New Regs?

[traveler]

I'm surprised to see no mention of the change in bag limits for opener. I for one was surprised. When I saw the release I figured it would be an adjustment down, either in numbers or size, not an increase. What do you think?

 

sorry...in case you haven't seen it, I don't have the link, but the limit has been increased to 4, with 3 under/ one over 17"

Edited April 5, 2017 by traveler

[kelly-p]

New Upper Red Lake walleye regulations announced

April 3, 2017

Anglers fishing Upper Red Lake in northwestern Minnesota this spring will be able to keep four walleye of which only one may be longer than 17 inches, according to the Department of Natural Resources. 

These new regulations, effective on the walleye fishing opener Saturday, May 13, allow one more fish in the daily bag than the regulations that were in place in the winter.

“Harvest under the three fish bag limit resulted in approximately 109,000 pounds for the winter season,” said Gary Barnard, area fisheries supervisor in Bemidji for the DNR. “There is still room within the target harvest range to allow an additional fish this spring.”

Red Lake’s walleye harvest is managed under a joint harvest plan, revised in 2015 by the Red Lakes Fisheries Technical Committee.

“The new harvest plan recommends a more aggressive approach when walleye spawning stock is in surplus, as it currently is,” Barnard said. “The extra fish allowed by the daily bag limit will increase open water harvest some, and allowing one fish over 17 inches meets our harvest plan objectives by spreading harvest over a wide range of sizes and removing some of the surplus spawning stock.”

More information on Red Lake fishing regulations are available at mndnr.gov/regulations/fishing.

 

"Day trippers", people fishing out of portables or out in the open are far more successful at catching more walleyes per hour of fishing then people fishing in wheelhouses. When the crowds of wheelhouses formed on URL it appears that they not only chased the fish to other parts of the lake but chased the "day trippers" to other lakes to avoid the crowds. As a result we only harvested 109,000 pounds of walleyes last winter so there is a lot of "Safe Allowable Pounds" left over to be harvested this summer.

  It is surprising to me that the harvest numbers were that low because my Dad and I felt that it was the best winter walleye fishing since 1989.

  Too bad they didn't drop it to one walleye Traveler,,,,then you would have had a chance to catch your limit.

[traveler]

a chance is all I ask for...:)