New Mille Lacs slot

[DTro]

It was stated earlier somewhere.

Some of the very best fishing destinations in North America have regulations that essentially amounts to catch and release. I can't say that I'm a fan of total catch and release that goes too far I think, eating fish is a good thing, but there is no reason that walleyes have to be the driving force of a business succeeding or not. Can you not cater to Muskies, or Bass, or expand in to new opportunities like Appledoorns has been doing the past couple of years with their event center?

I certainly don't like seeing piles of fish being pulled out by nets, especially during the spawn, but can you imagine the horror if all the dead fish released by anglers during the summer were tossed in a heap?

The only easy solution here is a hard one.

Honestly, if its all about $ (and most of it is) then we should come to come sort of financial agreement with the tribes. It might be cheaper in the long run.

[walleye18]

so lets just lay here and act like we have no nut sack...right? Wrong!

what i see going on with ML is so fundamentally wrong. WE THE PEOPLE CAN MAKE THINGS CHANGE. ITS CALLED DEMOCRACY. Stand for a purpose.

like the saying goes...lead, follow or get the H#ll out of the way......which one will we or you be?

[walleye18]

fishing on ML for the past 26 years....have never seen the number of fish floating that i have seen the last 8-10 years. Reason those fish are floating is cause you have to release them due to the slot.

Years ago, you could keep one over 20 as part of your 6 fish limit...the lake was in a great balance....never saw the numbers of floaters as we all see now.

Now with the lake out of balance, the slots are super tight and as such, lots of big fish are hooked deep and die shortly after being released....sad to see all those fish go to waste!

[DTro]

How ironic that democracy was brought up LOL

[GravelBar]

The majority of the fish floating are tulibees. They can't handle the warm water. I guess at least 90% are tulibees.

[walleye18]

kidding me...tullibees?

Drop a camera down on a flat in the summer....see all those dead fish? they are walleyes. Those fish eventually float to the top...those are walleyes...and at times, mixed in with the tullies.

One year after a tourney on the lake, there were tons of fish floating...i mean tons. Eddys had kids with nets picking them up on the shore as the wind was blowing them into that area and it stunk to high heaven.

[Gordie]

Good point on nets in boats...I dont know about your, but mine cant hold tens, if not hundreds of fish.

Yes the nets are a good point and sure they don't hold hundreds at a time ,but over time more than hundreds are held and kept, so pointing fingers is just not the way to go about it.

[walleye18]

yes democracy...cant just sit there like a "wall flower" and expect things to happen...you gotta get involved.

[walleye18]

how many eyes do you keep in a year?

[Gordie]

Less than the fingers on my hand and none from Mille Lacs and that because if a walleye I catch is going to die I would like to eat it not feed the gulls with it.

[DTro]

Not sure who you are asking, but I think I kept about 20 all of last year.

I gave about 8 away and digested the rest. I won't keep another walleye now until the fall.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I've ever eaten a ML walleye.

[tfin]

I love it when someone says that the treaty done in the 1800's didn't account for higher technology. You say that they shouldn't be able to use it while most people use every bit of technology they can afford. Even if they came out with bigger numbers and canoes, their share of the fish would remain the same at 1/2 of ours and we would still be left with the problem. Too many people fishing the same lake.

I also love the doom and gloom. The lake has recently rebounded from being the dead sea and yet people want to say it's doomed It's called trial and error. Take all your doom, gloom and ignorance, pack it tight and kick a tree or something.

Show some respect for the integrity of the human spirit. Nothing like blaming a group of people for an imagined long term problem to show you're own inner failings.

[tfin]

Oh yeah, Northenders equation for the devestation of the lake is wrong. It says if things stay the same. Regulations can be changed. Also, if the slot stayed the same and as of right now there were no fish in the year classes that he stated. Then our take of the lake would decrease to near 0 over the next five years. This would mean that the lake rebounds great because then there would be very strong numbers of fish in the upto 18" classes.

[John Mickish]

fishing on ML for the past 26 years....have never seen the number of fish floating that i have seen the last 8-10 years. Reason those fish are floating is cause you have to release them due to the slot.

Partially correct. You are 100% correct on they are floating because they were released, but the release didn't kill them. They are dead because people know they have to release them and don't care. Have you ever watched people on the flats? They will flat out kill a 24" fish to get back their 25 cent hook. They will keep them out of the water for minutes to take a picture. There is WAY to much "better I kill it that have it end up in the nets" attitude going on. People need to learn to take care of the fish that are in their control. Every mature female that is handled carelessly is one that won't even get the chance to spawn next year.

I don't like the nets there just as much as the next guy, but the treaty says they can pretty much do what they want to, and the treaty isn't going away.

[walleye18]

mnfishingguy...your spot on.

I have seen what you stated. Guys ripping the hook out just to save $0.25.

