Fitty's Angling Ramble 6.0

[VikingFit]

Damn... You have to pay $10+ per day to Fish!

MN is "The land of 10,000 lakes" we're the #1 state in the US for fishing licenses sold... I think it's $25 for the family license that covers my wife and I for an entire calendar year.

IMO if it costs you more to go fishing than if you just went to the grocery store and bought fish then something is wrong... BUT I understand Europe is different...

The over fishing in the 1300's-1500's damaged the fisheries so bad that there are some that still haven't bounced back!

Prices here in Europe is madness compared to yours - Gasprices are 8 dollars pr gallon. Sales tax on cars is 180 percent!!! I am a doctor and drive a crappy little compact ... foodprices are ridicolous - compared to going shooping in USA - I feel so wealthy over there :-). Sorry for my slow responses - English is my second language.

[HairyScandinavian]

The main migration moved out of here a long time ago.

It was probably my biggest hint that this is going to be an early or harsh winter up here this year.

Hell last year (The second mildest winter since the 1860's) there were flocks that just lived along the open water of the rivers and didn't even migrate!

We haven't seen too many showing up down here yet, so they must have stopped for a stay in the middle somewhere. We're seeing some Teal mostly but that's about it, and those things usually get down here in September. Few flocks of "big ducks" but not as much as I was hoping for.

Fishing is very accessable - requires a Federal license - and always a fishing permit ($ 10-25 per day) for the part of the river/lake we are going to fish. Most of us are members of larger private consortiums that owns the fishing rights for the best part of the rivers (no public acces) - and usually have long waiting lists. But very good salmon/seatrout fishing is accesable to most people.

Hunting requires an official education/exam that must be passed before anyone can even purchase guns here. Gun Laws are very, very strict - It is possible to buy guns for hunting and sports shooting - but no other types of guns are allowed. It is possible to hunt for game birds (Ducks, pheasants, partridge, geese and pidgeons) on the fjords - and some lakes, but all other hunting are done on private properties, and are leased on long term contracts. And prices have gone much up over the years.

Prices going up everywhere. There are people here paying $6,000 for a season lease on good property. A private consortium for fishing sounds interesting, although the long waiting list might be a pain it seems as if it would also ensure a peaceful trip without dealing with crowds and if the fishing remains good then it's probably worth the wait.

Damn... You have to pay $10+ per day to Fish!

MN is "The land of 10,000 lakes" we're the #1 state in the US for fishing licenses sold... I think it's $25 for the family license that covers my wife and I for an entire calendar year.

IMO if it costs you more to go fishing than if you just went to the grocery store and bought fish then something is wrong... BUT I understand Europe is different...

The over fishing in the 1300's-1500's damaged the fisheries so bad that there are some that still haven't bounced back!

Down here we just buy a "Super Combo" which gives us everything hunting and fishing related with all "stamps" and endorsements included. It's $68 for residents.

Yeah one of the new trends in land up here is being run by the Potlatch paper company... They've got all these tracts of land that have trees that were replanted after harvest 20-30-40 years ago... And they've been allowed to go back to a natural forest and not just a sterile tree farm etc...

So now they're leasing these tracts for relatively cheap (Couple thousand for a year) to people/groups of hunters.

They have their own rules, like you can only put your deer camp in certain areas, you can only burn dead fall/can't cut trees for your camp fire, and have to use portable stands to hunt.

Groups are leasing them year to year for 10-12 years at a stretch until Potlatch comes in to harvest for timber or paper etc...


At the same time the state DNR is having a lot land sales and auctions, opening up tracts of what was previously public land that wasn't getting much use and selling them as a way to balance the state budget.

Some of them are like 40 acres for $26,000 type of prices!

We have a lot of paper company leases in East Texas, but they're worthless because you can't keep the local poachers off of them. The paper companies used to just not care who went out and hunted the land so it was treated as public, then they restricted access and charged people for leases but the locals in the area out there won't give up "their hunting grounds" and it's tough to get the local law enforcement to help because they know everyone personally who does it. I know lots of guys who've leased paper company land and put a lot of work into it only to find gut piles and carcasses and litter scattered around their area when the get there on a Friday.

[Nainoa]

I doubt it - but they sure have some nasty rain- and thunder storms there. Had plenty of delays on the tarmac there.



Shooting blindly? They only did that once here ...and they would loose their hunting license ...

Sounds sweet to have your own private property now.

Technically the Kid (And his Dad and Uncles he came up with for that weekend) were breaking the rules. You're not supposed to be in the woods during hunting season on an ATV or other vehicle within certain hours.

In Minnesota there is a certain dichotomy brewing that is only getting worse between the City Kitties (Who lives in the Twin Cities and Duluth) and the people who live in Rural areas.

The City Kitties tend to look at the people who live in the country as being backwards rubes who suck at merging into metropolitain traffic, so all the "Rules" and "Codes of Conduct" that apply to rural life only apply to the backwards country boys.

The go in the woods and on the water acting like they own it, they spread invasive species from their boat bilge, the pollute water ways, they rock people's boats with their wakes coming too close, they run around in ATV's during the forbidden hours, they buy assualt rifles and shoot them off with blind regard to the safety rules.

I grew up on the edge of the 3rd largest city in MN (At that time) It was before the suburban sprawl of the 90's and 00's ate the land around town up... The City line literally crossed through the property I grew up on... So if I went 100 yards in one direction there was a 24 hour strip mall with a pizza joint. If I went 100 yards in the other direction there was a little old lady who raised goats and pigeons and traded her home rendered honey and canned tomatoes with the neighborhood for what she wanted.

I kind of grew up exposed to both worlds... And did my best to make my way in both... And I straight up chose to go country.

My old city friends think I've gone completely insane for leaving so much of modern convenience behind. But really... It's just a better way of life... I saw both paths clearly, gave both maximum consideration, and I have zero doubts that this is the more fulfilling life.

[Nainoa]

We haven't seen too many showing up down here yet, so they must have stopped for a stay in the middle somewhere. We're seeing some Teal mostly but that's about it, and those things usually get down here in September. Few flocks of "big ducks" but not as much as I was hoping for.

I don't know much about the Mallards and Geese that use the Mississippi Flyway to go down south... Once they leave my area they're out of sight out of mind.

But I do know from some radio banding studies that Loons and Swans actually go from here to Lake Michigan outside of Chicago and will stay there until sometime between T-Giving and Christmas before they slowly hop and skip down to the Pan Handle of Florida... It takes them like a month of making short flights and stops to get there.

They over winter there... Slowly moving west until they connect to the Mississippi again... And then one day they just decide to fly all the way back up here in like 3-4 days of hard pressed flying.

It's weird that they take 2-3-4 months to get to their final destination down south... And then 3-4 days to come back!

[Nainoa]

Here is the Link to the New Ramble 7.0

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=149168513