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Eating fish


mnhunter 3815

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If we decide to eat fish out on the lake....do we have to bring the carcass to shore??? Or just toss them in the garage?? I know it sounds like a stupid ? But was just wondering...cause is doesn't really say in the rule book.....I think im pretty sure what I have to do...but just wanted the experts advise.

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Fillet them, eat them, keep the carcasses intact and measurable until the next day and then throw them away on shore before you start fishing the next day. Thats what I've always done.

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Effective January 23, 2015

Walleye

Daily bag/possession limit = 2 fish

Note: A statewide possession limit may only include two Red Lake walleye (only one larger than 26 inches).

Protected Slot Limit

All fish 17 to 26 inches must be released

Possession and on-the-water consumption

While on the ice, all harvested walleye and northern pike

must be intact and measurable, unless a person is in the

act of preparing the fish for a meal on the ice.

If walleye or northern pike are prepared for a meal, anglers are

required to retain measurable carcasses, which count toward the

possession limit for the remainder of the fishing day.

Do not allow whole fish or carcasses to freeze together in buckets

or bags since both need to be measurable. Pack them in snow or

ice shavings in a bucket or cooler inside the fish house or vehicle

to prevent freezing.

Anglers are required to properly dispose of carcasses before

harvesting additional fish the following day. It is illegal to dispose

of fish carcasses on or under the ice.

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I've said it before , and I will say it again. The eating of fish while on the lake should not be allowed. Absolutely, positively, a mistake to let this continue. It really does open the door to illegal activities. And I would hope the DNR does the right thing and changes this stupid law.

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I've said it before , and I will say it again. The eating of fish while on the lake should not be allowed. Absolutely, positively, a mistake to let this continue. It really does open the door to illegal activities. And I would hope the DNR does the right thing and changes this stupid law.

But how do you really feel about it? smile

I'm sure there are probably a few people who eat some fish and then get rid of the carcasses so they can continue fishing the same day but I don't think its a huge issue wreaking havoc on the fish population.

I'm guessing that closed up fish houses also opes the door to more illegal activity. How many do you think are fishing with more than two lines in the privacy of their own houses with little chance of getting caught? Should we outlaw fish houses as well?

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I've said it before , and I will say it again. The eating of fish while on the lake should not be allowed. Absolutely, positively, a mistake to let this continue. It really does open the door to illegal activities. And I would hope the DNR does the right thing and changes this stupid law.[/quote

YOU HAVE YOUR OPINION OTHERS HAVE THEIR'S......If you can't eat fish on the lake then maybe you can't have the resorts cook them up either.....all your trying to do is punish those that have the ability to stay out on the lake. If people are unlawful they will be unlawful....you won't stop it. Those taking a chance to fillet an oversized fish will most likely leave the lake with that same fish if not allowed to eat on the lake.

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OK, this is for the sake of discussion and so everyone can see the hard decisions the Committees and DNR are going to have to make. We all know that the harvest numbers for last year and this year are "through the roof", "off the charts", or whatever way you want to describe it. It is obvious that a lot of things/regulations are going to have to change. After seeing the number of houses on the lake this weekend I wonder if the 2 walleye limit will make enough of a difference. We can not continue to harvest 80% to 90% or more of our yearly "Safe allowable harvest" during the winter season and still have an open water walleye season. So everybody reading this imagine that you are on one of the Committees and this is the decision you have to make. You can decide to have eating on the lake in the winter OR have an open water fishing season. You can not have both, the harvested pounds are too high for both so you have to pick one or the other. Which ever decision you make a lot of fishermen and maybe many of your friends are going to be mad at you. What is more important to you? Eat walleyes on the lake in the winter, OR, have a walleye fishing season in the summer? confused

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So maybe I am reading this wrong,but is Kelly saying that eating on the ice is having an effect or just giving out options that maybe have to be made.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Some lakes do not allow cleaned fish on the water/ice as part of their regs. If that were the case on URL it would definitely impact harvest. Even though some would still drive off the lake and have fish there at say, Westwinds. Many would not.

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I think,Borch nailed it,the impact of a change in the regs like this would be felt by some of the outfitters.Mainly the ones who do all or the majority of their business during the hardwater season.I have to believe that the open water season numbers are much more consistent & easier to predict.Just my 2c

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So maybe I am reading this wrong,but is Kelly saying that eating on the ice is having an effect or just giving out options that maybe have to be made.

