Is it a violation of Mn fishing regs if one was to catch their limit of smallies and properly discard them in the woods without cleaning them?

Hah...I won't tell...martins and fishers gotta eat too! :)

Curious as to why one whould do this?

Ask Trygve :^)

i dont know but then why would you keep them?

I have never kept a smallie. Always catch and release. That's the way I roll! :)

It is very, very illegal. it is considered wanton waste, and can carry a hefty fine.

The majority of my fishing is on the Minnesota River. Sheephead are a major pain. When I was a kid I would smash them on rocks and throw them back in the water. I can't imagine anyone eating one, they smell awful. These days I just release them as I would any other fish I catch that I don't plan on eating. I eat smallies and although they don't taste quite as good as walleye there is nothing wrong with them. They in my opinion taste better than northerns and you don't have to deal with the Y-bones.
As motdur asked why would you do something like that?

However, if a smallie falls in the forest... does anyone care?

I think it is a violation of MN rules under wanton waste--not 100% sure, but it shouldn't be :)

Tim

I think there should be a Minnesota law that requires everyone entering the BWCA to catch a limit of Small Mouth bass, and toss them in the woods.

If a person is caught catching 2-3 times over their limit, and disposing of them in this same way, they should name a lake after them!!

What say Ye, Trygve????

we all need to realize something....tongue in cheek!...relax!

There are too many people on this planet too (many of which are more annoying than a smallmouth) and we can't just kill them and throw them in the woods.

Shoot,,, I've been baited,,, good one "guest".

Kellyrth,

How big do the sheepshead (aka drum) get up there? In TN I've caught them up to 35 pounds and the fight is insane. I mean I have felt my shoulder begin to separate trying to fight some of the larger ones.

I don't understand why people hate drum, they fight great and are native.

Local paddler,

READ MY LIPS!!

There is nothing on the planet more annoying than a small mouth bass!!

Not even Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, or Hillary Clinton!! :)

keithcatfish,
I'm not sure what the state record in Minnesota is for fresh water drum but I've seen them up to 15 lbs. and personally caught them up to 6 lbs. . They do fight pretty good as do white bass or channel and flathead catfish which I have seen up to 50 lbs.. They become a problem when you want to caught walleyes and all you catch is sheepheads, stripers, and cats. One of the biggest walleyes I ever caught, I thought I had snagged a carp so I'm was flicking and jerking at my rod hoping it would just come off. It wasn't until the fish was a foot from shore that I realized it was a 10 lb. walleye. Funny thing was it let go of the hook inside the net.
Do you collect the stones from the drum.
So what is the deal with the hatred of smallies. Is it if I say I like catching and eating smallies the cool kids won't want to play with me?

Keith catfish--

Me and my friends have caught sheephead around the 10 pound range. The dnr website says the state record for Minnesota is 35 pounds.

I'll agree, they do put up a fight and the big ones are fun to catch, but I hate them because they are a nuisance. It seems like, especially late season, all I catch is tiny sheephead that a) steal bait b) swallow hooks c) and smell.

It amazes me how depending on where you live what fish are considered a nuisance. If you come to southern Minnesota and fish the Minnesota river you will (if you can put up with all the sheepheads, bullheads, catfish, mooneyes, gars, carp, buffalo fish, various suckers, white bass, and Hillary Clinton) catch some pretty nice walleyes and if you try hard you may even catch a big smallie.
The shore of the river is littered with fish that people deem a nuisance. The stench of rotting fish and maggots is every where.
Sheepheads do stink anyway, there are a few people that do admit to eating them, they say they taste like walleye. I'm going to take their word on that one.

Stubs and Kelly,

In TN most people consider drum a disappointment. You think you've got a 7 pound smallie on your line and it turns out to be a 10 pound drum. As you note, the small ones are excellent bait stealers. When I fish with live bait, I'm usually using a 5-6" live shad so little ones are not a problem. I like drum. As far as I'm concerned, the more fish I catch, the better.

I don't even eat walleye, so I can't vouch for how drum taste but Al Linder and the In-fishermen guys say the make excellent table fare.

I don't hate smallmouth, I'm a smallmouth nut. Its amazes me how differently smallmouth behave in the BW versus TN. In the BW, as everyone here knows, they are as easy to catch as bluegill. Down here, they are much more difficult to catch. They follow the bait to the boat like a muskie, peck at the tail of your bait like a walleye and will ignore the most subtly presented live bait.