Burntside Lake Ice/Snow Conditions and Fishing Reports

[Steve Foss]

MN fishign regs online.

Page 27. There always seem to be a few changes after the booklet is printed, though I can see how someone as old as Makisaurus would have a hard time keeping up.

Caught two today, A 28 and a 31. Sorry I didn't take any pics. Both longlining a 30-foot Jet Diver with smallish Husky Jerk over 50-70 FOW. Good day on the lake!

Now the boat sits for nearly another month and a half.

[Mike Stark]

The regs do say that the season ends April 1, 2012.

No fish for us today. Oh well. Time to head back to the Rainy!

[Great Outdoors]

MN fishign regs online.

Page 27. There always seem to be a few changes after the booklet is printed, though I can see how someone as old as Makisaurus would have a hard time keeping up.

Caught two today, A 28 and a 31. Sorry I didn't take any pics. Both longlining a 30-foot Jet Diver with smallish Husky Jerk over 50-70 FOW. Good day on the lake!

Now the boat sits for nearly another month and a half.

It appears that Mr. Fossasaurus had the hard time keeping up, as the season DID CLOSE ON MARCH 31st.

I spoke with the warden for clarification, and this confusion does happen from time to time on the DNR site.

The meaning was intended to say the season was open UNTIL April 1st, not THROUGH APRIL 1st.

I should have whipped a citizen's arrest on you today to pick up a coupla bucks for beer!

[Mike Stark]

That sure is confusing. It is printed that way in the regs book too. It also says in 2013 the season closes on March 31st. So does it close on the 30th in 2013?

[Casey Sunsdahl]

Took a while to load on the phone but it looks like Steve is right.. Most seasons start on a Saturday end on a Sunday. Clearly states Jan 14-April 1..

[Great Outdoors]

That sure is confusing. It is printed that way in the regs book too. It also says in 2013 the season closes on March 31st. So does it close on the 30th in 2013?

When it's printed in the reg book, the days are inclusive. On the web site, they sometimes make it confusing by putting the date it goes up to, but not inclusive.

Closing on March 31st means at midnight, giving you the entire day of fishing. If it says closed April 1st, it means you cannot fish that day, like it did this year.

Casey,

I got this right from the warden. I called him at 4 this afternoon when this conflict was pointed out, and he explained how this confusion developes on the DNR site. The 31st of March fell on a Thursday last season.

Don't shoot the messenger!

[chaffmj]

Crazy! I'm glad everybody had a good day. Steve and Mike went fishing and enjoyed the day and Jim was right (maybe) for a change and was feeling smart.

[Great Outdoors]

It would have been real neat to see Mike and Steve being escorted away in leg irons at the Van Vac Landing by a couple of wardens.

I could have taken some pictures and stuck them all over the site!!

[Casey Sunsdahl]

Sounds like they caught trout while trolling for crappies

[simey1]

wow...Mike, Steve, GO,...with that all said...we had a fabulous time on trout season ender. I caught my biggest, a 25 1/5 and Zona caught a beautiful 30. I was counting on perseverance prevailing thru all our difficulties on the ice. Maybe we just needed to get in the boat on soft water. I will try to figure out how to send pic. I'm really bad at this sort of thing. Dan

[simey1]

just got home mike and saw all the confusion about closing date. Zona wondered why only 2 rigs at van vac this morning. she has read the regs. and she thinks the officer that GO talked to was wrong. wow...life is entertaining. Dan

[laker1]

It was April 1,unless regulation book was wrong. Confusion is at one time it was March 31 no matter what I think?

[Mike Stark]

I just got off the phone with the Fisheries department in Tower. They said that the season WAS open yesterday.

[chaffmj]

wow...Mike, Steve, GO,...with that all said...we had a fabulous time on trout season ender. I caught my biggest, a 25 1/5 and Zona caught a beautiful 30. I was counting on perseverance prevailing thru all our difficulties on the ice. Maybe we just needed to get in the boat on soft water. I will try to figure out how to send pic. I'm really bad at this sort of thing. Dan

Dan nice fish congrats.

