Winter has officially arrived this weekend, but up until now it hadn’t seemed much like December. The lakes have had ice on them but that’s about as far as it went to resembling winter. With the onset of colder weather and the first real taste of winter driving conditions, we have had to adjust our driving habits.

The farther up north you go the more seasonal the weather has been. In the Grand Rapids area there is about 11 to 15 inches of ice on most area lakes. The snowfall they received on opening weekend of deer hunting has pretty much stayed with them.

While most fishermen are thinking of venturing onto the ice of area lakes it should be noted that even the northern lakes with the thicker ice are cautioning people to use ATVs or snowmobiles to venture out onto the ice rather than driving a vehicle.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has just released some new fishing regulations to take effect on the fishing opener of 2003.

New limits for crappie, sunfish, lake trout and catfish will take effect on the 2003 fishing opener next May, the DNR announced. The limit changes will affect all inland waters and the Minnesota-Canada border waters.

Daily and possession limits will be reduced for three species, with crappie limits going from 15 to 10, sunfish from 30 to 20, and lake trout from three to two. The daily and possession limit for catfish will remain at five, but only one over 24 inches and two flathead catfish will be allowed in the total limit.

The limit changes are the result of extensive biological analysis and public input that began about two years ago. Most Minnesota game fish limits have remained unchanged for the last 40 to 70 years, yet fishing pressure and technology have increased dramatically during that time, according to Ron Payer, director of the DNR Fisheries Division.

“Our limits have been in place for so long that whatever rationale there may have been for them has been lost,” Payer said. “We wanted to do an extensive review to see if limit changes could help improve fishing.”

DNR data showed that lake trout harvests have been above recommended levels on many waters in northeast Minnesota and the average size of crappie and sunfish has been declining statewide. The new limit on lake trout is expected to decrease the statewide harvest by as much as 30 percent on average and will help maintain lake trout populations at a higher level.

The crappie and sunfish limit changes are expected to reduce harvest by only three to four percent, but the harvest reduction could be greater on lakes with exceptional fisheries. The changes could help stabilize the declining trend in average size for those species.

Limit changes were also considered for northern pike, walleye, brown trout, and largemouth and smallmouth bass. The biological analysis showed that statewide population trends for walleye, brown trout, and largemouth and smallmouth bass were stable or increasing. As a result, limit changes were not proposed for those species.

“We will continue to look for opportunities to improve fishing for walleye, bass and brown trout with special regulations on specific lakes and streams,” Payer said.

The analysis did show a decline in the number of large northern pike, but most anglers rejected a statewide slot limit during the public input process. The DNR decided instead to propose special regulations for northern pike on a number of lakes around the state, which received support from anglers. This proposal is being finalized and details will be announced soon.

With the increased fishing pressure we have been putting on our lakes, we can expect much closer monitoring by the DNR to determine what effect it is having on our fish population.

Lower limits will be beneficial to most of us. In fact, if they get low enough, maybe some of us can brag about catching our limit.

Years ago you almost felt like a failure if you went &uot;Up North&uot; and didn’t come home with your limit. Fishing was the game and pounds of fillets were the reward.

Somewhere along the line I decided that catching my limit wasn’t as important as the thrill of being there. At one time I would put a lot of pressure on myself to catch as many &uot;keepers&uot; as was legally possible.

Then a funny thing happened. I realized I was working harder on my vacation trying to catch fish then I would have if I were at work. It kind of took the edge off the vacation word. I guess that kind of gives a little different twist to that old saying we have all seen hanging on every lodge or resort wall in the state: &uot;A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.&uot;