Fishing regs are changing

In the past couple of weeks there have been some changes in fishing and boating regulations that anyone who is boating or fishing need to keep in mind. It is important to remember that many of these regulations vary from state to state, but if you’re going to be fishing or pulling a boat through that state, you need to be in compliance with that state’s laws. Following are some changes you need to be aware of.

In Minnesota, when you’re pulling your boat down the road, you need to have the plug pulled out of the boat, and the livewells need to be empty. You can’t transport fish in water in your livewell. You need to get a cooler with ice and put the fish in there for the trip home if you want to keep the fish fresh.

This may not be a new law, but it’s one that many anglers don’t know about it. You can’t transport minnows that you’re using for bait from lake to lake if you put lake water on them. Let’s say you’re on Lake X and fishing with minnows. To keep them lively, you take some water out of the lake and put it in your minnow bucket. If you decide to go to another lake, as I understand it, you have to destroy the minnows. You can’t dump them into the lake, and you can’t take them with you.

But, as I understand it, you can transport from lake to lake if you keep the minnows in the water that was at the baitshop. So here’s my plan. Frabill makes a series of very nice, quiet, aerated bait containers. They keep minnows lively for extended periods of time. When I get minnows in the morning, I’m going to put them with the bait shop water directly into the Frabill aerated container. I won’t need to add lake water, maybe just a little ice every now and then. By doing so, I can travel from lake to lake without worry about violating the minnow transport law. That is, if I understand the law correctly. Similar minnow transport laws are popping up in a lot of places.

These laws were enacted to prevent the spread of invasive species of plants that live in water, to prevent the spread of critters like zebra mussels, and to prevent the spread of diseases that minnows can carry. More and more bodies of water are being infested with unwanted plants and organisms that can be harmful to the ecosystem. Because of floods and birds flying to different lakes, the spread of these unwanted elements are going to happen anyway.

Just as our waters are being invaded with unwanted things, the fishing world is being invaded with more regulations. However, if we want to continue to enjoy fishing, we need to accept these laws as a small price to pay for improved fishing.

Ts see the new 2010 episodes of Fishing the Midwest television online, go to fishingthemidwest.com or visit MyOutdoorTv.com

Tags: outdoors, fishing, regulations, boating