Fish eaten on the lake are part of the harvested numbers just like any other walleyes harvested so it does have an effect on total harvest. The average winter time fishing trip to URL is now over 40 hours long. One fishing trip for example. Arrive Friday and start fishing at 6:00 PM. Catch and eat a limit before Midnight. Saturday, catch and eat a limit. Fish until Noon Sunday catching a limit to take home. That trip would be 42 hours long with 66% of the harvested pounds eaten on the lake. I do not know what percent of winter harvest is eaten on the lake but it is a part of total harvest and every part of harvest summer and winter is going to have to be looked at to get the harvest back under control.

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Kelly, if eating fish on the lake is an issue,, then Westwind should not be frying fish for fisherman, and people shouldn't be eating fish in their cabins at the resorts after a day of fishing. It's all the same. Fisherman eating fish they caught that day. I hardly see where eating fish on the lake, which is no different than on shore afterwards, would make or break summer fishing.

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Kelly, if eating fish on the lake is an issue,, then Westwind should not be frying fish for fisherman, and people shouldn't be eating fish in their cabins at the resorts after a day of fishing. It's all the same. Fisherman eating fish they caught that day. I hardly see where eating fish on the lake, which is no different than on shore afterwards, would make or break summer fishing.

Exactly what I was thinking.

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Birchbranch,

First, let me say that I eat fish on the lake every time that I am up there. But it wouldn't bother me at all if we are not allowed to eat fish while on the ice.

There are not many private cabins on URL and only a handful of them are winterized. That means very few of those cabins are used during the ice fishing season.

Comparing them and the resort cabins to the THOUSANDS of wheeled houses plus the rented fishhouses is like a drop of water in a 55 gallon barrel.

Not allowing fish to be eaten on the ice would be a great move......better than shutting down the lake to all fishing.

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Quote:
Kelly, if eating fish on the lake is an issue,,

I didn't say it was an issue. I said it was one of the things the Committees are going to have to look at along with everything else involving the pounds of walleyes harvested.

Quote:
I hardly see where eating fish on the lake, which is no different than on shore afterwards, would make or break summer fishing.

I'll try explain this one more time for you. The "Safe Allowable Harvest" for an entire harvest year is 168,000 pounds of walleyes from the State waters. For the 2014 harvest year we exceeded that by 63,000 pounds. That means that unless the agreement we have with the Red Lake Band is changed we can not exceed 168,000 pounds again this year. So far we are at 70,000 pounds in December. Another 50,000 pounds in January puts us at 120,000 pounds the first 2 months of this harvest year leaving only 48,000 pounds available for the remaining 2015 harvest year. We still have to average in part of the 63,000 pounds we were over in 2014 and the pounds harvested in February. That doesn't leave us many, if any, harvested pounds left for May, June, July, August, September, October and November. So if eating fish on the lake increases the total pounds harvested over the winter it could dramatically effect the summer fishing. 168,000 pounds is 168,000 pounds is 168,000 pounds.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Very clear Kelly. There are going to be some tough decisions that will need to be made.

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I agree Borch.The council has a very difficult job & finding a solution that makes everyone happy is impossible.Finding a solution that even works will be very,very difficult.My hat is off to the people that take the time,care enough,& who's job it is to tackle this.Kelly you are a wise & patient man as I know that is at least the 5th or 6th time I've seen you make almost that same exact post.

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Kelly, would that not just have more people going into shore to eat their fish then? More business for the restaurants, but I don't see it helping with lowering the harvest.

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Kelly, would that not just have more people going into shore to eat their fish then? More business for the restaurants, but I don't see it helping with lowering the harvest.

I know after a few beers I'm NOT driving anywhere off the lake!! Would I drive off the lake the next morning, spend $20-30 for a fish fry and a few bar beers?? I don't think so, I eat fish lots of other times during the year, a fish fry on the lake at Red isn't that special, I could grill steaks, keep fishing and just relax.

That being said, I think eliminating the eating fish on the lake would have a significant impact on the harvest, the casual fisherpeople just won't come to Red lake, they'll go elsewhere. It'll still be busy early in the season, December and early January when the reports of '60-80 fish caught per day' are coming out but once fishing slows down, you won't get as many wheel houses coming for the weekend or people renting fishhouses for the weekend.

I think they should make it catch and release for May and June of the open water season, people will still come for the easy 'we caught 80 today' days.

I also think the DNR needs to have the authority to shut down or limit the harvest faster, the December harvest shouldn't have been allowed to happen.

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If you were not allowed to eat fish on the lake and you fished for say three days, you would only be able to keep 2 fish (with the limit at 2 now) instead of the 6 fish you would keep and eat per person. So in fact there would be lees fish harvested.