[Great Outdoors]

I just got off the phone with the Fisheries department in Tower. They said that the season WAS open yesterday.

Mike,

When you contacted the Tower office, did you let them know that a CO had already said the last day of trout season was the 31st, the same as the reg book said, or did you just have them look it up on their site??

Directly from DNR fisheries in St. Paul 10 minutes ago:

The reg book is the law as passed by the legislature!

The CO's opinion and the reg book are what the law is, even if the DNR site has a different date. Any changes in the law are announced in the paper.

I'm trying to help you here, Man!

Don't wanna see you donate anymore money to the DNR this year!!

PS-simey1: Don't have a date on the picture of the trout, if you get my drift!!

[Mike Stark]

I just asked them when the lake trout season closed. It did sound like they were reading it from somewhere tho.

The new printed regs book that just came out this year states that the winter lake trout season in 2012 is from Jan.14 - April 1.

So that would be the law right?

I don't understand why they would put April 1 as the first day it is not open. Do they do that with any other season openers or closers?

It states in the new printed regs book that walleye season on waters that border Canada(Basswood or Rainy River) close on April 15th. Does that mean the season actually closes on the 14th?

I am just trying to understand what the regs book say.

[Great Outdoors]

If it says it closes on the 15th, you can fish that day because the 15th is what it is until midnight.

John V. told me they've done this double definition (for lack of a better term) before and does nothing but screw up everything.

That's why the Boundary Waters stream trout season hasn't opened until mid January, the last three years (printing error they never caught before they passed the law)

That is supposed to have been fixed this year, but I haven't seen the new reg for 2012.

As for the April 1st closing listed, must be another snafu.

Now that they see the confusion they've caused, it may get corrected.

[simey1]

Looks like we have a split decision on fishing Sun. My source said it was open, so we went. This is her 30 caught on 3-31-12.

[Mike Stark]

Dan. That is a nice fish! Congrats.

[Surface Tension]

Hot dang smiley nice fish.

PS: the MN DNR regs I checked with said April 1.

[laker1]

A new state record for>Probably the largest lake trout ever caught from a boat in March or April. Hey a new category.

[Great Outdoors]

Hot dang smiley nice fish.

PS: the MN DNR regs I checked with said April 1.

The legislature set the trout closing for inside and outside of the BWCA as March 31st, a few years back.

They are the only ones that can make it April 1st, and they haven't.

It was misinformation on the DNR's part.

Don't shoot the messenger, I was just trying to save a few guys fishing on Sunday a fine, if the wardens had been around!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

So if that is the case then, GO, was everyone fishing for lakers on Saturday Jan 14th illegal, too? I mean, that was part of the same rule set by the legislature a few years ago, as well, was it not?

Seriously, this is ridiculous! Who's right and who's wrong? Prior to the days proceeding opener, I was POSITIVE opener outside the BWCAW was to ALWAYS, no matter what, fall on the 15th of Jan and was to end on the 31st of March, per the legislative hub-bub a few years back. But suddenly this year we could fish on the 14th of Jan and the 1st of April????

Being the dates in the REGULATION book were Jan 14-April 1st, 2012, I think any CO with their undies in a bunch would probably loose if they tried to charge you and you took it to court.

I sure hope this garbage is cleared up for next season!

[Steve Foss]

I get the Legislature part, Jimmy. I also know that when I see the dates of a season being open in the regs, the last date listed is the last date you can fish. So, seeing the regs online with the last date of April 1, I didn't even bother to check with other sources, because it was right there in I-black and I-white. And I have a screen shot saved of it.

Now, there's no need for a CO to be there checking us to issue a ticket. Here a couple of us are right in front of God and everyone acknowledging that we fished for lakers on Sunday, April 1. All the CO has to do is knock on my door (John knows quite well where I live) and ask me if I was telling the truth in my post. You know they look at these threads. I'm invariably honest with COs, so my answer would be: "Yes, John, I was telling the truth."

