From the input meeting

[Mo Gator]

I dont agree with the limit on smallies at all. Maybe keep a couple fish but not 6 per person! The second they open a limit of smallies tons of people will start pulling them out of the lake. Mille Lacs is probably in the top 5 best smallmouth lakes in the nation and if something like this happens I guarentee you it will hurt the population. This same exact thing happened on Lake Sharpe in SD. This part of the Missouri River turned into one of the best smallie fishery in the mid-west until they opened up a harvest for the smallies and from their the the fishery went downhill. It's still a decent place to fish for smallies but not what it use to be. I've heard numerous stories of walleye guys catching smallies and just killing them and throwing them on the bank just because. I think people need to just deal with the fact that the walleye problem is 95% caused by people, not other species of fish!

How can this lake continue to be managed this way, which has resulted in Mille Lacs becoming "a top 5 smallmouth lake"? This lake is one of the best naturally producing walleye lakes in the country (maybe in the top 5?), and has been a Walleye lake long before the huge numbers of smallmouth entered the picture. The lake cannot sustain this huge population of large predator fish, it's time for the smallmouth harvest to begin. Mille Lacs is a walleye lake!

[bassfshin24]

" it's time for the smallmouth harvest to begin. Mille Lacs is a walleye lake"

----says who?

To me this lake is a Multispecies trophy lake. Its a walleye lake, muskie lake, and smallmouth lake

Just because the walleyes can't keep up with the enormous amount of pressure and people keeping fish, doesnt mean you blame the other species on it.

Maybe if everyone that caught a keeper walleye didnt throw it in the livewell then there wouldn't be such a big problem on the lake. And the netting doesnt help either.

I don't mind people keeping a couple smallies but 6 is a little ridiculous.

[Willy]

" it's time for the smallmouth harvest to begin. Mille Lacs is a walleye lake"

----says who?

To me this lake is a Multispecies trophy lake. Its a walleye lake, muskie lake, and smallmouth lake

Just because the walleyes can't keep up with the enormous amount of pressure and people keeping fish, doesnt mean you blame the other species on it.

Maybe if everyone that caught a keeper walleye didnt throw it in the livewell then there wouldn't be such a big problem on the lake. And the netting doesnt help either.

I don't mind people keeping a couple smallies but 6 is a little ridiculous.

It was a walleye lake before the DNR started messing with it. The muskies were stocked and smallmouth have started to take over in some respects because of both the walleye and the bass slot.

You won't win this battle. They smallies are gonna be reduced. I don't think I'd worry too much though, doubt people are gonna flock there to keep a pile of bass.

[bassfshin24]

I'm not worried about people flocking there to catch and keep bass. I'm worried about all the people that are fishing for walleyes that catch bass and will keep as much as they can.

Like I said I have no problem with them people keeping a couple smallies but 6 is too much.

[pushbutton]

Yeah, the eyeballs are a cash cow, and, at least for now, efforts should be made to help the walleyes out. The netters, resorts/guides, harvest orientated sport fisherman should only get one or two more shots though. If they cant figure out a way to share and maintain a half million pounds of fish, or if one side cant play nice....might as well let the trophy bass, ski, and pike guys and gals have the lake. They at least have shown they usually have the best long term interest of the lake and fish in mind....not just what can I get for me today mentality.

[CaptainMusky]

I dont agree with the limit on smallies at all. Maybe keep a couple fish but not 6 per person! The second they open a limit of smallies tons of people will start pulling them out of the lake.

I disagree. I dont think you are going to start seeing stingers full of smallies. People dont keep them, not many do anyway.

Its a sport fish, people dont keep largemouths either.

[bassin]

So if smallmouth and walleye are competing for perch, and the result is lower perch populations, which is resulting in fewer and skinnier walleye, why isnt it happeing to the smallmouth population as well? Oh wait I know....because its NOT the problem.

And best naturally reproducing lake for walleyes? sure. But they Can't really reproduce if they end up in a net every spring.But hey, blame it on the smallmouth.

[CaptainMusky]

why isnt it happeing to the smallmouth population as well?

because smallies are eating the YOY walleyes, crayfish and everything else they can get their mouths on.

You put 2 smallmouth and 2 walleyes in an aquarium and fill it with food. Then stand there and count which eats the most. Where do smallmouth tend to spend the most time? Rocky/gravel areas. Where do walleyes spawn and their eggs hatch? Rocky/gravel areas. Walleyes following the spawn, leave the area for the most part, leaving the smallies behind for a feeding frenzy.

[Mo Gator]

x2...Exactly what CaptainMusky said!

[sheephead2]

Yep start the blame GAME

Reality Fish eat Fish

WOW I thought they only eat lily pads....

Bottom line netters and Fishermen eat fish to and Most will Harvest the walleye over bass northerns and Muskies

[Sergio M]

There's nothing wrong with keeping some smallies. They are pretty good pickled, almost as good as pickled muskie!!

[fishkins]

In most reservoirs the forage is monitored and regulated to size and

abundance just as much as the predators, not so in the pond. This whole

mess can be chalked up to politics and neglect by the DNR & Govt.

[northender]

In most reservoirs the forage is monitored and regulated to size and

abundance just as much as the predators, not so in the pond. This whole

mess can be chalked up to politics and neglect by the DNR & Govt.

EXACTLY!!!

[fetch]

The white man needs a casino that you can see in mlps from brainerd. Politicians with a spine that are true sportsman and a few Indians that can smoke a piece pipe to see the future of what they are doing to themselves! Once the money is gone they will move onto something else. Your tax dollars will rebuild the lake again. Just remember if you can't catchem look in the ditches there will for surely be fish to be had come spring!

