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Location: Rhinelander | Gotta dump all water, and presumably bait, before leaving the lake now. No moving from lake to lake with bait or live fish; no taking your remaining bait home. This will change how I buy bait. If we have two vehicles, one answer is to leave the 'extra' bait in a truck onshore, as long as it doesn't cross the landing it's OK to move around.
It's a serious fine too, so I'd pay attention to the new Wisconsin law...
NO dead bait is allowed unless it's salt cured or chemical cured.
Link to the discussion on MuskieFIRST:
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=38...
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Location: Menasha, WI | Certainly a hassle for you fellows up north that have the opportunity to jump from lake-to-lake or people using the more costly big shiners/suckers. I went out on Bago yesterday with a dozen rosies ($2.25) and a dozen small fatheads ($1.25) and, since I didn't do very well, I had to crush about $3.00 worth of minnows on my way off. Not a huge expense but it could add up over the season. I'll probably fish w/ chena, spikes, waxies, and even Gulp a lot more. Might even try chicken skin again. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | One thing comes to mind about leaving live minnows behind at the lake. Where are we gonna put them? Do we dump them on the ice? Is there a grinder there like the cleaning stations around lake michigan? If not, maybe there should be. Is there garbage cans that will reak? who, what, where, and how. |
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Location: Menasha, WI | Dumping on the ice and the shore has always been illegal. If there's no trash can, you're supposed to smash 'em and pack 'em. |
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| Yep, thats right Steve, the DNR used their emergency rule making authority to enact a new live bait law that requires you to kill your minnows/Leaches before leaving the shoreline. The local shore channel hoppers are in an uproar about this as well all the ice fishermen. Many of these are younger kids that can't really afford to fish as it is. and we will see even more discussion as the ice thaws and bait prices increase due to the testing that is being required, (I have heard as much as $500 per test).
The true test will be after the spring run here on the Winnebago system when the stress level is at it's peak. If VHS truely has an impact like some are predicting I think there will be even more changes made.
Good Luck
Tyee |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Viking - 12/17/2007 12:42 PM
Dumping on the ice and the shore has always been illegal. If there's no trash can, you're supposed to smash 'em and pack 'em.
In Steves writing it says you cannot take live bait home. You also cannot have dead bait unless its cured. Smash and pack? Most will not take them home. These will be the questions that come up. |
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| I'm an outlaw. |
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Location: Menasha, WI | In Steves writing it says you cannot take live bait home. Correct. That's the smash part. You also cannot have dead bait unless its cured. The actual rule states, "May not use dead fish, fish eggs, or fish parts for bait." No law against possesing dead bait or transporting it away from the shore. I agree the rule will be difficult to enforce and there will be scofflaws that ignore the rule. however, it isn't that difficult to understand. |
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| I watched an Ice Fishing show from the comfort of my warm living room on Sunday that featured a WI DNR Warden who was ice fishing up North. He kept 1 minnow bucket in his vehicle that was parked on the shore and took a different bucket with only a few minnows that he thought he would need. Even though he tried to explain the new laws and the need to kill your bait BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE ICE, it looked silly and came off very dumb looking. So the Wolf river this Spring will require anyone who brings minnows and does not use them all to kill perfectly good bait that you intend to use the next day on the same body of water purchased from a licensed WI bait dealer that has meet all the regulations for VHS..... Please.... give me a break. What if you fish from a dock, are you required to keep your minnow bucket a predetermined distance from the water or once you get the bucket too close to the water, do you have to kill all your minnows each time. If a minnow dies in your bucket while you are fishing, is it legal to use or do you have to run back to the shore and properly dispose of each minnow that dies in your bucket. And lastly, are we all going to get in an argument at every landing because we can't prove which bucket was left in the truck with the extra minnows and which one we took out with us to fish from.
Edited by Purple Skeeter 12/17/2007 4:08 PM
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| Well said, Mickey. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | NO dead bait is allowed unless it's salt cured or chemical cured.
