New regs coming...opinions?

[Moosebunk]

Better not cut my walleye limit in half.

A 4 fish limit up here is sick for a days fishing when buddy in the next boat is hauling home 80. Ottawa river takes 10 times the pounding and has 10 times less the walleye yet the limit there is 6. F*$k that.

MNR regs need a total revamping and the ones that write them need a clue as well. The province is bigger than most countries of the world and a little thought into preserving here and allowing there would be a nice gesture.

And on a second note. If the regs print AURORA TROUT OPEN for LAKE 1&2&3, when my butt drives 600km to one of those lakes I better get more courtesy than some toilet paper note nailed to a tree saying, "Sorry, haha, changed our minds, lake closed, we forgot to do our homework, here's a kick in the nuts instead of your gas money back, better luck next time, any problems call this number with an extension to nowhere, have a nice day."

We got an MNR guy up here right in town. Only one river we all live on. Fished about 40 days on the Moose alone. Never saw him out once.

[wolfe]

This (American ) chick is always in favor of the more conservative angle. So I'd be real happy if they lowered the keep limits, whether a little or a lot, it's all good.

W.

[g unis]

no matter how its done it will upset some and make others happy. many dont realize the mnr enforce laws made from a higher authority. usually from a desk and a non sportsman.

[fishmaster]

no matter how its done it will upset some and make others happy. many dont realize the mnr enforce laws made from a higher authority. usually from a desk and a non sportsman.

My thoughts exactly, the MNR holds all these open houses but very seldom do they listen to what people have to say. The local sportsman club here in conjuction with the local MNR office did a survey here in the late 90's and there findings were to push the season back and change the limits(walleye, due to declining population and there isn't even a native fishery here!). Well that year there was an election and the Minister in charge said they needed more info(go figure, don't want to pee pee anyone off at election time) They did the survey over again for 2 years and came up with the same findings. Guess what happened, another election and no changes. Quebec finally got pee pee off and created santcuaries where they had control of both shores(Ottawa River). No fishing allowed and strict enforcement. I think we should get on the government about hiring more C.O's and worry less about changes. We need people to enforce the rules and no matter how many regulations we change it won't make a difference without enforcement

[Relic]

Like Bacon, I don't necessarily want to see the possession limit changed, it's nice to have a snack in the freezer But changing catch limits is fine. Also whatever happened to minimum limits, we have em' for muskies but not bass, walleyes, pike ect?? Aren't their little lives tough enough without having to worry about us

But like Fishmaster said doesn't matter how many rules/laws are changed without more enforcement poachers will still be poachers

[nywalleye2]

I don't agree with RJ, why should they get rid of the conservation license, so everyone has to pay the same price?

[Rob]

All of this would not matter if the CO's are not there to keep people honest. I've been fishing for over 35 yrs. now and have only been asked for my license Once , and that was last year at Petrie, and the strangest part of that was that I was not even fishing ... I think the main concern should not be the lower limit's, but should be that they have got to increase the budget so that there can be more CO's on the job I also think that much stiffer fines for poaching and other illegalities should also be at the top of that list. Markus had posted another Poaching Report, ( Awsome ), and then I think it was CCB that broke the moron's fine down to something like $30.00 a fish , and that is not counting the court costs How does this discourage someone from doing the same thing . "Examples need to be made" , and don't give these idiot's back there stuff after the fine is paid ...
With these new law's ( Whatever they might be ), are certainly going to pee pee some people off and at the same time, make others happy. Some lakes and Rivers, or even part's of Rivers get pounded a heck of alot more than other's. Now would it be fair to say that I or anyone else can not bring home a limit of 6 walleye for example, from a place that does not see alot of fishing preasure and has a healthy fish pop, " I don't think so"... On the other hand, some Lakes and Rivers could certainly benifit from lower limits ...

