Whitefish, cisco netting opens Oct 25

[Lee Borgersen]

10/22/2010 12:25: PM
 
Whitefish, cisco netting opens Oct 25 on Basswood, Fall, and Newton Lakes and on Lake Vermilion
Basswood Lake, Fall Lake, and Newton Lake will be open to whitefish and cisco sport netting from Monday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 14 according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

BASSWOOD Lake County

T.64,65 R.9,10,11 S. Var.

FALL

Lake County

T.63,64

T.63 R.12 S. Var. NEWTON Lake County

T.63,64 R.11 S. Var.

Lake Vermilion will be open from Monday, Oct. 25, through Wednesday, Nov. 10. VERMILION St. Louis County

T.62 R.14,15,16,17;

T.63 R.15,16,17,18

(All except Pike Bay, south & west of a north-south line at narrowest portion between Echo Pt. & Punchers Pt. -

T.62 R.15, S.19 + Var.

T.61,62 R.16 S. Var.

Minimum gill net mesh size for Basswood and Fall Lakes shall be no less than 1-3/4-inch net stretch measure. Minimum gill net mesh size for Newton and Vermilion Lakes shall be no less than 3-1/2-inch net stretch measure. Net stretch measure means the interior distance between opposite knots or corners of a single mesh of net, taken between the thumb and forefinger and applying enough pressure laterally to allow the opposite sides of the mesh to touch.

Opening dates for netting are determined based on fish abundance, climatic conditions and vulnerability of game fish.

Fishing regulations require that:

· Nets may be set after sunrise on the opening day and must be removed before sunset on the closing day.

· A whitefish netting license is required.

· A person may use only one gill net, not exceeding 100 feet in length and 3 feet in width.

· One end of the gill net must have a pole, stake, or buoy projecting at least two feet above the surface of the water or ice.

· Gill net must have an identification tag attached near the first float of the end with the pole, stake, or buoy.

· Identification tag must be a minimum of 2-1/2 inches by 5/8 inch, permanently bearing the name and address of the owner.

· Gill nets may not be set after sunset or raised before sunrise.

· Gill net must be set and lifted by the licensee only and must be tended at least once every 24 hours.

· A gill net or any part of a gill net may not be set in any water deeper than six feet, measured from the lake bottom to the top surface of the water or ice.

· A gill net may not be set within 50 feet of another gill net.

· Netters are reminded that if netting on infested waters the net may not be used in other waters unless it has been dried for a minimum of 10 days or frozen for at least two days.

To prevent the spread of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) in Minnesota waters, anglers cannot use cisco as bait in any body of water effective Monday, Oct. 4, unless the fish have preserved by a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) permit holder that uses accepted methods known to make the virus inactive. When using preserved cisco as bait, anglers must have in their possession the label from the batch of preserved cisco being used. The label must contain the bait processor's DNR permit number, the lot number, and date of processing.

The 2010 Whitefish and Ciscoes Sport Gill Netting Regulations can be found on the DNR website - http://www.mndnr.gov/regulations/fishing

 

[greatoutdoors]

Lee,
These whitefish/cisco regs seem to have some conflict in them.
1. We bait dealers cannot freeze ciscos taken from non infested waters because freezing will not kill the VHS virus, but a net used IN infested waters can be used in other non infested waters if you freeze it for two days.
2. You cannot legally gill net a bait fish.
So, any cisco caught while netting cannot be legally treated by anyone with a permit to do so to enable it to be used for bait.