Sunfish Bag Limits Changed by Minnesota DNR on Select Lakes

Brandon Eder, Waterville area fisheries Assistant Supervisor will be our guest for the Friday Midday DNR Report segment on KDHL.  The Craig Keller Insurance Agency and IBEW Local Union 110 Sportsman's Alliance sponsor the program.

March 1st marked the start of the new angling season which includes some new rules.

Sunfish are the focus of the changes they say but the DNR also reduced daily crappie limits on some lakes.  The DNR says signs will be posted at water accesses for lakes that have new sunfish and crappie daily limits.

I stopped by Lake Mazaska in Shieldsville and did not see that signage although the DNR did say the signs should be up by the end of this week. Lake Mazaska is listed as a lake with sunfish daily catch limit of five.   New regulations impact only inland waters and include:

• 44 waters that have a new daily limit of five sunfish
• 31 that have a limit of 10 sunfish
• 17 that have a limit of five sunfish, five crappies
• Two have a limit of 10 sunfish, five crappies

In checking the DNR 2021 Fishing Booklet some other KDHL area lakes impacted include:

• Marion Lake in Dakota County.  Sunfish daily limit of five
• Prior Lake upper and lower in Scott County.  Crappie five limit daily.  Sunfish daily limit five.

In a news release announcing the changes the DNR says, "The intent is to protect and increase the number of large sunfish in the lake."

Eder adds, "We heard from anglers on those selected lakes who said they wanted a greater number of large fish.  Our research has shown this lowered bag limit can have an effect on accomplishing just that, and five fish can still supply a pretty good meal."

The record catch for a sunfish is 2 pounds 13 ounces recorded in Hubbard County in 1984.

With gas prices rising can you remember how much gasoline was the year you started driving?