This is what steve said. Is that correct? Oh well, I think purple skeeter hit it on the head. The bait is coming from dealers who have had them in quaranteen and meet all the variables. The only reason they would want us to kill them is because of the water they are in. The boat and trailer will hold more water than the bucket.
Honestly, I do not see it being good for anyone except the brother of the guy who made the rule and he has the only test equipment for VHS in the state and he is the only licensed guy for VHS testing and it takes 3-5 years of on the job training to be a certified tester. |
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Location: Appleton wi | Its just more rules that cannot be enforced. Sure some guys will get busted or the guy will truelly be honest and the dnr will citiation him anyway due to what he thinks he saw! what about spinner rigs , lures, fishing line ,sinkers and hooks are they suppose to be sterilized before there used on a different body of water? What about poeple rear tires and bumpers and any other part of there vehicle that touches the water during loading or unloading boat? Do i need to sterilize my Lab if she comes along with me 2x in one week and jumps in the water at the dock and i fished 2 diferent body's of water? Where exactly does this all end?
Edited by eye Lunker 12/17/2007 4:35 PM
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Ohh and another thing, how about duck decoys and water keel deeks. My duck boat always hold 5 gallons of water and we hunt many different bodies. Maybe I will be cautious but I can guarantee most will not. Uninforcable rules yet again.
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| Forget the dekes, what about the ducks!? They can't always be completely dry by the time they fly from one water body to another.
Been fortunate here in Michigan so far. All we have to do is give out a receipt with the minnows we sell stating wheather or not they are certified disease free. You can still take them home with you and use them the next day. |
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| On a side note the Little Chute lock project begins this spring: As for the minnows....I'll follow the law and do my best, I'm even considering an I-Beam trailer, but to blantly disobey this rule is foolish. This disease is alot like the flu, I've never had a flu shot and have never had the flu. am I playing russian roulette? Do I want to do that with one of my favorite pasttimes.....No
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure now isn't it!
Good Luck
Tyee
LITTLE CHUTE (WFRV) - This morning, Congressman Steve Kagen announced plans to begin the construction of a new lift bridge in Little Chute starting in 2009.
After several meetings with local officials, Kagen met with Governor Doyle's transportation team last week to discuss moving the project to the spring of 2009.
"This is a critical and timely investment of our hard-earned tax dollars, for it will stimulate local construction, add tourism dollars to local businesses and at the same time, guarantee the success of two other essential heritage projects - the reconstruction of the Fox Locks and our newest Dutch treat, the Little Chute Windmill," Kagen said.
Design funding for the new bridge is estimated at $590,000. The total estimated cost for the project, including construction engineering, is $6.5 million.
Federal and state transportation funds will pay for 80% of the project, with the remaining 20% split between the Village of Little Chute and Outagamie County
Edited by tyee 12/17/2007 6:39 PM
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Location: Rhinelander | I don't understand why one would be restricted moving bait FROM water VHS free TO other VHS free water. I guess it's an enforcement issue.
Whatever it is, I'll conform, just because it's the law. |
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| As a kid I grew up on the Rock River in the stretches of Fort Atkinson. During the mid 80's there was a string of fish kills, strange how it hit mostly one type of species. One year it was white bass 2 years later it was carp and Sheephead. To this day I don't think there was ever a reason cited. To me VHS is just another function of nature and the fish will have to endure ma nature's wrath. Very much like humans do also. To legislate something we can't control is foolish. The only reason VHS exists, is because we have testing means to actually give it a name. There have been fish kills ever since I can remember and there will still be fish kills in the future. It's natures way. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | I agree. I think this is, as it has been said in the past, the same scare as cwd. The chicken little theory. |
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| Gentlemen, the problem is that they do not know what the effect will be and can only base such decisions on what VHS has done in other areas and put their best foot forward to TRY and control it's spread. Denny, "chicken little theory", not this time. VHS has the potential to devastate large portions of our fish population and greatly affect our tourism industry. It might not affect ski boat sales but fishing boat sales could surely suffer. Have you personally talked to Kendall or the people in Madison to get the facts? I have.
