Still no bass fishing in Minnesota

[gim]

Breaking news: the season is open and I caught some bass today! ?

[MN Fisher]

I'm actually planning on going out for some shore fishing in the morning...maybe I'll luck out.

[Deephaven]

2 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

 

The only argument i can see against it is it makes the walleye closed season harder to enforce. Previously if you had anything other than panfish tackle it was obvious you were targeting something out of season (bass/walleye/pike). Now you can catch walleye and argue you're after bass. And the people breaking those rules wont be releasing any walleye, just hiding them in the boat.

Not really.  Crappie and sunnie's bite all walleye live bait techniques and that season is open.  

2 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

 

The only argument i can see against it is it makes the walleye closed season harder to enforce. Previously if you had anything other than panfish tackle it was obvious you were targeting something out of season (bass/walleye/pike). Now you can catch walleye and argue you're after bass. And the people breaking those rules wont be releasing any walleye, just hiding them in the boat.

Not really.  Crappie and sunnie's bite all walleye live bait techniques and that season is open.  

2 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

 

The only argument i can see against it is it makes the walleye closed season harder to enforce. Previously if you had anything other than panfish tackle it was obvious you were targeting something out of season (bass/walleye/pike). Now you can catch walleye and argue you're after bass. And the people breaking those rules wont be releasing any walleye, just hiding them in the boat.

Not really.  Crappie and sunnie's bite all walleye live bait techniques and that season is open.  

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

Not really.  Crappie and sunnie's bite all walleye live bait techniques and that season is open. 

Bass, walleye and pike WILL chase after panfish lures as well.

 

Small jig (1/32-1/8) under a bobber with a small (>2") plastic is a favored technique for crappie...guess what...I've caught bass, walleye and pike on that rig.

 

So really, anything can be caught by anything - depending on size of lure of course - so it's pretty much personal opinion of the DNR-EO if someone is targeting an out-of-season species based soley on lure usage.

[Deephaven]

No officer, I am just trying to catch a crappie.  An 11" Suick is perfect for it, really.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

No officer, I am just trying to catch a crappie.  An 11" Suick is perfect for it, really.

I did say 'depending on the size of the lure'

 

A WP-60 - Ya, that could be for crappie

A WP-110 - I don't think so.

[throttleplate]

i am still waitin till late monday afternoon and plan on throwing some lures at around 4 pm and stay fishing till 11 to 12 midnite.

 

I bought some 4 inch gulp shiners and 3 inch and will use them at around 9pm to hopefully catch some bigger crappie, a walleye, or bass. Also bought some lighted bobbers.

[Mbirdsley]

I’m glad Michigan finally changed the rules 5-6 years ago and allowed immediate C&R open all year.  If they hadn’t we would still be waiting for the Saturday before Memorial Day for the possession season to start ( lake st clair is 3rd sat in June )

 

[li_bass_hunter]

On 5/14/2021 at 2:01 PM, PhishLI said:

Bass fishing is closed here between May1-Jun 4, but there are 4 places open for C&R. One's 4 acres, and all but dried up. Two are 8am thru dusk, and kayaks only. The last one allows boats with electric motors, but it's 70 miles east of me and is loaded with anglers right now, especially on weekends.

 

My friend has a brother who's a DNR officer. Around here they're all state troopers, and they don't tend to have a sense of humor. The word came down through the pipeline that the DEC has given them the green light to really hammer anyone caught in the act, and they're also watching local FB pages closely. They're specifically not accepting the "just fishing for Pickerel" line this year. If you're caught with anything other than panfish baits they'll be confiscating your gear and issuing fines. Get lippy and you might get locked up. A 4" Senko will be considered a bass bait. My buddy was Walleye fishing with bass baits, as he always does, and got pressed seriously. Lucky for him his phone's gallery was loaded with Walleye pictures, so they let him slide. They also told him not to come back and be caught with anything other than tiny jerkbaits or cranks or they'd bust him next time.

 

Even with this info being posted on FB, some dudes are still defiantly posting pics that clearly show that they're not at the open lakes. Nobody I associate with is that bold.

