Hi,
I currently live in the unglaciated portion of Southwest/Southcentral Wisconsin. I've kept freshwater aquariums off and on for a bit. Right before I moved up here to Wisconsin, my brother and I went a bit overboard and purchased a bunch of drilled 20G tanks from a "going out of business" pet store in Chicago. So now that things are stable we're trying to figure out what is next. Then I came across NFC and a bit later NANFA and I realized that there were more people keeping native fish in their tanks than I had thought and it can be done.
I'm interesting in native fish and exactly how the whole collecting part works. Most of that has been answered in the archives here. On the mailing list there appeared to be an ongoing topic just when I signed up about recent changes by the Wisconsin DNR to restrict minnow collecting in response to the virus. So I'm not sure if collecting is in my future in Wisconsin. I want to understand how the laws and requirements but it is frustrating. Illinois is very close and Iowa isn't too far so perhaps there are options there too?
We do have a pond at the end of the road that is part of the neighborhood association. The pond is aerated by two pumps and doesn't appear to have much in the way of plants. So when I observed algae blooms this summer I wasn't too surprised. But there is a healthy population of turtles and at least some fish. I am hoping that perhaps the restriction on collecting minnows doesn't apply if it is on private property and I'm also interested in what can be done to improve the pond.
Cymen
Hello from SW Wisconsin
Started by
Guest_Cymen_*
, Jan 12 2008 02:16 PM
11 replies to this topic
#4
Guest_BTDarters_*
Guest_BTDarters_*
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Posted 13 January 2008 - 04:38 AM
Cymen,
Welcome to the forum from a fellow Wisconsinite! Well, I'm afraid I don't have good news for you regarding collecting your own fish. I am in talks with the DNR on this, but from what I understand right now, the only people who can legally collect fish from the wild and take them home are licensed bait dealers. I fall in this category so you can get fish from me, but, unless you become a "bait dealer" you can't get them yourself. Also, the state considers ALL waters in the state "waters of the state", so that eliminates the possibility of collecting them from a "private" pond. Additionally, I am still not clear on the regulations regarding bringing an individual's own fish into the state from another state, so you might want to avoid that until you talk to someone at the DNR. I would suggest you talk to my contact, Ted Treska, in DNR Fisheries Management. His phone # is (608) 267-7659. I will be talking to him this week, so I may have more info to post here at that time.
Welcome to the forum from a fellow Wisconsinite! Well, I'm afraid I don't have good news for you regarding collecting your own fish. I am in talks with the DNR on this, but from what I understand right now, the only people who can legally collect fish from the wild and take them home are licensed bait dealers. I fall in this category so you can get fish from me, but, unless you become a "bait dealer" you can't get them yourself. Also, the state considers ALL waters in the state "waters of the state", so that eliminates the possibility of collecting them from a "private" pond. Additionally, I am still not clear on the regulations regarding bringing an individual's own fish into the state from another state, so you might want to avoid that until you talk to someone at the DNR. I would suggest you talk to my contact, Ted Treska, in DNR Fisheries Management. His phone # is (608) 267-7659. I will be talking to him this week, so I may have more info to post here at that time.
#5
Guest_Cymen_*
Guest_Cymen_*
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Posted 16 January 2008 - 12:51 AM
I'm still figuring that outWelcome! What kind of natives are you interested in?
. I'm familiar with sunfish but I would like to learn more about the smaller fish. I've read a few threads that suggested dwarf sunfish would work out with the minnow-sized companions so that might be one option for a community tank. So for now I'm going to be doing a lot of reading.
#6
Guest_Cymen_*
Guest_Cymen_*
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Posted 16 January 2008 - 12:57 AM
Brian,Welcome to the forum from a fellow Wisconsinite! Well, I'm afraid I don't have good news for you regarding collecting your own fish. I am in talks with the DNR on this, but from what I understand right now, the only people who can legally collect fish from the wild and take them home are licensed bait dealers. I fall in this category so you can get fish from me, but, unless you become a "bait dealer" you can't get them yourself. Also, the state considers ALL waters in the state "waters of the state", so that eliminates the possibility of collecting them from a "private" pond. Additionally, I am still not clear on the regulations regarding bringing an individual's own fish into the state from another state, so you might want to avoid that until you talk to someone at the DNR. I would suggest you talk to my contact, Ted Treska, in DNR Fisheries Management. His phone # is (608) 267-7659. I will be talking to him this week, so I may have more info to post here at that time.
Thank you! That answers a lot of my initial questions. I hope our options are expanded at some point but it's great to have a dealer like yourself. I've checked out your site and I'll continue to do so. I'd be interested in any updates you receive. I don't want to break the law and more importantly I think unregulated collecting could cause a lot of problems.
I'm reading these pages to try to understand some of the limitations on being a "bait dealer":
http://dnr.wi.gov/fi.../vhs_rules.html
http://dnr.wi.gov/fi...s_wildbait.html
If any other newcomers from Wisconsin come across this thread -- there is a whole subforum devoted to Wisconsin Rules & Regs here:
http://forum.nanfa.o...p?showforum=188
Cymen
#7
Guest_BTDarters_*
Guest_BTDarters_*
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Posted 16 January 2008 - 06:37 AM
Cymen,
If you email me, I can put you on my BTDarters' email list. My email is headdarter@btdarters.com.
Brian
Brian J. Torreano - Owner
BTDarters
American Native Fish for
your aquarium...and more!
Web: http://www.btdarters.com
Phone: (262) 268-7489
If you email me, I can put you on my BTDarters' email list. My email is headdarter@btdarters.com.
Brian
Brian J. Torreano - Owner
BTDarters
American Native Fish for
your aquarium...and more!
Web: http://www.btdarters.com
Phone: (262) 268-7489
#9
Guest_travishaas_*
Guest_travishaas_*
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Posted 18 March 2008 - 11:15 PM
Welcome, Cymen. I grew up in Hazel Green. I moved to Louisiana for graduate school, and just at the right time, it seems, given the restrictions of VHS. If I was still there, I'd be going out of my mind right about now.
Travis
New Orleans, LA
Travis
New Orleans, LA
#11
Guest_MScooter_*
Guest_MScooter_*
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Posted 20 March 2008 - 12:39 AM
Travis, you are close enough to hook up with the Catfish Alliance.
Don't do it man. Don't do it. They'll take you on a bridge to bridge trip that is "all planned" and the next thing you know you're hangin' on to a high voltage powerline as your only way out when the sun comes up, only to be rescued by a bearded man who drives a honda.
On second hand, please do join the Catfish Alliance.
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