I will go get some fliers I saw and see what they say. They just came out a couple days ago. I should have grabbed them then but wasnt thinking I guess.

This will be impossible to enforce, but...

Shouldn't we be doing this, regardles of the law? Moving fish from lake to lake or watershed to watershed with the threat of VHS out there seems to warrant a little restraint and flexibility, no?

VHS is some serious %&#$

After seeing this thread earlier today I was just online reserving a BWCA permit and suddenly imagined VHS getting introduced to those lakes. shudder.

Yes we should but I really want to know if we can use Lake Superior Smelt in Lake Superior and its tribs. It only makes sense to be able to.
I could care less if we cant use it in inland lakes. I wont be thats for sure.
Has anyone even heard of a confirmed case of VHS in Lake Superior?

Lets face it though. If the powers to be dont join together and get the ships to treat their bilge waters coming into Lake Superior it wont matter what we do. It will get spread by birds, boats, planes etc. eventually.
I have a bad feeling that the $ the ships bring into our area will over ride the importance of us having clean water. I mean they should have had ships treating bilge water years ago when the zebra mussle was 1st spotted in our harbors!!!!!

This whole situation is getting overblown by the regulatory authorities. I can understand not using LS fish on inland waters, as, if VHS gets here keeping the spread to a minimum. But prohibiting LS fish for bait on LS makes little sense to me. What is the point? Isle Royale just announced we could no longer use fish for bait in park waters unless the bait was caught in park waters. I guess I move the herring nets a few miles east and get in park waters so we can have jig bait?, not! I'm sure the herring we net have swum in and out of park waters. We are allowed to catch a trout and cut the belly into strips for jig bait as its ok in Michigan to use it.
When are the Feds going to step up and regulate ships' ballast and stop this stuff for good, fisherman are not the reason for all these species/viruses. We just live with the results and regulations that target us while the real perpetrators keep on with business as usual.

Capt. Don I thought the same thing when I heard about the park doing that. How will they enforce it? They cant. No way they can tel where peoples bait came from. Regs like this with no way of enforcing them are just foolish.

I think there was some VHS found in the Eastern fringes of Superior or it's Tributaries, and the theory could be, that careless or unscrupulous individuals or dealers, might use or sell those, or from the other already infected Great Lakes, over here, as not origin verifiable, thus speeding the spread of the virus from East to West...

Unfortunately it is almost certain to spread throughout the lake, it's just how long it will take...

Of course as you guys are saying, if they did something about the continuing bringing in by the ships, it could really help, after all one load of infected bilge dumped in Duluth Harbor, would bring it over here near instantly...could be here already...

When that happens it will be too late, and then they will no longer worry about using bait out of, back in the waters of origin...

But also as stated, the Big Money keeps talking, and we are the ones forced to take, The Walk ...

Ya Mobey I agree and have a feeling that whatever they do it will be too little way too late. Like they say money talks.
Hopefully we as sportsmen and women can do all we can to make sure that the spread inland doesnt happen.
Does anyone know where VHS came from? I dont mean what body of water but how did it ever begin. Something dietary? Just a disease? I see I have some reading to do.

Well, I read up on it a while back, but then started on all the other ones too, and there are so many it's hard to keep them straight...

I'll see if I can find some info with a web address...

I do remember reading about Muskies and the lympho-sarchoma, or what ever it is, one of the red sores deals, and it stated that it was almost 100% fatal to Muskies when contracted...something about it then developing into or causing a fungus on their gills, I think...that was a shocker, and I have no idea where that disease originated either...it didn't say how it affected other species, but maybe we should not be releasing those infected, of any species either...

I think I got that off either the MN or WI DNR site, and I just tried to look it up in my bookmarks, but missed it, I know its still there, though some of these sites get moved or lost when they redo, like they just did with the MN one, and now I can't get to some of my marked pages...

I wonder how many people will be fishing with smelt that they "harvested from Grindstone" this season. This is pretty big news to be just trickling out to the masses at the last minute/start of the run. Bait shops and hundreds of individuals have money and time invested in the taking of smelt for the intent of using it as bait. Now that they have done that the DNR is not allowing them to follow through on their investments. I agree with stopping the spread of diseases and invasives but as a few have said already until the ships are better regulated our efforts are moot. After this issue what's next? Starting in June you can't use leeches either? I'm ready to give up and wait for the asian carp to show up. Then again our DNR would probably make a special season for them and make us buy a new stamp and only allow harvest of fish over 35" for a trophy. 1 per season...after you buy a tag.

There already rumblings about not allowing Live bait in the Boundary Waters...

Partial theory is disease, partly because the Night crawlers dumped on shore are supposedly eating all the shallow humus on the surface, causing a huge change in Natural Enviroment, partial theory is some of the Greenies want less people in there or don't approve of eating man nor beast...

All I can say is, time to set up shop on every lake and stream, with on the spot Legal advice for Fisherman, so they can understand what the Hello they can and can't do on each body of water...

Did anyone consider that these bait issues have nothing to do with diseases or environmental problems, and that it's infact berkley paying off the DNR to make these rules so that sales of gulp go through the roof. Can you say CONSPIRACY?

Quetico Park has already implemented several such changes.
Only artificial lures (no organic bait) may be used.
Only barbless hooks may be used.

Good points guys, though Gulp is supposed to have organics in it, and maybe is treated enough to pass muster, or maybe they will close that gap too...I guess a bare, barbless, stainless, hook will be all thats allowed in the future...

Have I opened another can of worms? Eventually we will all have to 'noodle' our fish.

He Matt how does a guy noodle up a Laker in 300' of Lake Superior water? BRRRRRR!!!!!!
Tel ya what you go 1st and as soon as you come up with one Ill go next.

I think Power Baits and Gulp are fine for our waters. I dont know what the heck they could hurt or what could be in them that could be bad for our waters.
Heck if they have something bad for our waters Berkley surely will get sued and Ill be second in line because I have been poluting a lot of waters using them and tons of scented plastics in the river for years and years.
I remember back when we 1st started using plastics and catching fish with them. Guys in other boats would be whispering. "Hey check it out they aint even using minnows." In that guys voice from the Verado comercial. "Must be some secret stealth weapon or somethin."