This Saturday is the lake trout opener for all lakes in Minnesota. The rules are a bit confusing and I was told by the Conservation Officer who checked me last week that he even has to review them every season. The lake trout is not actually a trout at all and that is why there is a different bag limit and season than there are for stream trout. Brook, splake, brown, and rainbows are all in the stream trout family and they will be open this Saturday the 15th, as well as lake trout on all lakes.
Some people got tickets last weekend for fishing stream trout even though they were inside the Boundary Waters. Some other people got tickets for fishing lake trout on lakes that were not entirely within the Boundary Waters.
I asked for some clarification about the rule of entirely within the Boundary Waters since the rulebook only names a few lakes. They list Ram, Saganaga, and Clearwater but there are many other lakes that hold lakers and are partially within the B-Dub. I was told that it is up to the angler to decide, and that if the map shows even a small section of the lake outside of the boundary then it is not entirely within the Boundary Waters.
Since we are talking about rules I investigated updates on the Captain’s License enforcement for next summer. Congressman Jim Oberstar, then Chairman of the Committee on Transportation, had introduced a proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard in Washington D.C. to produce an alternative licensing procedure for inland guides. There have not been any updates that I can find, but right now an inland guide is allowed to work as long as his vessel is safe and he is aware that he will have to pass an inland exam as soon as it is offered.
The Coast Guard came across very forceful last summer by telling some guides on the Mississippi River to stop working immediately until they had a six pack license. They were forced to cancel guiding days and scramble to find a classroom. The Coast Guard has since changed their tone but the fact still remains that a license will be required if you are operating a vessel for hire on Coast Guard determined “navigable waters.” This means any type of business, not just fishing guides.
They have managed to overturn the requirement for a Transportation Worker Identification Card or T.W.I.C. since it was designed to conduct background checks on workers who are able to handle incoming and outgoing goods at major ports around the United States. It never really pertained to licensed captains and the same background check is completed by the Coast Guard before issuing a license anyway. Of course I already paid $135 for mine since it had not yet been overturned and I was due for a renewal on my six pack license. I doubt I will be getting a refund.
The Oberstar proposal was introduced in September 2010 and I have not found any resulting information as of yet. The fact of the matter is that the Coast Guard is federal and very hard to change. We all know this from years of battling the motor permit systems up here. They have a list of lakes that they consider to be “navigable waters.” If the lake you are for hire on is in this list, than you are required to be licensed. The Gunflint Trail is in the 9th district and there is a web site that lists all of the navigable lakes, determined by the Coast Guard, within our district. The address to the website is a mile long as well as the list of lakes, and it would be easier to simply tell you that almost every lake is on the list. I would guess there will be some more updates before the summer season comes around and I will try to keep you posted.
Cory Christianson, a graduate of the University of Iowa, has worked as a fishing guide on therunGunflinONETrail since 2000. If you have any TI E, fishing reportsth or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218-388- 0315.
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