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I beg to differ. I think people will just go to the resort and have their fish cooked for the $5-10 that it costs. Bevs are a different story. Also most times the lake road goes right to the resort. Just my thoughts. I asked Kelly what his thought were because I felt he would have a good feel for what people would do.

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If you were not allowed to eat fish on the lake and you fished for say three days, you would only be able to keep 2 fish (with the limit at 2 now) instead of the 6 fish you would keep and eat per person. So in fact there would be lees fish harvested.

This is true…….but I would not be assuming that people won’t go to shore to eat some fish. There are a lot of people that don’t drink and are not afraid to drive down the road. There are a lot of people that only make one trip a year and don’t get the opportunity to eat fresh walleye year round. There are a lot of people that live within an hour drive of the lake and fish it every weekend to take their limit home with them. Some tuff choices/decisions for the folks involved and not everyone will be happy with them.

It is only legal to clean/fillet fish on the lake if you are in the process of preparing them for a meal, otherwise you are not allowed to clean/fillet them and put them in your cooler. They must be kept whole in a cooler and thawed so that they can be measured.

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From my rentals this year I would say maybe just maybe 50 % ate fish and that has to be on the high side. I think Kellie the hammer and I had fish once on the lake and a couple times on shore. Remember a couple is more then twice in crappie lingo wink wink. We did have a killer beef roast with venison roast on the ice this year . Did a killer homemade Pizza that got scarfed up by Marty, Wayne, the hammer and I. Marty made a fabulas fish soup and used a couple walleye' s and perch for that. I forced Wayne to take home his limit of walleye and give it to someone. He has no way of cooking fish in his living quarters. It worked out well as he gave it to Skippy and his family to enjoy. For some reason the red lake walleye are the best tasting fish in my opinion in Minnesota but I'm byess. As far as wheel house's I would have no clue how many fish get eaten. I think there's plenty of walleyes out there and the lake is not in any trouble. We have just hit or went over what we are allowed. Not sure if its fair to not be able to eat fish on the lake but bring them into a restraunt for cooking. But that's really none of my business and I like how westwind prepares them so I will be having them cook me a few meals "remember a few in crappie lingo is at leaat 15 to 20" the rest of my lifetime if allowed. Who knows I may be having fresh crappies before the weekend. ii will be taking the hammer out and she has been on fire this year.

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Kelly, would that not just have more people going into shore to eat their fish then? More business for the restaurants, but I don't see it helping with lowering the harvest.

The people eating on shore would not be fishing at the same time as they are eating so it would cut the fishing pressure and harvest a little bit.

jerkbait, can you eat walleye/sauger on the lake at LOW's?

Some are suggesting for the future splitting the safe harvest pounds between summer and winter. 1/2 of safe allowable harvest for each season. 84,000 pounds for the summer and 84,000 pounds for the winter. If that had been in place this past winter season with 77,000 pounds in December there would have been only 7,000 pounds left for January and February. We averaged 1,613 pounds a day for January so the winter walleye season would have ended January 4th or 5th. shocked

There are changes coming and they are going to be painful. When walleye fishing reopened on URL it was a 2 fish limit and no eating walleyes on the lake. 2007 was the first winter of walleye harvest. We harvested 69,856 pounds that winter. But now the fishing pressure is more then double what it was in 2007 so would a 2 walleye limit and no eating on the lake even be enough to keep us below "Safe Harvest"?

If you are around this area the next couple of months and see some people with big black and blue knots in the middle of their foreheads. That will be the people on the committees. They will have got the black and blue knots from beating their heads on a wall or from people throwing rocks at them. grin

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Quote:
. I asked Kelly what his thought were because I felt he would have a good feel for what people would do.

This entire season was so completely "off the charts" that I have no idea what the people will do. The increased amount of fishing pressure and harvest was so far off from what was planned/projected. Even with a 2 fish walleye limit I was amazed at how many houses were on the lake the last 2 weekends.

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If you are around this area the next couple of months and see some people with big black and blue knots in the middle of their foreheads. That will be the people on the committees. They will have got the black and blue knots from beating their heads on a wall or from people throwing rocks at them. grin

It is going to be very tough. Those of us that do sit on these committees have some very hard decisions and votes to make. Do not think it is knee-jerk reactions either, these meetings happen multiple times a year, are very long and very, shall I say, interesting.