[crash]

I would like to see the conservation liciense kept.
better half and the kids do not fish as much as I do ( i pay full price)
my sister do a little ice fishing. Sure we keep a few.
I think in all my years fishing Long Point Bay I have only brought one limit of bass in. Sure a few here and there for a fry.
I can handle a lower one day catch but that would be hard to prove at times wouldn't it.
Possession limits for certin area sure
Lake Erie has 2 differernt catch and possession limits for eyes now
How could a CO prove one way or anther where I caught them ?
Clearer explanations of the regs sure
they have tried to do better with more langauge printed one now.

[RJ]

How does a conservation license promote "conservation"?....

I'm betting that 90% of folks who fish are rarely in the position where they have to worry about what their limit is....most just don't feel they need to keep their limit...or just haven't caught enough fish to fill their limit....so in most cases it doesn't matter which license you have.....

Ya so ya get for a few bucks cheaper...but other than that...what's the point of them?

just my 2 cents...

RJ

[Trophymuskie]

I'm sure on a past post I mentioned this but here goes. Now I can't find the literature but this is from memory.

I was fortunate enough to be sitting on meetings at the MNR Peterborough offices back in the spring. One of the presentations I got to see was something on the upcoming changes for 2007.

The reason that we have the same regs in 05-06 was to give them time to revamp the entire system for 07.

Basicly they will change the zoning to cut back on the number of zones making it easyer to manage. As well they will cut back of the exeptions so that it will make it easyer to understand. Like slot limits may be set for the entire zone rather then this lake here and thie lake there.

Fortunately regulations for Muskie will not change as we were used for ginnie (sp) pigs. Yes the new trophy size limits of 54 inches and the new keep limit of one and possession of 2 were all done to test out this new system.

I believe this is going to be for the best, only the paper we will be saving on the regulation pamflets will save us a tonne of cash. If I remember correrctly the proposed changes had but only 20 some zones.

If i find my paperwork from the meeting I will elaborate some more.

[Jigs]

Very rarely do I keep more than 2 bass. There's only my wife and I at home, so two fillets each are more than enough. Past season I think we kept 6 bass in total for the season, so whatever the numbers allowed are, it's ok with us.

It's not going to stop the illegals no matter what; but it may make the "keep your limit each time you go" from overdoing it.............2 as opposed to 6.

We'd like a few more walleye.................but ya gotta catchem

Ah well...........

Three more years and I won't need a licence.........Yahoo

[spanky]

i've heard rumour they're looking at reducing the posession limits on steelhead.... walleye get changed every year it seems....

i'd be more happy to se everything stay the way it is and hire more CO's... believe we have 2 CO's for division 3 and haven't seen one since the early '90's

[Jimmy]

Why... as a resident of Ontario... do I have to buy a license to fish?

Here's one for instance why ya need a license...
... one saturday evening.... I say to my brother in law who has never fished..who is a resident of Ontario forever... "hey lets go fishing".... and he says "ya, I'd love to try it" and I then say to him..."you'll have to drive to some retailer... pay $ for a license ... conservation or full... drive home... oh wait its Saturday night... we were going to go tommorrow... oh forget it!... Can't go... you dont have a license... you have never been fishing... will probabley never go again... but have paid taxes in this province all your life...but you still need a license".... "to drive?" he says... "No ... to put a worm on hook and throw it into the water" I tell him... "Wow...I can see why ya need a license Jim..."

How many of you have had similar conversations?


The licensing was put into place to produce funds for projects such as stocking etc...

So guess what.... the MNR stops stocking and most other programs... and the licenses remain in force Imagine that!
The desk jockies are keeping the funds and abandoning the programs!... Whew...never have heard of that before...
Lets see...
Cut programs + less fish production (hey the Americans and private clubs still stock anyway..so we don't have to) + cut limits = Saved $$$$$$$$$$$

... wow... saves millions... but we can still charge the same for taxes (oops) I mean licenses...

Limits...
Why do we have limits? Thats obvious... there are pigs out there that do not respect nature and its limited resourses! No doubt! These people should be prosecuted to full extent of the law for violating it!..

BUT... the regulations have to be reasonable!

