Harvest Quota Cut in Half

[John Mickish]

Red has been on natural reproduction for a couple of years now. I thought for sure that when they stopped the stocking it was going to suck. I was wrong.

[ASMOLEY]

How else do you fix the lake? Do you think if the netting stopped altogether that it would just turn right around the next year? Reduced harvest (of both methods) is the only thing you can aside from closing the lake.

I would think it would take much longer to recover if the large females were missing. These are old fish, it takes many years to grow a 25"+ eye. It only takes male eyes 2-4 years to hit sexual maturity.

Maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with harvest and it's just lack of forage. Young walleye feed primarily on zooplankton, aquatic invertebrates, and small juvenile fish. Zeebs are filtering out the zooplankton, small mouth are devouring the invertebrates. Between all the large eyes, smallmouth, pike, and muskie in Mille Lacs I sure wouldn't want to be a juvenile fish!

[laportian]

I threw that earlier post up about Red to point out that even with huge amounts of fish coming off the lake it continues to sustain a tremendous walleye population. Harvesting fish is harvesting fish, wether by angling pressure or by nets. I also posted it for all the posters who get all"Look what happend at Red". Well look what happened; it got the you know what netted out of it, as well as rampantly overfished and poached on the stateside. It collapsed because things ran wild. No one limited the netting and everyone took what they wanted from both sides. Now here today it has recovered and is managed. The tribe and state set safe harvest levels and both sides abide, the lake simply kicks butt now. Mille Lacs is a totally different beast though. Its basically a metro lake with intense fishing pressure. It has so many issues to single out netting is stoopid. It is part of the puzzle. So are zeebs, bass, and the waves of state fisher people.

[braves57]

There quota last year was 142,500 lbs. Quota and actual take are two different numbers, the facts are straight.

[B. Amish]

is the lake at it's biological carrying capacity?

say the lake can only support 100 lbs of walleye. you can either have 10 - 10 lb walleye. or 100 - 1 lb walleye. it seems to me the population is declining because there are too many big fish.

[BrdHunter01]

I threw that earlier post up about Red to point out that even with huge amounts of fish coming off the lake it continues to sustain a tremendous walleye population. Harvesting fish is harvesting fish, wether by angling pressure or by nets. I also posted it for all the posters who get all"Look what happend at Red". Well look what happened; it got the you know what netted out of it, as well as rampantly overfished and poached on the stateside. It collapsed because things ran wild. No one limited the netting and everyone took what they wanted from both sides. Now here today it has recovered and is managed. The tribe and state set safe harvest levels and both sides abide, the lake simply kicks butt now. Mille Lacs is a totally different beast though. Its basically a metro lake with intense fishing pressure. It has so many issues to single out netting is stoopid. It is part of the puzzle. So are zeebs, bass, and the waves of state fisher people.

Mille Lacs "kicked butt" 4-6 years ago also... now the netting is catching up. Give Red another 10 years and it again will be in the same situation. Red has not had the angling and netting pressure for long enough to determine whether the population is sustainable

[mt1017]

I have a gut feeling the the lake will be closed by mid June cause the harvest will have been met because hook mortality is part of the total harvest. I feel sorry for the resorts and ALL other businesses in the area that depend on the lake for their livelyhood

[gregg52]

I have a gut feeling the the lake will be closed by mid June cause the harvest will have been met because hook mortality is part of the total harvest. I feel sorry for the resorts and ALL other businesses in the area that depend on the lake for their livelyhood

maybe the tax free casino will donate some money to help them out!!!

[Red Miller]

There quota last year was 142,500 lbs. Quota and actual take are two different numbers, the facts are straight.

That's my point, the couple articles I read stated that the Tribal numbers are being cut in half to help the fishery. If they, "they" being the tribe, actually wanted to help the issue at hand, the 50% reduction would come off the 80,xxx lbs. Reducing a number that you are not currently taking doesn't help a crashing walleye population... But who wants to put common sense into the mix...

All fluff, from the one side at least!

Someone finally saw it! The tribal harvest wont be cut at all while the sportsman go home empty handed. The DNR have created so many problems I am loosing track. Why are we protecting Smallmouth??...and Northern Pike?? The lake will be overrun with smallmouth and that wont be reversible. What a crock....

[Buck_Hunter04]

Ok, so there will be a DNR Official out their with every Tribal boat checking the exact amount that they take. Last year they only took 80K lbs? As far as I'm concerned, that is many male walleyes... I don't buy thats all they take for one second. Granted I'm sure that some of the anglers out their take way more than their allowed. And we all get checked, why not the Tribal boats too.

Lets simplify this, No netting only spearning and a max allowance of 40k lbs, change the limit to 2 walleyes, and make it so we can keep 1 walleye 16-18inches and 1 from 20-22 inches for a couple of years. Then reassess the situation. If you don't get one in these levels, you don't keep one. A little better than now and we might have a better chance of keeping one for the frying pan.

