I think Jeff is on the right track here.

I've never seen such a sign in Minnesota, but I'd interpret the sign as trying to say that fly fishing is complicated, expensive, and elitist and it's trying to set up the notion that making rivers "fly only" by law stops families from fishing.

This argument comes out every year at numerous MN-DNR advisory meetings and IMO it's just an excuse that a few conk-em-all meat fishermen use to try to justify their attitude toward fishing and they're dragging kids into the mix to try to bolster a weak argument.

Unfortunately there still are a few anglers out there that can't accept that in this day and age, we need to have hard limits on the number of fish that are killed. Confining fishing to artificial means is one of the main management tools available to help limit both the catch and the damage that is done to the fish when they ARE caught and then need to be released. Unfortunately, the use of live bait, simply produces too many deep-hooked fish that will die if released and since we need to protect the resource for the common good of all anglers, we simply cannot allow this kind of anything goes fishing any more.

Technically, there are no "fly fishing only" waters in Minnesota. "Fly only" is just unofficial shorthand for "Angling allowed only with artificial artificial lures." And usually this also involves a limit to the number of hook points that can be present on each lure. That's it. There is no requirement to use a fly rod or fly line.

There's nothing in Minnesota law that says you can't spin fish for trout, so there's nothing "family unfriendly" about waters where the rules dictate artificial lures only. The kids can still use their Zebco 202 on their Camp Snoopy rod, along with a bobber or a mepps, they just can't use worms.

There's nothing family unfriendly about it and more to the point, there are still thousands of miles of streams and rivers where you can use bait if you so choose.

Grouse