Fifteen lakes in Minnesota will be posted soon with signs that indicate the current northern pike special regulation will end Nov. 1.
This change is the result of a new state law that limits the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to no more than 100 northern pike special or experimental regulation lakes and allows only length-based rules.
Among the 15 lakes are Caribou in St. Louis County; Scrapper, Haskell, Rice and Schoolhouse in Itasca County; North Branch of the Kawishiwi River, which is part of the Garden Lake chain, in Lake County; and Louise in Cass County.
These lakes will revert to the standard statewide northern pike regulation -- a three-fish limit with no more than one greater than 30 inches in possession.
Trappers: Check out new requirements
ADVERTISEMENT
A new state trapping regulation that went into effect Sept. 1 requires trappers to validate a site coupon for any fisher, pine marten or river otter taken in Minnesota.
Check the Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations for details.
Plenty of ducks on Minnesota opener
Duck hunting was generally good throughout Minnesota for last weekend's opener, according to Department of Natural Resources reports.
Hunters at the Mud-Goose Wildlife Management Area near Grand Rapids averaged 1.8 ducks per hunter, with blue-winged teal making up 32 percent of the bag. At Big Rice Lake near Remer, hunters averaged 2.8 ducks per hunter, half of them ring-necked ducks. At Big White Oak Lake near Deer River, hunters took an average of 2.2 ducks, with ringnecks and blue-winged teal each making up about a quarter of the bag. At the Canosia WMA near Duluth, 29 hunters (the same as last year) averaged about 1.3 ducks per hunter.
"With the strong northwest winds (Thursday), duck numbers should increase in most areas as more migrant ducks move into the state," said DNR waterfowl specialist Steve Cordts in his weekly report. "In the northern half of the state, hunters can expect to see more gadwall, green-winged teal and wigeon than were present on opening weekend."
North Shore Trail dedicated to Ramstad
On Friday, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources dedicated the North Shore Trail as the C.J. Ramstad/North Shore Trail.
ADVERTISEMENT
The trail was officially renamed in 2009 and now bears the new name on signs and maps. Ramstad was the former editor and publisher of Minnesota Snowmobiling magazine who died in 2007.
Raptor meeting coming to Duluth
The 2011 annual meeting of the Raptor Research Foundation will be held Wednesday through Sunday at the Radisson Hotel in Duluth.
The conference is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Duluth's Natural Resources Research Institute, the UMD Biology Department, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and the Duluth Audubon Society. The meeting will include scientific paper presentations, workshops and field trips. For more information, go to www.hawkridge.org .