And yes the Casino WILL chip in for the bill instead of the sportsmans dollar doing all the work.

Thoughts?? Its just a suggestion so keep it civil.

[Carp-fisher]

The article in the Strib this morning suggested that there will probably be a catch and release only season out there when the open water season opens.

[pushbutton]

Someone finally saw it! The tribal harvest wont be cut at all while the sportsman go home empty handed. The DNR have created so many problems I am loosing track. Why are we protecting Smallmouth??...and Northern Pike?? The lake will be overrun with smallmouth and that wont be reversible. What a crock....

That was my initial thought too, but ultimately both sides did cut their numbers and can kill fish anyway they want to. "We" could pass a law and dynamite our whole share on the 4th of July if we wanted to. Bottom line is there are just too many people, nets, and lines that want to take walleyes out of the lake. And as you bring up, there is also a fish out there that is thrilled about this. Was never concerned as much about the pike and muskie, but for sure since the introduction of zeebs, the smallmouth have concerned me. Am not anti bass in the least, they are an absolute blast to fish, but they are a very aggressive and opportunistic little critter. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. Affording them protection is certainly not needed, they do not need any help, they will be just fine on there own......Mille Lacs's cash cow is the walleye and should be treated as such.

[gregg52]

Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports - Ice Conditions

Check out the [pictyure of the 28 inch walleye on the sabove thread

and tell me how masny eggs that fish has

or just look at all the pics on the mille lascs thread

those are some sick look fish

you think they can reproduce....their bellies sure dont look like it

[Hawg]

We haven't even touched on the fact that many of the netters are from Wisconsin Tribes.?.? Mn DNR is just so far out of touch and afraid of confrontation it's incredable.

[Faner50]

From a depth finder made from a cane pole and a heavy weight, and lining up trees and watertowers for location to today's high tech equipment and electronics....is it any wonder?

[Bandersnatch]

The article in the Strib this morning suggested that there will probably be a catch and release only season out there when the open water season opens.

It already is for all intents and purposes.

That's kinda the point here with the hooking mortality being what it is.

WASTING 130,000Lbs of fish?

He11, just close the lake.

[shooter_mcgavin]

It looks like the slot is one of two main reasons for the overabundance of large walleyes and lack of smaller males (the other reason being netting). On the other hand, Ottertail is a walleye lake with not slot limit, and its overrun with 10-inch walleyes. So some kind of restriction to protect larger fish still needs to be intact. I like what someone earlier said: reduce the limit to two walleyes, allowing one over 20" and one under 20".

Also, time to open up smallmouth to harvest. This is just another restriction that creates imbalance.

[ntrider]

I think they need to reduce the limit. However i also think you need to protect the smaller fish which if they cant grow whats the point. So maybe have a 3 fish limit 16-18" and one over 28" move it to 20" in July depending on harvest? just my 2 cents but i really think there needs to be a minimum.

[srfishin15]

I wouldn't mind a 20-22 inch slot with a limit of two fish within that range. A third fish allowed if over 28". I'm not a huge stickler on being able to keep fish though. This year on the pond has been awesome.

[gregg52]

The article in the Strib this morning suggested that there will probably be a catch and release only season out there when the open water season opens.

hmmmm

nets to ?????

[northender]

So if they drop the limit on fish under 18 inches will that help? In fact, how many people got more than 3-4 per day under 18" in the past couple years on a consistent basis? Dropping the limit that is not reached anyway very often does nothing to lower the harvest--right? And while you are releasing the small ones how many are you killing anyway? 15-20 percent in the summer? This winter there many fish floating under the ice next to fish house holes stiff as a board. One resort is finding them almost each day around there rental houses under the ice. So even winter cold water is killing them when released!

[jentz]

Just wondering?does that fellagee guy post his opinions here on this site?? Dont want to get to deep, but I am tired of his bias and dont want to read it.

[g_anoka]

Agree or disagree, I am quite certain a large section of this weeks "Outdoor News" will feature his opinions.

[Roosterslayer05]

There's allot of high emotions with this topic but a measured logical approach is the best in this situation.

First and foremost the spring netting of walleyes is a male dominated harvest. Walleyes are broadcast spawners. That means that the males will loaf around the spawning grounds for a long time waiting for females to show up. Once the females show up they get in, drop eggs, and get out while multiple males follow and fertilize. This makes male walleyes extremely vulnerable to harvest by springtime gill netting.