And Jayman, "The only reason VHS exists, is because we have testing means to actually give it a name." Come on. That is SO off the wall. How about doing a little actual study work on it before writing such inane statements. Here are a few facts for you as published. "VHS was found in European freshwater trout dating to the late 1930s and continues to cause epidemics in European trout farms; it first appeared on the U.S. West Coast in 1988 in marine trout and salmon, and started to be noticed in marine fish off the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick from 2000-2004. It was first detected in Great Lakes freshwater fish in 2005. The virus found in Wisconsin is a new genetic strain that's most closely related to the virus found in the Pacific Northwest, rather than the strain found in Europe." So, you can see that there has been ways to determine if a fish has VHS since the 1930's. It is also noted that the strain we have here is a mutated strain. It COULD be less harmful or more harmful. It also has shown an ability to kill fish at higher temperatures then the original virus. So, it's not the sky is falling, it's the sky has VHS. Maybe we should just all close our eyes, stick our heads in the sand and cry some more about having to throw away some minnows.
Or maybe we should take note of this FACT; "VHS has demonstrated in other countries and Great Lakes states the potential to cause large fish kills, long-term reductions in wild fish populations, and severe economic losses for the aquaculture industry. Anglers should know that their favorites -- musky, walleye, bluegill, and yellow perch, are among the most susceptible to VHS. They are categorized by the federal government as "Tier 1" species that have been documented to have suffered fish kills.
It is also published; "It's too early to predict the short-term and long-term impacts of this fish disease in Wisconsin. The VHS strain affecting Great Lakes fish is new, so we don't know exactly what to expect."
So, instead of whining about it, do your best to follow the new rules. After all, we WILL find out what effect it has on the system starting this spring. THEN, we may all have something to cry about. |
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Location: Germantown and Land O Lakes, WI | These new regs are going to do more to the open water guys than the ice fishermen. How many guys trailer up opening weekend and stay on one lake for walleyes? I own a lake home on Palmer/Tenderfoot in Land O Lakes. The boat ramp is a revolving door all weekend...all season...icefishing is the slow season. Musky fishing? You better think about storing suckers in your truck and making runs back as you need to, at 4-5 bucks a pop, nobody is going to want to kill them.
I'm glad top see someone post ..."I'm an outlaw", maybe your $300.00 tickets will go twords stocking. |
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| Doc, I'm glad you have the facts, I want you to explain how you having the facts is going to make a damn bit of difference of what the general public does? The reality of this, yes we here on WF understand VHS, we've heard the warning, "The sky's falling" aruguments. But what about the general public? I know for a fact that a handful of friends of mine that might fish a dozen times a year don't have a clue about these new rules.
When VHS "came out" last year I had lots of friends and family ask me "what's going to happen to Winnebago?" "Can you still eat the fish?", probably the two most common questions. While I couldn't answer the first one, why? because I don't know, the second one I told 'em to continue to eat the fish. To come on this "little website" in the big piciture of it all and tell me to get the facts, now that's asenine.
Now, I hope you feel better comeing to this "little website" and pound your chest that I should get the facts. But in the big picture of it all, it ain't gonna make a damn bit of difference. The general public don't know, they don't understand the new "emergency" rules. The VHS problem has been mostly targeted at fisherpeople (probably because fisherpeople whine the most). I haven't seen nor heard anything towards lake shore owners, jet skiers, water skiers, general pleasure craft users, or waterfowl hunters. To believe this problem lies soley on fisherpeople is absurd. Ain't gonna make a damn bit of difference.
