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Wow, that's a swing on thickness.  Of course someone could always find thin to open spots out there.

 

I haven't kept up with the snow totals in the area this year.  How much on lake on average?

 

And three members I don't reacall seeing before on a Burntside thread.  Nice to see.

 

Any of you ever post as Hwy2allstar before? ;):D

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Thanks for the updates. I grew up in ely and try to get up there for a trout, not much broke a couple roads on some big ones last year but better equipped this year. Planning on chasing after some walleyes this weekend on LOW then Burnside monday perhaps. More just like being out there and being mobile. Dog enjoys it!

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Wow, less than  24 hours before lake trout opener and no chatter. :( Sad… Makes you realize what fishing up there and/or the activity here has become. Still wish I was going. 

 

Far too many commitments right now. 

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Hard to get trout reports on lakes outside the Boundary Waters when the season just opened there today!

I would think there will be a few reports by tonight though!

I have heard nothing for reports from anyone that fished inside the Boundary Waters.

Cliff

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Guess that makes me a dumb angler.  Caught only one rainbow on Cenaiko in Coon Rapids today.  Should have gone to Burntside instead.

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Been doing the opener in Ely for 15 years and the last 5 years or so have shown exactly what the internet chatter and over exposure to trout fishing have done. The lakes are flippin PACKED with people! Not too long ago, our group had the back bay of Miners lake to ourselves and very few folks were ever encountered while out chasing lakers. Those days are now done, and folks are everywhere.

 

What's most troubling though, is now that the stocking of lakers has all but ended on most lakes, and lake trout management has all but been thrown to the curb, the future of the few fragile lake trout fisheries we have in MN are in serious jepordy. Can they handle this much pressure?

 

One bright spot during this weekend of chaos on Burntside was our group did get quite a few smaller trout, leaving me somewhat more optimistic of the future.

 

And just an added PSA: We as laker fisherman NEED to let the big (25"+) fish go to keep the breeders in the lake. These fish are the future! 

 

The way I see it, the less chatter, the better! 

 

And to answer the above question, Slush was present but not a huge issue.

Edited by BRULEDRIFTER
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Well, I sure can't argue Burntside wasn't over advertised.  I know I did my part.

 

But I think it's safe to say there's just flat out more people on the ice these days than there was a decade or more ago.

 

People get exposed to new ideas and go exploring.  Or, in my case, the exploring brought me here.  I fished Burntside and then found out about the forums.  I'm approaching my 10 year anniversary here already.  Hard to believe.

 

Do I wish I could take my postings back? I don't know.  I've learned a lot from being on here.  Maybe it balanced with what I gave?

 

I too would like to enjoy the old remote feeling of Burntside from even 10 years ago but it's tough to find anyplace a bunch of others don't already know about anymore.

 

You have history here too.  Do you feel its been worth your time?  Coming off a frustrating weekend probably isn't the best time to ask you that. 

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It's been interesting. Like everyone, when you first discover these forums, you feel part of a small group and want to share everything. But then you realize the vast depth of the internet and how many people are actually seeing what you post. Then it's like whoa!  Once I saw the impacts first hand of what a popular thread did to a fishery it significantly changed my opinion on these forums. They are great, but tread lightly.

 

And yes, with the evolution fishing comforts, there has been an huge increase in pressure across the board. I just worry about lake trout the most because of the lack of info out there about them and the complete lack of management by the DNR. Every species seems to have a "group" pushing the DNR for increased management and educating the public. Lake trout don't have that. T.U. does a lot for stream trout, but nothing for lakers. Not sure where our trout stamp money is going anymore, aside for stocking rainbows and loopers. Seems there should be added attention on a few of the more popular lake trout lakes keeping tabs on them. 

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Agreed.  One thing that drew me too lakers was their mysterious nature and the places they live.  Kind of a sacred type of fish.

 

I also agree the DNR will basically ignore any additional specialized management until an organized group starts advocating for lakers.  There just hasn't been a large enough following up till the past few years like you mentioned.

 

So, what's next?  It seems like laker fans are here to stay.

 

 

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
8 hours ago, Wanderer said:

Agreed.  One thing that drew me too lakers was their mysterious nature and the places they live.  Kind of a sacred type of fish.

 

I also agree the DNR will basically ignore any additional specialized management until an organized group starts advocating for lakers.  There just hasn't been a large enough following up till the past few years like you mentioned.

 

So, what's next?  It seems like laker fans are here to stay.

 

 

 

Well I started! Read bottom up. :lol:

I say start emailing and bugging Joe Stewing at the DNR. And I still think Joe is wrong. fishing licenses and Trout stamps are still a tax to fish.

 

Hi Steve,

Actually, MN has the second most native Lake Trout Lakes (116 lakes) in the country only behind Alaska. Most of which are up in the NE part of the state. We have not tried stocking Lake Trout in Big Watab due to its size (245 acres) and available habitat and forage.  We already stock Rainbow and Brown Trout and have had good success creating that fishery. Stocking another predator in a small system like this wouldn’t make sense and would likely hinder the success of our trout stocking. Big Trout Lake in Crow Wing County, while similar in depth, is much larger (1,400 acres) and has far more habitat available for Lake Trout as well as tullibee and whitefish are present which are good forage species for Lake trout.