The smallmouth regs. Everyone that has fished the lake for a long time knows smallmouth bass numbers have risen exponentially. The reason there is the restrictive regs is due to a specific resort owner (I wont name him but I'm sure many of you know who I'm talking about)that didn't like seeing guys coming into his resort with smallmouth on the stringer. He and a handful of buddies got all up in arms and complained until they got their way. I know 90 percent of people think this regulation is unnecessary. If you feel the same way call the DNR and tell them you support removing the smallmouth Reg. on Mille Lacs.

Heck, best of both worlds would be a protected slot for smallmouth from 16-21 and one over 21. This would protect a trophy fishery while at the same time allowing harvest of smaller individuals which are better table fare to begin with.

Expanding harvest of Pike. I don't agree with this one. Maybe change the slot from 30-40 inches. Big pike need to be protected. The resource would be hurt allot more if big pike were harvested and replaced by many more little pike. That's what happens when a big pike is harvested. Nobody wants another lake with hammer handles and a higher density of small pike hurts the walleye population more than a lower density of large fish. Think about it...the only predator a pike has is a bigger pike/muskie.

Hooking mortality. Water temp, water temp, water temp and depth of water! Handling time and time out of water is also a big factor.

Allot of people like to blame the DNR for this, but the truth is the DNR's hands are tied in this situation. This is a court ordered deal. The DNR needs to manage the resource to the best of their ability using the best scientific data they can gather. The DNR obviously is very concerned about the health of the lake and that's why the harvest has been cut in half. I think we can all agree that a conservative approach is a better path to take when things start looking bad. Red lake is a great example of not heeding early warning signs.

[gregg52]

its like i said look at the pictures of those coming out

they appear very skinny and no eggs

i think what takes the toll is even in cold water coming out

of the deeper water not just once but serval times maybe in a day or a week

[GravelBar]

40" possesion limit

two 20" or

one 24" and one 16" or

one 22"and one 18"

[pushbutton]

My high school math teacher was smoking hot and had a hard time focusing....and when I originally said we would get to keep a few fish....i was wrong. Because of the local economy, they are not going to shut down the lake and because of the hook and line mortality there is really no room in our allowance to keep any fish, except maybe during the winter. Agree with Rooster slayer. Would also probably keep the trophy smallies in the lake for awhile, but certainly open up the harvest on smaller ones. The launches have even started targeting them if the walleye fishing was slow...so....go get boys! Seems like a win-win. People will get action and something to take home. For sure in the spring and fall, they are really are good table fair. Maybe they could even extend the seasons on them both early and late.

Also agree that that a healthy balanced pike population should be maintained. Yeah, maybe move up the slot a little bit, but wiping out the big ones and creating hammer handles would not be good. Would also probably leave the muskie alone, as their density is not that high, and like the trophy bass, they will also help the local economy, which is going to need all the help it can get.

Now for the tough part. Again you can probably kiss, legally eating an open water walleye, goodbye this year, the numbers really wont add up if you want to keep the lake open, which we should probably do until they do some more assessments. Keep in mind my teacher was hot, but here is my math .....and thoughts. Last year the hook and line mortality was around 130,000 lbs and no doubt it will be less this year because I am assuming there will be less people coming up and targeting walleyes. Estimating on the high side, I bet we will be able to knock this back to at least the normal 80,000 lbs. Add in some winter bags and slots of around 30,000/40,000 Lbs we will be able to keep the lake open year round and still come in well under the allotment by about 1/3.

Would highly encourage the bands to do this as well. If the lake is in trouble, and since the netting is political, just do the right thing and also cut back. Not only cut back, but open the nets up and quit targeting the small fish/males which need a break. You have the earned the right, now use it responsibly.The state will have done its share....time for you to step up also.

[Hawg]

Time for them to step up? What a novel idea.I think we would shut up for a while if they did anything meaningful.

[John Mickish]

So lets say they open up the smallmouth restrictions. Are there going to be enough kept to make a difference? I know I won't keep them, and everyone I know wouldn't keep a bass either.

I know I'm going to get smoked for this, but here goes. I'm a walleye guy and I don't generally fish for bass. Most people here are walleye guys too, but.....

Since everyone seems to be concerned with the land values and resorts making money, what is so wrong with turning Mille Lacs into a musky/smallmouth lake? Minnesota has lots of lakes with great walleye populations but very few trophy smallmouth lakes. Wouldn't turning it into a smallmouth lake accomplish many things, such as keeping the economy going and possibly opening it up to a different crowd that what is there today. I know that some of the people that are in this thread would on some level like to see the walleyes gone.

[shooter_mcgavin]

So lets say they open up the smallmouth restrictions. Are there going to be enough kept to make a difference? I know I won't keep them, and everyone I know wouldn't keep a bass either.

My generation views bass as a sport fish not to be eaten. I think its all the Bass Masters TV shows we grew up watching. Ever eaten a smallmouth? I can't speak for largemouth, but smallmouth are delicious.