Monitoring Facebook pages? Lol I’ve been fishing LI waters for 30 years and have never been hassled. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve even seen a DEC officer. Most of the officers I’ve come across are not knowledgeable at all and don’t even know the difference between certain species. I snagged a bunker and he said “nice bluefish”. From what I understand they are severely understaffed and there’s like 2-3 officers for all of LI. The enforcement around here is a joke. They’re going to give you a fine for fishing “bass baits” for walleye. Why can’t I fish a large swimbait for walleye? Because bass season is closed? What a joke.  Maybe they should start cracking down on the people who keep every single thing they catch who are the ones destroying our small ponds and lakes.

[PhishLI]

18 hours ago, li_bass_hunter said:

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve even seen a DEC officer.

Who knows what's actually true? I know what's been transmitted. It's probably revenue driven, whatever it is.

 

There's a hardcase ranger patrolling Ronk at night lately. Try to park at Parsnips, then get caught throwing big baits for Walleye and see how it goes for you.  My buddies experienced his threats 1st hand when they pulled up there. Didn't even get a chance to go fishing because he threatened to ticket them for just parking there. They're carding guys at Victory ramp and generally watching that place closely.

 

I've been carded multiple times at freshwater spots in Nassau over the past 4 years. Prentice was always cool to deal with, as was that kid who replaced him. Stephanie, who replaced the kid, seems nice, and seems to know her stuff. She quickly responded to a poaching net incident. Within minutes.

 

18 hours ago, li_bass_hunter said:

From what I understand they are severely understaffed and there’s like 2-3 officers for all of LI.

That's correct. They're usually willing to talk, and have expressed that issue, but they've all given me their cell numbers and encouraged calling them 24/7 if anything illegal's happening. I'll gleefully drop a dime on a Bucket Brigade FW if they have LM bass on a stringer, or anything else that's no bueno. Might not add up to anything if they're 50 miles away at that moment, but...

[li_bass_hunter]

10 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Who know what's actually true? I know what's been transmitted. It's probably revenue driven, whatever it is.

 

There's a hardcase ranger patrolling Ronk at night lately. Try to park at Parsnips, then get caught throwing big baits for Walleye and see how it goes for you.  My buddies experienced his threats 1st hand when they pulled up there. Didn't even get a chance to go fishing because he threatened to ticket them for just parking there. They're carding guys at Victory ramp and generally watching that place closely.

 

I've been carded multiple times at freshwater spots in Nassau over the past 4 years. Prentice was always cool to deal with, as was that kid who replaced him. Stephanie, who replaced the kid, seems nice, and seems to know her stuff. She quickly responded to a poaching net incident. Within minutes.

 

That's correct. They're usually willing to talk, and have expressed that issue, but they've all given me their cell numbers and encouraged calling them 24/7 if anything illegal's happening. I'll gleefully drop a dime on a Bucket Brigade FW if they have LM bass on a stringer, or anything else that's no bueno. Might not add up to anything if they're 50 miles away at that moment, but...

Interesting. Park ranger or DEC?

[PhishLI]

8 minutes ago, li_bass_hunter said:

Park ranger or DEC

Park ranger at Ronk. Didn't care that we're all cool with the DNRs. BTW, he claimed that all waterfront between Victory and Parsnips is now county owned and nobody is allowed on it after dusk. No more warnings, he said.

[li_bass_hunter]

3 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Park ranger at Ronk. Didn't care that we're all cool with the DNRs. BTW, he claimed that all waterfront between Victory and Parsnips is now county owned and nobody is allowed on it after dusk. No more warnings, he said.

Suffolk Park ranger can ticket for parking but can’t enforce fishing regs I believe. Yes the old Bavarian inn area is now county owned and the area between victory and parsnips was always county owned. I rarely fish that lake anymore from shore anyways. The Facebook crowd ruined posting photos 

[PhishLI]

1 minute ago, li_bass_hunter said:

Suffolk Park ranger can ticket for parking but can’t enforce fishing regs

Not according to this guy. He basically said that the DEC would enforce his will and vice versa.