[CaptainMusky]

Writing is in the wall. The band is putting finishing touches on purchase of two large hotels in st paul. What's next?

[live-2-fish]

The white man is the one freely founding all of this power the Natives have. If we didn't go to the casino's they wouldn't have the cash.

[laportian]

Yeah...right, a few worked up sportsmen are going to put a dent in the bands pocket.

[live-2-fish]

Did I say anything about sportsman or putting a dent in there pockets???

[river rat316]

The white man also needs to realize he is just as much to blame for this lakes demise as the natives are, until then nothing good is going to happen, quit pointing the finger at everyone else and remember that you took fish from the lake also.

[northender]

The white man also needs to realize he is just as much to blame for this lakes demise as the natives are, until then nothing good is going to happen, quit pointing the finger at everyone else and remember that you took fish from the lake also.

The sport angler harvest has always been fine until the DNR had to put regs in place to accomodate the netting and put the whole thing into an unbalanced mess. Yes, sport anglers kill fish. That is a modern day, very acceptable form of harvest. Gill-netting of any kind or form, let alone during the spawn, is far from acceptable by any fishery managers and is what forced the sport angler and the DNR to do what has been done in the last 13 years.

It all comes back to the netting being the common denominator to all the lake's issues, directly and indirectly. No one to blame but the people that push and justify the netting.

[John Mickish]

It all comes back to the netting being the common denominator to all the lake's issues, directly and indirectly. No one to blame but the people that push and justify the netting.

You may believe that but in all reality it dosen't matter because that is not going to change. You can dwell on that and be angry or you can move on and try to be part of the solution.

Have you reached out to your government offials and expressed your concerns? I would be more than happy to hear what they have to say.

[TRZ II]

The sport angler harvest has always been fine until the DNR had to put regs in place to accomodate the netting and put the whole thing into an unbalanced mess. Yes, sport anglers kill fish. That is a modern day, very acceptable form of harvest. Gill-netting of any kind or form, let alone during the spawn, is far from acceptable by any fishery managers and is what forced the sport angler and the DNR to do what has been done in the last 13 years.

It all comes back to the netting being the common denominator to all the lake's issues, directly and indirectly. No one to blame but the people that push and justify the netting.

[northender]

You may believe that but in all reality it dosen't matter because that is not going to change. You can dwell on that and be angry or you can move on and try to be part of the solution.

Have you reached out to your government offials and expressed your concerns? I would be more than happy to hear what they have to say.

[John Mickish]

I don't have a solution and never claimed to but just think about this. The netting is definitly a factor, I can't say it is the cause but it is part of the problem and it's just something that will have to be worked around. Like it or not.

Here is my argument for C&R. Now lets say that half of the recreationl harvest had been released over the last 10 years. I don't have the harvest numbers in front of me so for arguments sake lets say there was 200.000lbs per year. If half of that where to be put back there would be an extra million pounds of fish in the lake from 12" and up, not counting any increased spawn from the increase in fish. The netters are still going to get their share, but the we would still have fish to catch.

The variables in this of course would be the forage base and anything else mother nature wants to throw at us.

We can only control what we can control. Pointing fingers and stomping our feet is not a solution. If the lake needs to be stocked, then raise some money and stock it. The Leech Lake area funds half of the stocking themselves, so why dosen't somebody do that for Mille Lacs? If forage is a problem put some perch in the lake. I am surprised nobody has mentioned that yet. I'd love to see some shad in there but they too are an invasive species.

The DNRs job is to provide a good fishery, not a good WALLEYE fishery. There are many lakes in the state that used to be good for one species and have changed and are now good for something else. The DNR has the ability to change the classification of the lake. My point is is that things change.

[GravelBar]

Time for the DNR to quit playing god with mother nature!

[John Mickish]

Time for the DNR to quit playing god with mother nature!

I agree but unfortunatly we have proven that we cannot control ourselves, and soon would ruin every lake in the state. WAY to many people would keep everything they caught if given the chance.

[northender]

I agree but unfortunatly we have proven that we cannot control ourselves, and soon would ruin every lake in the state. WAY to many people would keep everything they caught if given the chance.

[RiverFish]

According to Mn. DNR stats and records, Mille Lacs harvest numbers in the 60's 70's 80' and 90's were very similar to those of the past 13 years. And there was zero catch and release in most of those years. Why do think that zero catch and release for decades hurt nothing, and 80 percent or more of catch and release, adding up to the same harvest numbers in pounds per the DNR, has brought down the lake? Only one portion of the ratio's for those 40-50 years that you have today is new. Only one. All the regs and recent management action all has revolved around that one new part to the puzzle. Only one. The rest is virtually the same as 30-50 years ago. The official numbers don't lie.

If you are going to compare Mille Lacs over the last 50 years, heres a couple things to consider:

Fishing man-hours in 1960 was under 1 million, now it is at least 4 million man hours.

YOY perch and tullibee numbers have dropped/crashed since 1996.

The nets are not the only factor as you claim.

[northender]

If you are going to compare Mille Lacs over the last 50 years, heres a couple things to consider:

Fishing man-hours in 1960 was under 1 million, now it is at least 4 million man hours.

YOY perch and tullibee numbers have dropped/crashed since 1996.

The nets are not the only factor as you claim.

[northender]

Enough "input" from me! I am out of the "meeting".