As business owners (guides/resorts/outfitters/bait shops/gas stations etc), fishery personnel, tribal personnel, law enforcement and just about somebody to represent every walk of life around the lake to try to find the best balance we can between lake health, economic health and community health we can. If we need to reduce limits or change something about how harvest is done I will vote for it because it apparently needs to be done. We crashed the lake once and watched two separate peoples and two separate communities crumble into desperation from a dead lake, we will need to take whatever steps we need to prevent that from happening again. To stay on topic eating fish on the ice from what I see personally I will say accounts for 50-75% of total harvest depending on length of stay. Two-day stay angler consumes two and hauls two home, three-day stay angler consumes four and hauls home two, four-day stay angler consumes six and hauls home two. Can't eat fish on the ice? Well, that puts it legally at "hauls home 2" and that is it. I seldom see people go to shore, cook fish/or have fish cooked for them and then come back out for a night even when it was closed to on lake consumption. If you do the math from the days of closed to eating on ice verses having to take it them to shore people would still be in line downm the road at Westinds wanting their fish cooked from 5 years ago. It is that huge of a number.

What will be interesting is we can now take a very tough winter season and put that data back to back with a very easy season and come to a decent average of what can and will happen in each extreme and go from that.

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Cooking fish in your house is 'free'... and now is now the 'norm' so you are more or less guarnteeing you and everyone else in a wheel or perm house keeping at minimum 2 limits. Without the ability to cook on the ice the majority of said people will only keep one limit for multiple reasons... remeber 10 years ago the norm was not being able to eat fish w/ a slot on the ice and there was very little to no complaints... there are no complaints that you can't cook fish in your boat in the summer! laugh

here are some reasons why guys wont just go to Westwinds for walleye dinner in droves (its very good, I do it as a treat once every couple of years) (and rarely cook fish in the house... too messy):

- not wanting to leave the lake when the fish are biting.. dinner time is prime time... and you aren't guaranteed a table there.

- Westwinds closes kitchen at 10pm if I remember... need to get there prior, you can still cook your limit in a house after that...

- the cost for a family of four to eat a walleye meal at westwind's with a drink (2 pop and 2 beer) is around $50 - 55.00 with tip. Many guys are not willing to spend that when it is 'free' in the fish house. that is with 2 fillets per person (1 fish) which is easier on the harvest anyways... and if you want to eat 4 fillets (2 fish) the cost goes up. and that is with a samll bar tab... much cheaper if you are drinking in your own house.

You have always been able to cook fish on Red... just not slot protected fish, that is a fairly recent change. So I'd say if you can get into some perch or are lucky enough to find some crappie, you can enjoy a meal. I know I had plenty of fun over the years where we didnt even have the option to cook walleye... having the option to do so, just ensures that addl pressure WILL be put on the resource. If guys living / having cabins within an hour are 'double dipping' and filling limits day after day over a long weekend even if they stock the freezer with those fish, does not entitle us to 'get ours' as well as 'them'. ie: If someone is doing illegal acivity and damaging the resource and its frowned upon becuase they possess 3 limits in the freezer, how can making that same illegal act 'legal' and make it more palatable? (ie: 3 limits taken home and put in the freezer to be eaten over the next 2 weeks/months vs. 3 limits taken home and eaten over a long weekend in fish house...it's just symmantics) That's how Red got into the shape it did years ago... The gold rush was on, 'I need to maximize "my" take before the next guy!'

I'm good with no fish that have a protected slot being able to be eaten on Red and a 2-3 fish walleye limit year round with no expanded limit or size in the summer. The summer limit and slots need to be adjusted on Nov. 1st also... vs. Dec 1... the one to two weeks of being able to use the summer rules at first ice is also taking a toll... lots of walleys and bigger walleye taken in those 7-14 days.

Good Luck!

Ken

Good Luck!

Ken

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You will never be able to enforce that with the fish houses that now exist. You would either have to ban all fish eating (which is next to impossible) or leave it as is. People have been taking part in "shore lunches" since the beginning of time. Whats the difference on the ice. Yeah people put more pressure on the resource and you are gonna have that. It is called human nature. And not every wheel house eats a meal on the ice. I did once this year out of five trips. It is fun, it is enjoyable, and it should remain legal. When LOW turns back on next year a lot of the pressure will change. When Mille Lacs turns back on (and it will, good things coming soon for that lake!) the pressure will change. And when we have a more normal weather pattern the pressure will change. The concern being expressed on this forum is good to see, but a little overblown IMO. Many more controls in place than prior to the collapse. When Mother Nature wakes up she will help out. Enjoy the resource. The fishing is still fabulous out there.

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