I never thought about the idea that some are looking at the slot fish and thinking "lets kill it so it wont go in the tribal nets" attitude

you may be correct....treaty is here to stay. My hope is collectively and done the right way, we can come to a agreement that all benefit by. Perhaps its a pipe dream.

I would like to have my kids see the glory days of ML happen again...where in 1999, 2002, etc...personnaly i know those days will never return, but a guy can dream right?

[Getanet]

I sure hope the "better I kill it that have it end up in the nets" comment is an April Fools joke.

If that's true, and more than an isolated incident of one or two chowder heads:

A) Sounds like anglers are just as much a part of the problem as the nets

Do people realize a huge percentage of walleyes never get caught in a net?

[walleye18]

tfin.....lets look at the facts:

1. the start of the tribal netting and spearing changed the management of the Mille Lacs lake. The change happened exactly when it began.

2. I have seen first hand what has happened to the "too numerous lakes" in WI when the spearing began....yes first hand. My parents had a place on Lake Lacerne...near Crandon WI. The lake is terrible right now for fishing for walleyes. After the first year it was speared, the limit went from 5 daily to 1. It has and probably will never, ever recover. This lake was phenominal for walleyes in years past.

So who's to blame???? it is all of us. We the people (Native American and everybody else) who let this happen.

Doom or gloom? No, as we all have plenty of lakes else where in MN to fish. BUT, as i have stated prior, this is a SAD deal. ML was and still is a great fishery. Muskies are great, smallies are awesome and the walleye fishery is good too.....the walleye fishery is in trouble and my fear is it will not rebound to what it once was...and that my friend is not good in my view.

[BrdHunter01]

Do people realize a huge percentage of walleyes never get caught in a net?

I don't think they release many walleyes from the nets so my math tells me about 100% of the walleyes swimming didn't get caught in a net.

No catch and release with gill nets. wait... they will "release" northerns from there nets

[John Mickish]

I sure hope the "better I kill it that have it end up in the nets" comment is an April Fools joke.

That is no April fools joke. That attitude has been around for 10 years or so that I am aware of.

[Kyhl]

I wonder what the number of fish per netter is compared to the number of fish per angler?

[Gordie]

No catch and release with gill nets. wait... they will "release" northerns from there nets

Why so upset about this?

[walleye18]

it has been witnessed and viewed that the "northerns" were dead in the nets in past netting/spearing campaigns...and thrown back by the people who were doing the deed.

thats why the upset comment from the post...i think.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

And because after the tribes hit their total quota for pike, all netting must stop. Therefore, by "releasing" all the dead pike in their nets they don't reach their quota as fast and can harvest more walleye.

What a $h!#show this is. I'm glad I have no connection to this lake. Never fished it and never will. At least until this mess gets sorted out. It really is bad situation for all. So much animosity and hatred coming from both sides, and it seems impossible that a sensible compromise will ever be reached.

Sad, sad, sad state of affairs!

[walleye18]

Bruledrifter....well stated, said, written.

[walleye29us]

The tribes sell all them walleyes.

[laker1]

I don't like the netting either. But if anybody kills the fish just to kill them while fishing,I think they are worst than the gill netters, and I really don't think they care about the resource and are extremely narrow minded.

[GravelBar]

The state of Minnesota use to pay the tribes not to net the lake. After they got their casino they decided they didn't need the states money and would begin netting again. The amount the state paid is far greater than what they can get selling Walleyes. What does this tell us?

[upnorth]

Good question!

Does anyone here actually believe the intent of the 1837 treaty granting Native Amercians harvest rights at Mille Lacs was to give them more and exclusive harvest rights to the fish and game than the settlers/other citizens of the country?

Do you think or believe, the leaders of the U.S. government, meant and intended to allow the Native Amercians to be "above state regulations" as the tribes now believe and have been granted? Really? Was that the intent of the same people who wrote "all men are created equal"?

The answer my friends, is not blowin' in the wind. It is very obvious and right in front of everyone. Easily understood by all.

Those rights were written into the Treaties to allow the Native Americans to help sustain themselves.

[Shack]

Doom and Gloom guys and gals. Doom and pending gloom.

Mille Lacs has been ruined and on the verge of absolutely no walleyes now since I was invited to sit in on morning coffee chat with my grandfather in the early 80's. I am sure Mille lacs being on the verge of destruction has been a topic well before this though. Back then it was a toxic combo of the paper graph, electric trolling motors, over 100hp outboards and the lindy rig which was going to deal the fatal blows to the walleye capital within a few years.

I have yet to see it fall. Down times, balancing out and stabilizing sure! Resurgence and recouping yes! Panic, sorrow and frustration, of course!

Meanwhile people still catch fish and the fishing in general is good.

[Red Miller]

Quote:

Those rights were written into the Treaties to allow the Native Americans to help sustain themselves.

Yes, that's true. But that no longer applies. Now its done for a different reason.