Posted: 8/31/04
DNR gets mixed opinions on trout fishing proposals
Winnebago Creek facts Winnebago Creek is a high quality and popular creek, Jason Moeckel, the DNRís assistant regional fisheries manager, said on August 26. It is the 11th most often fished in southeastern Minnesota, the sixth most popular with fly fishermen, seventh most popular with bait anglers, and 15th most popular with lure anglers. he said. It has 3.2 miles of easement, and its overall length is 19.3 miles. It has an average of 1,791 adult brown trout per mile, which is 586 above the regional average. The south branch of the Root River is the most often fished stream in Southeastern Minnesota. The DNR is proposing new fishing regulations on 26 streams totalling 181.5 miles in its eight-county southeastern Minnesota region. |
Argus News Editor
Brian Jorstad made his point as he stood by a group of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) workers last Thursday.
Jorstad owns Hokah Bait Company, a wholesale bait company that serves many local bait dealers.
He had come to the open house at the Four Seasons Community Center to discuss proposed changes in fishing regulations on Winnebago Creek.
Jorstad said he is totally against the proposal, which would make a 12.4 mile stretch of Winnebago Creek catch-and-release only. It would also ban the use of live bait.
The area under proposal is from Camp Winnebago to a quarter mile upstream of County Road 5.
Jorstad felt that the majority of bait shop owners in this area would agree with him. He added that he “wouldn’t mind” some kind of slot limit. He also doesn’t like the fact that people who have the creek running through their property would not be able to catch and keep fish in their own back yards.
The DNR workers listened politely to Jorstad, but they did not debate him. They said that wasn’t their purpose, that they were there to listen.
Dan Klinzing, who lives near Houston, said that he didn’t like the no-live-bait part of the proposal. He thinks it would affect 80-90 percent of the fishermen in this area.
Mel Haugstad of Spring Grove said there is too much water in the plan. He suggested making a three mile section catch and release only, with no live bait. That would provide an area of protection for fish, and the big ones that it supported could migrate up and down the creek and into the regular fishing zones.
He would also like to see the DNR create special areas for kids to go fishing more easily and successfully.
The no-live-bait issue is a tough one, Haugstad said, but it makes sense with catch and release, due to the high mortality rate. Studies have shown that 30-40 percent of fish that are caught with live bait and released die, compared to about five percent caught and released with flies and hooks.
In other words, if you are going to do catch-and-release, it doesn’t make sense to do it using live bait.
Jason Moeckel, the DNR’s assistant regional fisheries manager, made that point too. He talked while people filed through the main room of the community center, looking at displays that showed different maps and proposals for southeastern Minnesota.
The open house lasted for five hours, with about 100 people attending. DNR workers outnumbered visitors most of the time, so it was hard to get a sense of what people were thinking.
Like the DNR staffers at the registration table, Moeckel was content to answer questions and listen. People filled out questionnaires too. All those opinions will be used to come up with a final proposal, probably in October. The new regulations will go into effect next April.
People seem to be objecting most to restricting the use of live bait in Winnebago Creek, Moeckel said. Quite a few suggested implementing slot limits, which means you can’t keep fish within a certain length, for example from 12 inches to 16 inches. Currently on Winnebago Creek, fishermen can keep five trout, with one over 16 inches, which is a statewide regulation.
Fourteen streams in southeastern Minnesota have slot limits, and seven have catch-and-release regulations.
Moeckel said the DNR staff would look for common points in the responses and see which ones are practical. He knows the DNR will be making some changes in the proposals.
The proposed changes are intended to create more large trout, Moeckel said. DNR surveys have shown that fishermen want to catch larger trout, and catch and release is a way to make that happen, he said.
Improving the habitat and increasing the number of forage fish also help with that, he added. Many people told him that they support habitat improvement.
Moeckel was asked what he thought of the Houston County Board opposing the plan based on a possible negative economic impact.
He said that no one has a handle on the economic impact, but that places in Wisconsin that had catch and release law had seen a boom in the number of anglers because they can catch bigger fish. About 28,500 people fish in southeastern Minnesota, and more than half of them live outside the area, Moeckel said.
Mel Haugstad, who was a longtime DNR fisheries biologist before retiring in 1990, agreed with that.
“I think they’re shooting themselves in the foot by saying it will hurt,” he said, referring to a letter sent out by the Houston County Economic Development Authority warning of a negative economic impact.
If landowners along the creek post their land no trespassing, it will hurt the trout population, Haugstad said. Areas of designated trout streams that are posted cannot be stocked with fish by the DNR, so the more areas that are posted, the fewer fish that are stocked. The DNR stocks 31,500 fingerling brown trout in Winnebago Creek annually, and 1,050 catchable rainbow trout.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com