The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has opened four lakes in Eden Prairie to what they call “Liberalized Fishing.” The lakes in Eden Prairie that are included in the DNR’s announcement are Staring, Duck, Rice Marsh and Smetana.
Liberalized fishing is allowed when a fish population is endangered due to the lack of oxygen available in the water. Traditional fishing regulations are liberalized to allow the public the opportunity to catch the fish before they die. Lakes opened to liberalized fishing have signs posted at the public access or along the shore, and announcements will be made in the local newspaper and through the DNR Section of Fisheries central office in St. Paul.
Liberalized fishing doesn’t relax all fishing rules. I have included the liberalized fishing rules at the end of this blog post. The lakes are only open to these fishing rules until March 7. It is uncertain if the DNR will extend the dates for liberalized fishing past March 7, but if they do, they will post that information on the DNR website.
Fish taken from lakes opened to liberalized fishing usually are lethargic and located near the bottom of the ice or near springs. The DNR recommends that anglers use caution and check ice conditions before beginning to fish on opened lakes. The photo was taken by our Parks & Natural Resources Manager Stu Fox yesterday at some open water on Staring Lake. I’m not sure if you can see it in the photo or not [click on the photo for a better look] but the congregation of carp at this open water site is impressive. It might be nice if these carp, for example, were liberally removed from our lakes.
I’m hoping that conservatives and liberals alike can enjoy a few sunny and productive days of liberalized fishing in Eden Prairie, and abide by the DNR’s rules:
Rules for taking fish from lakes opened to liberalized fishing:
- The lakes are only open to liberalized fishing for a short time period. So check the dates on posted signs or in local newspapers.
- You are required to have a resident angling license to take fish on liberalized lakes.
- You may take fish in any quantity for personal use from lakes opened to liberalized fishing.
- You may sell rough fish.
- You may take fish by spear, gillnet, or angling (check each lake at the access site, gillnets may not be allowed at all lakes).
- You may not use seines, hoop nets, fyke nets, or explosives to take fish.
- All trespass laws are in effect and you should abide by them when accessing lakes. Do not leave any trash or litter on the lakes and take home all fish that are caught