As far as stopping guiding for Trout on the lake, I don’t think that is a big issue. Guides/anglers still have to abide by the rules and regulations.  To be honest, there is really no need to protect these trout. Big Watab Lake is a put-grow-and-take fishery with a limited number of carry-over fish so as a manager I would rather see these fish get harvested and taken home.  It would be one thing if we were trying to produce a self-sustaining population of trout, but we aren’t.  We stock the lake annually with 10,000 Rainbow and 2,000 Brown Trout which are paid for through fishing license and Trout stamp sales and not tax money. Our last creel survey indicated that 81% of the anglers were seeking trout.

I hope this answered your questions.

Sincerely,

Joe Stewig

Area Fisheries Manager | Fish & Wildlife

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

1035 South Benton Drive

Sauk Rapids, MN, 56379

Phone: 320-223-7867

Fax: 320-255-3999

Email: [email protected]

Area website: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/saukrapids/index.html

State website:mndnr.gov

 

 

From:
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 10:48 PM
To: *Info (DNR) <[email protected]>
Subject: Big Watab lake-stocking

 

Question: Has the DNR ever thought about stocking Lake Trout in Big Watab lake by Avon MN, ?   It seems to have some pretty good depth and the Rainbows are doing well there. Although a smaller lake it is only about 5 feet shallower then Big Trout lake up by Cross lake MN which Lake Trout are stocked in to. It would really be nice to get some more Lake Trout lakes in this state.

Also, I know there are people who Guide for rainbow on Big Watab lake as I had seen their ads on craigslist in the past. They boast about limits every time out.  Can something be done to stop this practice? It seems odd to use tax money to stock the lake just to let a few people profit off it by taking so many stocked fish out for their own gain!

Thanks for your reply.

Steve A

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20 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Well I started! Read bottom up. :lol:

I say start emailing and bugging Joe Stewing at the DNR. And I still think Joe is wrong. fishing licenses and Trout stamps are still a tax to fish.

 

You're running up against a political position here, not a logical one. I'm struggling to remember if it was Pawlenty or Ventura but one of them started to swing things heavily towards "fees" because they could argue that they weren't new taxes. I think that mentality has permeated through many layers of government by now, so I'm not surprised to hear someone from the DNR state that fishing license fees aren't taxes.

 

It doesn't really matter, we are paying to use something that requires money to stock and manage. Whatever it's called, it will never be free unless fishing pressure drastically decreases.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Yeah, the cost's were really not my issue other then a few folks making it their own money maker off the rest of us who pay the tab and Lic, fees. The main point was to find more lakes to stock and stock more in the lakes already with Lakers.

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Just seen an article to that says they are planning a new license increase.  It been five years and they plan to increase very 5-6 years from now on.

 

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Joe The DNR guy has a point.  There is a distinction between taxing the general population, and charging a fee (call it a tax if you want to) that only hits the folks that use the service.    

 

So trout stamp money is used to provide trout fishing opportunities.   The trout stamp or fishing license isn't a tax since you choose to pay it in order to engage in the activity that the money provides.      

They have a certain amount of money to spend to provide or enhance trout fishing opportunities.   Planting lake trout in a lake that already gets stream trout might not be a good use of that money.  

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The DNR has tried introducing lake trout into several lakes in the past 10 years or so. Most attempts have been unsuccessful (hanging horn lake for example). DNR recently increased the number of lakers stocked in big trout, but numbers are continuing to decline. I would have rather seen them cut back on the numbers stocked into burntside as opposed to stopping it altogether. The heavy fishing pressure and the predation by smelt is a tough 1-2 combo for lakers to deal with.

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Nice article. Perhaps the lake trout season should close in February right along with walleyes and pike?

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Great article; very educational.  Thanks for sharing.  I would be interested to know if having a slot limit on lake trout would help populations like it has with walleyes.  If so, why hasn't the DNR implemented it yet?

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Considering how old a laker has to be before reaching reproductive maturity, a slot may help.  The only thing I'd worry about there is having to put a bleeder back down the hole because it wasn't legal.  Then if a person wanted to keep their limit, that would just mean a wasted fish should they be able to get two more.

 

When I first started laker fishing, catching and keeping "my two" was a given if I were to have that good of a day.  Then it changed to releasing pretty much everything over the mid - 20 inch range unless it bled.  Now 1 fish in the 24 inch range would be my perfect weekend limit if I could choose.

 

When a person gets introduced to these addictive ghosts, it's tough to put em back.  There's a lot of excitement and pride in earning such a prized fish.  And I really enjoy eating them.  But in the case of Burntside, I would support a 1 fish limit, no slot.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
2 hours ago, lispeej said:

Leech, 

Have you made a trip to bside this year yet?

 

No may not be on the list to hit this year.

Edited by leech~~
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Checked out van vac yesterday lake looked pretty rough and bumpy after the slush froze up few permanent  houses  seen from the landing counter ten trucks in the upper parking lot on a Monday safe to say that the lake is seeing  some fishing pressure sure not like it was ten or so years ago 

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