C & R Regulation Update

[Don Wittenberger]

A show of hands at the Muskies Inc. meeting revealed that about 3/4s of the members present favor a 50-inch minimum size instead of mandatory catch-and-release of all tiger muskies. Steve Jackson of WDFW expressed some doubt over whether we could get the Commission to adopt a pure C & R rule. Well, if we don't even have a majority of Muskies Inc. members supporting it, then it won't fly.

Therefore, I plan to withdraw my original proposal for a pure catch-and-release rule and submit a proposed regulation change that will raise the minimum size limit from 36 inches to 50 inches. This will leave the state record on the books and give everyone who cares about such things a chance to break it.

There was some discussion of 48 inches versus 50 inches but the group was pretty much unanimous on the 50 inches, so that's how I will resubmit it.

As Steve explained, keeping a 50" tiger musky that's close to the end of it's life span would not hurt the fishery. Muskies Inc.'s official policy is that releasing or keeping a muskie that's legal to keep is up to the individual angler. Although Muskies Inc. encourages release, they don't tell their members they have to release every muskie they catch.

No state has adopted a mandatory C & R regulation, but a number of states are raising their minimum size, so reconfiguring the rule proposal in this way will make it easier to sell to the Commission, because we can say we're only asking them to do what other states are doing.