Wave when you drive by!

[DTro]

well grits, see thats just the thing. Walleyes just don't make a very good sport fish. If people want to sport fish (catch and release) why would they choose walleyes when smallies and muskies are inhabiting the same spots?

[Gordie]

If people want to sport fish (catch and release) why would they choose walleyes when smallies and muskies are inhabiting the same spots?

Big wet sock on a ultra light is a blast

I have been hearing the same thing for quite a few years now and I'm sure I will keep hearing the same " Its the worse fishing in twenty years" and its "phenomenal fishing right now"

Enjoy your time on the lake and remember their is a reason they call it fishing and not catching.

Have fun and good luck oh and I'm waving too

[going4it]

Saw 4 dead walleyes floating today while I fished. All over 20 inches. Saw several swimmers and all looked very thin but bait was everywhere. I talked w the dnr at the launch and he said the same thing many are saying there are no small eyes but tons of big fish. Not the results he wanted to see.

[Bigfife]

There are still fish in the lake and they are biting. The reason the resorts, guides, and I am complaining is because the Walleye population is not healthy. Something is going on because there are less fish than there were in the last several years and there are very few small fish. The "doom and gloom" stories today are to try and stop this trend and save the lake for the future.

[ozzie]

the worst thing about this is even though the accesses are empty and the resorts are empty people still pack the parking lot of the casino!! the fishing last year was good but you knew that you weren't likely to catch a keeper...the thing is now with the report on the status of the lake why would I go and hurt the fishery even more by catching more fish that i can't keep and will probably kill many by releasing them according to the "experts". Basically I won't go there this year and maybe not next year doing my part to help the fishery recover. The way I figure it is the more people that don't go to Mille Lacs then less fish hooked less hooking mortality= more spawning fish to reproduce and restock the smaller fish that the lake is missing. It sucks to be a business dealing with this but that is the nature of the beast when you run a business that is making money off a natural resource that is controlled by many variables most notably mother nature and 2 government agencies (DNR and the indians DNR)

[minniwinni91]

Only time will tell on a lot of this stuff. The fact that it is screwed up right now doesnt mean you should stop fishing, it just means you should be more cautious of how you fish and how you handle fish if your worried about gut hooking or any other type of situation that could harm a fish that must be released. Heading up again tonight after work hopefully there are some left

[kgpcr4]

Saw 4 dead walleyes floating today while I fished. All over 20 inches. Saw several swimmers and all looked very thin but bait was everywhere. I talked w the dnr at the launch and he said the same thing many are saying there are no small eyes but tons of big fish. Not the results he wanted to see.

Well the C&R people can sure get in my face because I kill and keep some. Looks like the C&R people are killing and wasting them. The guy who C&R's 25 fish in a day kills far more fish than a guy who keeps his two and leaves. We have all see a ton of floating walleye in the lake and that is pure waste. Those oh this board that boast huge catches of C&R fish and brag how they are conserving the fish are the biggest hypocrites on the lake. Just my opinion

[kgpcr4]

If I have to go walleye fishing it is hard to beat Mille Lacs. Catching that many fish over 20in and in deeper water makes the lake fun...half the reason it is so messed up in my opinion is due to the catch it keep it mentality that MANY not all walleye fisherman seem to have. Obviously other factors are at hand but when the small fish slot decimates the male population on the lakes its hard not to draw a correlation.

Unless im starving ill stick to the occasional meal.

Right there is the problem. Catching and killing fish that are pulled out of deep water and thrown back to die. We have all seen the floaters out there. But me keeping fish to eat and then stopping fishing is bad????

[Shack]

Darned if you do and double darned if you don't.

Quote:

There are very few fish under 18 inches and this is and should be the biggest concern. Between a core group of anglers we have only seen 3 fish under 18 inches out of close to 600 fish caught.

Could it be that the legal slot(s) for many years in the past directly targeted fish of this size or smaller?

Quote:

I fell DNR needs to step in now and start restocking fry and get the nets out. If that means Catch and Release for a few years then I guess thats what we need to do.

Maybe the DNR should just close down the entire lake, switching it up to selling a Mille Lacs only walleye stamp and everyone who purchases said stamp will get six 8"x10" glossy photos of Mille Lacs walleyes in the mail with letters attached stating how much your stamp monies is helping them. Of course each stamp holder would then get one large panoramic sunset poster of Mille Lacs with "Wish You Were Here" across the top.

Seriously, the DNR should just put all efforts into creating one large red easy button so when anyone complained about Mille Lacs the local CO can just press it and all will be better.

Or??? Maybe there are already too many armchair chefs in the kitchen spoiling broth but who really knows? The lake already died back in the 1970's and deemed a loss cause. Just in case no one got that memo.

[kgpcr4]

Well one thing is off on the lake and that is there is not much for walleye forage. Perch and way down!! Tulibee are not much better.

[willyfahey]

The lake already died back in the 1970's and deemed a loss cause. Just in case no one got that memo.

I got that memo. The old man forwarded it to me. :-)

[gritsnham]

Fishing was great last weekend even though the bugs sucked. Many fish in the 21-25 in range, 3 keepers and one short fishing out in the mud.

kgpcr4 I totally respect what you are saying but as I sport fisherman I feel I can fish and not have a huge kill rate. When I live bait on Mille Lacs for walleyes I almost always use a circle hook, which for anyone that wants to avoid killing fish this is a great way to do it and avoid gut hooks.

This weekend I had more circle hooks gutted than ever before...but I simply cut the line and retie with the fish being outta water for maybe 1min. Plenty of studies show hooking mortality is relatviely low if the fish are handled with care. I think its the people that take a pliers to a gut hook that give us all the floaters.

Another bass anology would be not seeing dead bass floating all over tonka or waconia or even mille lacs. Yes less gut hooking occurs but plenty of these fish are caught deep all summer long as well.

If you fish enough you are gonna have a fish die on you it just happens and is part of the game.

[maxpower117]

I woulda waved on my way back from Red a couple weeks ago, but I didn't go that way. And besides, I wouldn't want to take my hands off the wheel with that heavy load of walleyes in the cooler.