Raise the limits when the fish stocks are good.. lower the limits when the stocks are poor! Simple math..right? Wrong... Ministry: lower the limits... impose useless fish killing (and economy killing) slot sizes.. then when stocks rebound ..keep the limits low.. oh wait..then dont forget to charge more for licenses..
Wait a minute..I forgot to mention...lets increase commercial quota's... whose nets know no slot sizes ... or whose Walleye and Perch nets dont distinguish between large perch or small Walleye or Rainbow trout!
Ask the commercial guy... on the sly of course... what happens to incidental (especially when their secondary quotas are full) kill?

Oh and by the way...The little guy ... he can wait for his increase in his limits ... another year or so.

Rod Limits:
Rod limits... what a bunch of hewy that is... If the limit is four or six fish per angler... it makes no sense to limit the rods.. to 1 or 2...

Whether I am a catch and release angler or a catch and eat angler... the limit is the same.. If my limit is 4 and I do it with 10 rods or I do it with 1 rod... my limit is still 4!

And please Mr. MNR dont give me the .. more rods... lower the limit... speech... thats crapola!... If I get my limit in a half an hour... or my limit it 4 hours.. or I dont limit at all and I still had fun.. 1 or 10 rods won't make any difference to the local fish stocks.. my dent in the fish population is still the same or less!

Also the economics.. for example... a 2 day trip... if I drive 400KM.. spend upwards or in excess of $500 on food, fuel lodging....etc.. and I want to take some home for the freezer... cause fish is good for you and yummy...
it is discouraging not to get my limit... it's even worse to not even come close. If there is no rod limit or restrictions as to how many rods I can run and it increases my odds of getting fish or even my limits then that is one less barrier for me to overcome when it comes to making my decision as to where and when I will spend my money.

Slot sizes!
IMO...The most inefectual ... politically driven... recreational angling industry killing (see paragragh above)...bulloney going! How can the Ministry be sure that the slot fish are the ones that reproduce the most. They can't... its based on "research"...or conjecture... or both. What is the death rate of fish caught at deep depths or improperley handled that just happpend to fall into the slot size? %60-%70 or greater?
Did ya ever hear this one? Guy gets stopped by the MNR... gets checked... has his limit or less even..but one fish in the slot... MNR: "you can't have that slot fish".. Angler: "but he had his bladder sticking out of his throat" MNR: "To bad, you must return that fish to the water..." Angler: "I kept it thinking that it was going to die" MNR: "It doesn't matter, return it regardless" Angler: "but my lure knows no slot" MNR: "Doesn't matter, it goes back"roll:
The comercial guys will be happy to tell you about the slot sized fish that are caught and died and thrown over board. NOT!

Hmmm... now that law makes sense . Just lower the limit and ban commercial fishing until stocks return.

Commercial fishing:
Why do we need a commercial industry in a closed ecological system such as the great lakes? The MNR allows harvesting of fishes in vast quantities. This harvesting has devasting effects on our fisheries. It has very little economic benefits to the economy. The taxes paid (fuel, licensing, sales taxes, etc..)are minimal vs the recreational angler. It can be non-selective (although they would have ya believe otherwise). The economic return to shoreline economies is minimal at best. Add this to the stuff I previously mentioned and I dont believe that it is in anybodies interest except the comercial guys... to have a commercial fishery.

Phew! Got all that off my chest...
Only my opinion folks...

Thanks for reading
Jimmy

[fishmaster]

Hey Trophymuskie, I'm not taking a swipe at you but I'm just wondering if the meeting you were at had any mention of hiring more C.O's. If these new Regs. are going to save millions that should leave more money for enforcement (not holding my breath). Also if the new regs are going to be easier to manage what does that mean, does somebody sitting in an office that doesn't even fish really care about the fishery, NO, all they care about is that they have less work to do. I think we all need to get together, go to these meetings, call our M.P.'s, call our M.P.P.'s call anyone who will listen and tell them to forget about spending money on new Regs. and instead hire more enforcement(not office worker's). Also for the record, I would pay more for my license if I knew it was going to result in more enforcement. I'm sick of watching all these people rape our fishery's (and no I not talking americans I'm talking locals, they are among the worst offenders around her)

[muskymuskymusky]

I am affraid if you lowered the Catch limit you may find people keeping bigger fish.