Is it Legal?

As I begin my quest to learn the ins and outs of basin trolling, I find myself thinking that the more rods I have out the more I can experiment with different setups. There will be times where it will be me or me + 1 in the boat, and I got to thinking. Is it legal for me to take the hooks off of crankbaits, but still troll them? When the number of people in the boat is low, this would still allow me to investigate with different presentations. I was reading the regulations and I couldn’t find anything that would suggest this is illegal. I can’t imagine this damaging the fish any. I suppose it would give them a free education. Thoughts?

-Drew

I do not know the legalities of this but I do know you should expect to be checked if you try this, for someone will report you for fishing w/to many lines ……….

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for someone will report you for fishing w/to many lines ……….

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I dis-like those guys

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for someone will report you for fishing w/to many lines ……….

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I dis-like those guys

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yeah i dislike some of those guys but when i see that somebody was caught having 500 blue gills or 67 walleyes over there limit due to a tip call then i dont mind so much….. but im pretty sure you will get allot of attention trolling with 2 plus lines with one person in the boat on mille lacs just too many people out there to not run into somebody thats got the tip number on speed dial

I think it says X-ammount of lines in the water
like in Texas it says 100 hooks it dont mater if there all on 1 line or 100 lones just limited to 100 hooks

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As I begin my quest to learn the ins and outs of basin trolling, I find myself thinking that the more rods I have out the more I can experiment with different setups. There will be times where it will be me or me + 1 in the boat, and I got to thinking. Is it legal for me to take the hooks off of crankbaits, but still troll them? When the number of people in the boat is low, this would still allow me to investigate with different presentations. I was reading the regulations and I couldn’t find anything that would suggest this is illegal. I can’t imagine this damaging the fish any. I suppose it would give them a free education. Thoughts?

-Drew

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From the regulation booklet;
“Angling Methods
• Anglers may use only one line during the open water season and two
through the ice (other than on designated trout lakes and streams) unless
otherwise noted.”

Got ya on a technicality.

Not a bad thought though.

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• Anglers may use only one line during the open water season and two
through the ice (other than on designated trout lakes and streams) unless
otherwise noted.”

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I read that myself, but I don’t know if a trolling a lure without hooks constitutes as a “line”. No harvesting can be done with that line, so why should it count against my available number of lines? I think I will have to get in touch with the DNR about this one.

-Drew

I think it’s pretty clear – not allowed. However, reminds me of Bill Clinton and “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”

I agree with the other comments. All the other boats around you will be looking over and thinking “Hey, that guy is fishing extra lines – F-er!”

-J.

You will get a tag for sure, it’s number of lines not number of lures. And yeah everyone with a cell phone will be calling the CO and he will write the ticket just for the hassle