true. jred it would be tough as alaska to catch these screwballs but as it stands now everything done is legal. so nothing can be done. with a stamp at least theres a chance? besides, maybe the cash raised through the stamp could help offset this waste with more muskies stocked.

it's pretty stupid how these fools decide it's the muskie doing harm to their favorite fish populations when it's got very little to do with it. lol, lakes without muskie see a decline in good sized pannies, and have low populations of walleye even with stocking. it's the catch and keep attitude of some that are to blame. some it's a culture thing. keep and eat. and the over limit (poor word useager's). IMO... there needs to be a complete overhaul of bag limits. meaning lower. but to not affect the tourist industry a non-resident TEMPORARY license, 3 and 7 day resident also, should have a relative higher limit.

side step on over-harvest... on the croix i used to be able to hit massive schools of white bass in the 1 to 2 pound range on accident. it was almost annoying sometimes but a lot of fun on a slow day. now i'm lucky to even ''find'' a small school and the ones caught are like small crappies. over-harvest is to blame not muskie, and that river is chock fullo muskie(and walleye BTW). the limit was lowered for white bass, it used to be 50, i just hope it wasn't too late, as the gizzard shad have over-run that river from lack of predation. the sheepshead took their place on the foodchain population and the white bass need to retake it.... again. (croix's also fullo pannies of above average to trophy in size.) no, muskie aint to blame for less fish.

A resort owner (on a muskie lake no less) once told me after one too many cocktails that he tells all his spearing customers to spear every muskie they see and bury it in the snow.

Needless to say I won't be staying at that resort ever again.

I'm hoping that this kind of thinking is with the older generation, and we can try to educate and inform the younger fisherman/women.

I dont beleave this is happening. Ever year theres stories off people filleting muskies on the docks of french, muskies thrown on the roadside, people just injuring them before the realease but honestly i think its hogwash. Theres maybe one or to old timers that are set in there ways that harvest em but not as many as years ago. The same old stories circulate up on the Big Fork, Millcs, French, Miltona, Bemidji, Etc. Not sure why, just a bunch of stories. I will say this though, I think people have ever right to do whats in the law, but the day i see these mercy killings outright i will eat my words but untill then im thinking positive. To be honest with ya muskie fishing is on an upswing right now but the prssure on Mn's resources will be its down fall. I dont mean just for muskies but every aspect of the game. The sport fishing industry is growing despite hard economic times, & with limited muskie lakes it wont be long.

I'm sure this happens more often then you think. How can you say you're thinking positive, but go on to say that Minnesota fishing is going downhill? Fishing now is better than it was fifteen or twenty years ago and it's due to A) Better education on C&R, B) Slot limits and C) Smaller harvest limits. I'm a firm believer that the Minnesota DNR are overall smart enough to not let things get out of control. My $0.02? If there is somebody doing something like this, educate them. If they don't want to listen, get your cell phone out...TIP.

Amen

thats pretty sick, report them asap, keep after the dnr and make them away this is happening

It happens, but I don't think it happens too much. Most muskie guys only catch 10 +/- per year and they're targeting them. Get their info and turn them in. Even if the CO can't give them a ticket the donkey in question will know that he's being watched. This is one of the reasons why the muskie community has pushed for the 48" min. That should cut down on this behavior quite a bit (I hope).

If you hear of resort owners that promote "spear and release", post them all over the internet! We'll be sure to let him know our stance with our $$$. Hopefully then places like that will have to go condo

As far as the fishing getting better in this state I don't think so. I personally believe it peaked probably 4-5 years ago. The massive influx of people both in-state and out have done it's damage. That's not to say things are terrible, just not what it was 5-15 years ago when there were 1/4 the anglers and a bunch of stupid fish.

Hey Shawn;

Are you saying you think the population is going down, or that it is just harder to catch fish?

Just curious. I think the fishing was definately much "easier" 5-10 years ago. Not sure about fish numbers, at least on my normal haunts they seem to be holding pretty steady.

JS

What i said about fishing going down hill is just a FACT. We needed a constitutional amendment to protect are lakes, The size of the panfish in the metro has shruken by like 3 inches in the past 20 years. It almost impossible to catch 20lb pike in mn now other then a few select areas, ducks are almost exticnt [Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

There may be individual lakes where fisheries have declined, but for the most part fishing now is as good as I can ever remember for pretty much every species in MN. Not just my opinions, but supported by DNR findings.

Fisheries always cycle, ups and downs are normal.

Big pike are still rare, but not as rare as they were 15 years ago.

JS

What lakes are you fishing? I think you're opinion is in the minority on this one. Minnesota fishing is as good as it's ever been.

I agree that fishing in MN is better than ever. I think even if it is heresay about the Muskies in French make a call to DNR.

Then the clown will say he got them before the muskie stamp came along.

Got a feeling stocked waters this is likely occurring quite a bit. I'm sure the Miltona locals and Pelican locals have changed their ways and attitudes toward them.

Hey John,

I think that on the stocked waters the quality/numbers of fish are down from 5-10 years ago. It makes sense since the first few year classes almost always do the best. There is very little downward pressure on the species. I also think that delayed mortality has had some effect on the total population of muskies in the state. To what degree I don't know, but I think it's there on the popular lakes.

Yes it is harder then it was too. It has to be. There's only X fish in the lake and now there's 5x the fishermen trying to catch them. It's changed the fish's habits/behavior for sure.