2 minutes ago, li_bass_hunter said:

I rarely fish that lake anymore from shore anyways. The Facebook crowd ruined posting photos

Yeah, they did. But get there at midnight on the right night after those guys tapout, and the Walleye come in super shallow to smash the bait boiling along the shore line in inches of water. I got 54 in one night last May wading in that zone. Funny thing is that it's hard to replicate what they want from a boat in the same area. Seems they get spooked by hull noise. I dunno. Too bad things changed, but I've plotted a work around. We'll see.

[li_bass_hunter]

5 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Not according to this guy. He basically said that the DEC would enforce his will and vice versa.

Yeah, they did. But get there at midnight on the right night after those guys tapout, and the Walleye come in super shallow to smash the bait boiling along the shore line in inches of water. I got 54 in one night last May wading in that zone. Funny thing is that it's hard to replicate what they want from a boat in the same area. Seems they get spooked by hull noise. I dunno. Too bad things changed, but I've plotted a work around. We'll see.

I don’t do the walleye thing I get them accidentally fishing for bass. Some biggies in there at the right time and place. 

[PhishLI]

12 minutes ago, li_bass_hunter said:

I don’t do the walleye thing I get them accidentally fishing for bass. Some biggies in there at the right time and place. 

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, I only target Walleye as a fill in during the closed LM bass season. That special night I mentioned, 14 of the 54 were between 4-5 lbs. Caught shallow they fight super hard and hit big swimbaits. Good fun. Otherwise, that place is super tough for bass. Grew up a mile away from it. Used to be a bonanza 40 years go. The white perch explosion there really depressed the LM population, hence the Walleye stocking to control them. I'm afraid it hasn't helped much as I think the Walleye are just as voracious.

[li_bass_hunter]

7 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, I only target Walleye as a fill in during the closed LM bass season. That special night I mentioned, 14 of the 54 were between 4-5 lbs. Caught shallow they fight super hard and hit big swimbaits. Good fun. Otherwise, that place is super tough for bass. Grew up a mile away from it. Used to be a bonanza 40 years go. The white perch explosion there really depressed the LM population, hence the Walleye stocking to control them. I'm afraid it hasn't helped much as I think the Walleye are just as voracious.

The bass fishing has improved in there. Not nearly as bad as it was before the walleye stocking. Late 90s early 2000s was the worst fishing I’ve ever seen in that lake…..I mainly surf fish stripers but still do the bass thing once a week

[ajschn06]

On 5/13/2021 at 9:35 PM, FryDog62 said:

Hard to believe - it was 72 degrees and sunny here in Minnesota today, it’s mid-May and yet, bass fishing is still out of season and illegal in the “Loon” state. Thankfully the fishing season “Opener” is in 2 days and we’ll finally be able to fish for everything (except muskies for awhile longer). Is any state in the union this restrictive? 

11,000 lakes just sitting there staring at us, and yet the days will start getting shorter in only 38 days and eventually start icing up again in only about 5 1/2 months... 
 

Ok, rant over... will string up the rods tomorrow and move forward ?

Eh- I've been throwing my bass lures since early April...

[gbassman519]

ss

[gim]

19 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

I've been throwing my bass lures since early April...

 

So you're openly admitting to poaching on a public forum?  Not a real smart move soldier.

[ajschn06]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

So you're openly admitting to poaching on a public forum?  Not a real smart move soldier.

Where did I say that?

[MN Fisher]

Just now, ajschn06 said:

Where did I say that?

When you said you'd been tossing bass lures since April - that implies you were targeting bass illegally...unless it wasn't in MN that you were doing that

[ajschn06]

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

When you said you'd been tossing bass lures since April - that implies you were targeting bass illegally...unless it wasn't in MN that you were doing that

Only if that's how you want to interpret it..... there are places in Minnesota you can fish for bass in April

[MN Fisher]

Just now, ajschn06 said:

Only if that's how you want to interpret it..... there are places in Minnesota you can fish for bass in April

St Croix or Mississippi along the WI border or those few lakes on the Iowa border?

[ajschn06]

Just now, MN Fisher said:

St Croix or Mississippi along the WI border or those few lakes on the Iowa border?

On the Mississippi.... it stinks that you can't hit lakes in MN until mid may- just saying if you want it bad enough there are options...