And if a ticket was issued, I'd fight it in court and would probably win out, considering how it was worded in the online regs. This is no challenge to any CO. They know I'm a peace loving fella and would prefer to avoid strife. Life is too short to be fighting all the time.

I don't care snot who is "right" and who is "wrong" in this thread. There is simply no excuse for the ambiguity so often found in the regs. I'm not trying to be a richard cranium, but the DNR maybe should hire different writers to craft those regs and different editors to watch over the process. It's not that the regs are too complicated. It's that they are too imprecise, and we who pay close attention to the meanings of words are left scratching our heads over and over again. Really? I mean, REALLY???

[BRULEDRIFTER]

I don't care snot who is "right" and who is "wrong" in this thread. There is simply no excuse for the ambiguity so often found in the regs. I'm not trying to be a richard cranium, but the DNR maybe should hire different writers to craft those regs and different editors to watch over the process. It's not that the regs are too complicated. It's that they are too imprecise, and we who pay close attention to the meanings of words are left scratching our heads over and over again. Really? I mean, REALLY???

Amen! Really!

[laker1]

They do proof the regs and sometimes something slips thru. Often after the regs are printed,the legislature may have changed the law. Like maybe a earlier fishing opener this year.The last few years the legislature has been playing with the trout dates.

I had no problem reading the regs this year and reading the season being April 1.

It was in my mine tho in past years it was always March 31.

[Mike Stark]

So I just recently received an email from the MN DNR about the lake trout regs. It sounds like the season was open on April 1st. This is the reply of emails that I received. The email on top is the latest response. My original question is at the bottom of the post.

Mike,

Better late than never. I got better information

Apparently the rules for seasons include a line that if a season end date is a Saturday, the season will go through the weekend (includes Sunday).

So last year trout season definitely ended on and included April 1st.

Edie

From: Erickson-Eastwood, Linda (DNR)

Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 11:52 AM

To: Evarts, Edie E A (DNR)

Subject: RE: Comments for proposed Trout regulations

There is language at the beginning of MR 6262.0200 that if the end date falls on a Saturday it goes through the weekend.

From: Evarts, Edie E A (DNR)

Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 11:20 AM

To: Erickson-Eastwood, Linda (DNR)

Subject: Comments for proposed Trout regulations

Linda,

I haven’t gone over the regulations with a fine toothed comb but I did have a question. Is the season end for winter trout season going to be solely the date of March 31 (not the Sunday nearest)? Last year’s regulation book had the season through April 1st and that created some confusion- see the question and response emails below.

Edie

From: Evarts, Edie E A (DNR)

Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 2:58 PM

To: '[email protected]'

Subject: RE: Winter Lake Trout Season 2012

Hi Mike,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I asked up the chain of command and I didn’t get a very good or quick answer (partly because I was out-of-town). I was told that the regulation book was correct and the last day of the season was April 1st. (The actual law does seem to be written differently). Next season the regulation book has March 31st as the last day so there is no difference. I’ll keep this in mind in future reviews of the regulation book (which is distributed to Fisheries staff before they print it) so it won’t be so confusing in the future. And that is assuming our legislature doesn’t make any changes…

Edie

Edie Evarts

Area Fisheries Supervisor

DNR Fisheries

650 Hwy 169

Tower, MN 55790

218.753.2580 x222

From: Mike Stark [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 8:30 AM

To: *Fisheries, Tower (DNR)

Subject: Winter Lake Trout Season 2012

Hello,

There has been some confusion about when the 2012 lake trout season closed. Online in the regs book and in the printed regs book it states that the season is open from Jan. 14, 2012 to April 1, 2012. I heard that the season actually closed on March 31, 2012.

Can you please clarify when the 2012 lake trout season closed.

Thank You,

Mike Stark