i am in MN on the middle part of the st. crouix. in sept or oct it is a week long catch and release season with a week long season to keep(2 weeks total). you can only keep 1 per year and they have to be 60" to keep. you also have to have a pre bought tag to do it.
they are not decreasing here. they are spawning, with a high survival rate. this population is making an amazing recovery! the dnr have tagged some 500+ fish in the last few years and my group has landed a group total pushing 1000 fish and we have only caught 2 fish that were tagged. we also have helped the dnr tag 3 fish in the 10-15" range and thats the smallest fish that they have ever tagged. sizes from 6-8" on up to 53" and one not measured, due to the distance to the truck being to far, at over 60". the average population for my section is 24-36" with a very high population density of breeder fish(over 50") aswell as young fish in the 8-15". with in the next 10-20yrs when all the average sized fish and young fish grow to maturity the population will get exponential, not to mention the fact that all my average fish will be in the 50"+ range with 60-70" fish more common. a 72" fish was caught and released at this spot already so i am not just talking out my ***.
