2024 Minnesota Season Thread

[gim]

8 hours ago, Deephaven said:

We had about 100 on Carson's but only for a week.  Got warm and bam, gone.

 

Haha, yep, winter lasted about 10 days here so that would make sense.  Raining now.

[Deephaven]

My snowmobile is still up North in storage waiting for winter...but I have been "homeless" for 3 months as my house is getting gutted so not a bad winter for that to happen!

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

but I have been "homeless" for 3 months

Have you been sleeping in the boat?

[Deephaven]

Nope.  I am the 50yr old loser that not only moved home to live with my mother, but brought my whole family.

 

[Fishin Dad]

The small lake in my area is completely open.  Ice free!!   

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, Fishin Dad said:

The small lake in my area is completely open.  Ice free!!   

"I hate you..."

 

You know I had to say it....

[Fishin Dad]

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

"I hate you..."

 

You know I had to say it....

Unfortunately, as you know, we can’t fish bass in Minnesota until May, so I just have to look at it and dream.  Some panfish might meet some oil soon though.  There will be some very short drives to Iowa soon for some possible bucket mouths however.  I only live 8 miles from the border.   We need to keep this colder weather away now!!!  

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, Fishin Dad said:

Unfortunately, as you know, we can’t fish bass in Minnesota until May

Ummm - season doesn't close until the 25th...you got 2 weeks.

[Fishin Dad]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Ummm - season doesn't close until the 25th...you got 2 weeks.

Yep, boat is still in storage.   The smaller lake is not really a bass lake and had a summer kill a few years ago.  A couple other lakes are getting close, but this cold weather should slow it waaaaaay down.  I can wait a little, but looking at that water is making it much harder!!!

[gim]

11 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

but this cold weather should slow it waaaaaay down

Let’s be honest, even highs in the mid to upper 30’s for this time of year isn’t that “cold”, we’ve just gotten used to 50 instead lately.

 

Even if it does turn colder than it’s been, there isn’t much ice out there. It’s going to be harder the further we go along to get any arctic cold snaps and daylight savings will be starting in early March. Plus there’s still no snow in the forecast as far as I can see.

 

I’d be surprised if the ice was gone by Feb 25 but it will for sure be out sometime in March.

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, gimruis said:

but it will for sure be out sometime in March.

Which means I need to get on the ball and finish this year's mods to Bass Trek.

[gim]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Which means I need to get on the ball and finish this year's mods to Bass Trek.

What all are ya doing to it?
 

I had to do some trailer work on my boat trailer, I replaced my deep cycle batteries, and replaced a bulb. So I’m ready to hit the water whenever it’s soft.

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, gimruis said:

What all are ya doing to it?

It's the trailer - tired of having to crawl partly under to secure the cover...so securing clips to the trailer itself so the webbing just drops straight down instead of having to go around the underside.

[gim]

The MN DNR has added 18 new species to the Catch and Release (length) state record program starting March 1, which is tomorrow.

 

Both smallmouth and largemouth bass have been added to this list of new species.  You can read the information below.

 

Just something to keep in mind though.  Should you decide to enter a new C & R state record, there is a spot for the specific lake or river and the nearest town/city on the form, and it is required for submission.  This information will be made public.  So if you catch and submit a fish on a smaller sized lake, its probably going to receive a noticeable increase in fishing pressure.  On a larger lake, it may not make a difference.  Just something to be aware of.

 

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/news/2024/02/29/minnesota-dnr-makes-changes-record-fish-program

[WaskaCrank12]

I will be going to the local tackle shop this weekend to purchase my 24/25 fishing license. Last year I bought an Individual License. This year I beleive I will purchase a Conservation Individual License as last year any fish I caught I released -- and most likely will do the same this year -- or if I do wish to keep any I would just make sure I was meeting the regulation of only keeping half the limit.

What type of fishing license do most of you purchase ? Do any of you purchase a combo fishing/hunting license ?

[MN Fisher]

12 minutes ago, WaskaCrank12 said:

What type of fishing license do most of you purchase ? Do any of you purchase a combo fishing/hunting license ?

I use to purchase the combo license when I still hunted - losing my right eye ended that.

Still buy the full-up license - being on fixed income, I need all the fish I can legally keep.

[gim]

24 minutes ago, WaskaCrank12 said:

This year I beleive I will purchase a Conservation Individual License as last year any fish I caught I released

 

I've bought the conservation license for years now.  I rarely keep any fish, so that's why I buy that one.  If I did more walleye or panfishing with intent to keep them, I'd probably buy the normal one.  The majority of my fishing nowadays are for bass or muskies.

[sully420]

I just booked a trip to South Dakota at a state park in late Apirl. I would encourage anyone interested in doing some pre-spawn bass fishing to check out SD for some excellent bass fishing opportunities.

[Texas Flood]

So how many of my brothers and sisters up north got to ice fish more than twice like me down here?

[throttleplate]

There are 2 dams i will be fishing this year connected to South Dakota lakes, 1 is coming off of lake Traverse called Reservation dam holding water in Traverse and emptying into Mud lake.

Mud lake has White Rock dam holding water back from flowing into the Bois De Sioux river which flows north, eventually flowing into the Red river which runs its way north into canada. I will fish the Minnesota side not the south dakota side as that would require me buying a SD license.

 

7 hours ago, sully420 said:

I just booked a trip to South Dakota at a state park in late Apirl. I would encourage anyone interested in doing some pre-spawn bass fishing to check out SD for some excellent bass fishing opportunities.

what lake did you book on?

[gim]

3 hours ago, Texas Flood said:

So how many of my brothers and sisters up north got to ice fish more than twice like me down here?

None here.

 

Don't think there is much of an ice fishing crowd here.  We're mostly just waiting for it to melt.

[WaskaCrank12]

If I ice fish at all I will go a few times a year with friends who own ice fishing houses -- this year they never brought their houses out on to the ice, so I never went at all. The two lakes closest to me, which generally have hundreds of ice fishing houses on them, had very few this year and at no time were there the usual big ice houses on those lakes. Most ppl this year had small or portable shelters and maybe brought a 4 wheeler out (one went right thru the ice) but most walked out with a sled in tow. 

As @gimruis said this seems mostly an open water crowd. I am looking forward to potentially getting out earlier than usual in the spring and doing some crappie fishing (which I have never done).

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, WaskaCrank12 said:

I am looking forward to potentially getting out earlier than usual in the spring and doing some crappie fishing (which I have never done).

Two good resources for info

Lindner's Angling Edge - Panfish area

 

Flopping Crappie

https://www.youtube.com/@FloppingCrappie

[Fishin Dad]

I buy the combination sports license.  It gets me a hunting and fishing license and my wife a fishing license only.  I don’t keep many fish anymore, but I grab some spring crappies and a walleye here and there.  My wife likes eating fish.  

[FryDog62]

Any of you MN guys have a current discount code for Omnia Fishing? I’ve already used Pennaz15, but I think it may still work for those of you that haven’t…