The locks, yet they continue to push foward. The solution make boat owners clean their hulls and bilge areas. By some sort of wash down means. While the DNR damn well knowingly agrees that this is NOT a 100% fool proof system. But it's the "Best" system. The locks WILL open and you nor I will be able to stop that. Yet, the best solutiong to prevent the spread of VHS is to make fisherpeople kill thier bait at the end of the day by rule of "emergency order". This is laughable at best.
Ain't going to make a damn bit of difference to sit and complain about it on some "small website", it's like preaching to the choir. Now.....I've got some fact finding to do. Ya'll feel free to call me an idiot anytime, if it makes ya feel better. 
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Location: Berlin | VHS=CWD I totally agree. As far as the new regs, they suck but I am not sure what else they could do. I am not worried about VHS as I am about other invasives. The new regs will help slow the spread even if only a few people are actually following them.
Does anyone know when the FIRST VHS test was done here and on the Bay? Maybe it has been here since the 30's as well??
The truth will be known after this spring and hopefully we are lucky and this is just another "chicken little".
Watch out Jayman, I heard rumors of GMG meeting you out by the bike racks after school. |
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| Jayman, my post was referring to this statement of yours, "The only reason VHS exists, is because we have testing means to actually give it a name".
As far as the rest of your new post, I am 99% in agreement. (WOW, we agree on two things in one day, time to buy a lottery ticket) But one thing you should try and understand too, is that this (not so)"little" web site is not a closed community. New people from the general public find it every day. Many who visit here never post. Having the facts helps to keep the topic clear of opinion, rumor and false information that keep the general public from having a clear view of what is really going on. As a member who posts regularly and one who I know enjoys the system, it should be an incentive to keep opinion and rumor off of subjects like this. It is my incentive for posting fact where opinion is given that could affect the actions of the general public who visit here. There are billboards, signs at the launches, radio and TV spots all designed to help get the information to the general public who use the system. Hopefully VHS end up as seemingly harmless as CWD, but those in the know, are not wearing such rose colored glasses. Lets hope that this mutated strain is not a virulent and that somehow our system and it's levels of tannic acid (which make it brown) or something else in the water, air, ground or fish, keep it from having a large negative effect here on the Winnebago system. To THAT effect, I'm sure we are all on the same page. |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Man,
Just feel the love.
Let's all get into the spirit of the season boys. We have a long ways to go till spring.
Name calling and arguing amongst ourselves does nothing to solve the problem. |
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| Doc,
The testing means we have today is light years ahead of what they had in the '30's. I highly doubt it was called VHS then. It was probably just another fish kill. Testing is so much better today than it was even 10 years ago. I can even recall when they put out the list of lakes in WI that contained mercury.....pretty much everylake upnorht had some kind of mercury levels detected in it. It was later discussed that because of IMPROVED testing methods that they were able to detect the mercury and the problem itself had probably not gotten any worse and that the mercury levels were steady.
Much like VHS, the means we have to test it is great and is a tool. but I think we need to be a bit more rational on how we control the spread of exotics. Emergency rules that have little chance of being successful and even tougher to enforce. Doesn't do any more good than to sit and worry about it.
I have seen first hand what VHS can do, I also don't think it'll be the "end of the world" as some would like us to believe. Detroit river a couple springs ago we saw hundreds....hundreds of dead muskies floating down from the St Clair. BUt to the best of my knowledge the muskie population is largely intact and a very viable resource.
A second thought that bothers me even more so, is the idea of legislating a disease. It's just not a realistic idea, virus' and bacterias are constantly mutating if we could realistically control these, I would think we could realistically "eliminate" the common cold. Yet, scientifically it's not possible. So why try to legislate what we can't control? I've always been a firm believer in "worry about what we can control and don't worry about what we can't."
As for the small website, the number of users and visitors to WF is a drop in the bucket compared to the number of fishing licenses sold in WI and even a smaller drop compared to all the recreational water users of WI. Add in the Tourists....you get the idea. |
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