issues of runoff and shoreline impact.
the DNR plays a key role in regulating, but so do lake associations. some of them fight regulations, but some of them embrace and encourage responsible stewardship.
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