For us folks in the upper Midwest who aren’t ice fishing enthusiasts, our focus shifts to open water fishing during the months of April and May. The thoughts of a warm afternoon on the lake helps us begin the process of thawing out from the winter and get us in the mood for that first strike of the season. Part of that preparation process, is to get your license renewed and to take a quick skim of the fishing regulations.
Now my normal skim of the regulations is probably the norm for most people who fish. You grab a copy of the regulation book when you purchase your license and it gets thrown in the glove box of your boat or vehicle. This year I think I plan on taking a closer look as there are some changes which impacted me last year and also which I am looking forward to this year.
In Minnesota, most of the regulation changes normally are around slot size and the number of fish you can harvest. Well that assumption came back and provided me with a surprise in 2014. The change in 2014 that was unbeknownst to me, was the extending of the trout catch and release season through the end of the year in state parks located in the southeastern part of the state. A day prior to our annual October camping trip, I just happened to be perusing the Minnesota DNR website when I noticed this change. This was a pleasant surprise for our trip and allowed my son the chance to catch his first trout on a fly rod which in turn gave him the final requirement for his Boy Scout fly fishing merit badge. It was a win/win for all parties involved.
Since I hope to be fishing more in 2015 and hopefully on more lakes and streams, I decided to spend a bit of time reviewing the regulation changes for this year. One of the big changes for this year that jumped out at me is the new statewide catch and release season for bass and sturgeon. Now the sturgeon side doesn’t interest me just due to me not fishing sturgeon but the extension of the bass season did pique my curiosity. Beginning in 2015 outside the northeast area of the state, we will now be able to catch and release largemouth bass from May 9-22. After the 22nd, we will be able to catch largemouth bass until Feb. 28, 2016 which in Minnesota is the end of the fishing season. For smallmouth bass, outside of the Northeast area of the state, you will be able to catch and release from May 9-22 and Sept. 14 through Feb. 28, 2016. Between those time periods, you will be able to harvest smallmouth bass. The opening of the season to catch and release is prompting some discussions on various outdoor programs as there is debate around impacts to the spawning period for the bass. Only time will tell how this will impact both the current and future seasons.
Another change which caught my eye is the expanded trout angling catch-and-release seasons in southeast Minnesota. Basically the Minnesota DNR has created an annual catch and release season in Whitewater, Forestville and Beaver Creek Valley State Parks. They are also allowing catch and release in the southeastern counties, (Houston, Filmore, Mower, Dodge, Olmsted, Winona, Wabasha and Goodhue), from Sept. 15-Oct. 15. The DNR also opened some stream-trout lakes in Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing and Hubbard counties to winter angling. Weather permitting this should create some nice opportunities to spend more time on the trout streams in the fall. Might even make for a tough decision between bow hunting for deer and fishing for trout.
For a complete listing of the regulations, click on the attached link.
Outdoors in Minnesota 