New regulations updated. Walleye limit 3!

[fisherman-andy]

Yeap... The walleye limit is 3 beginning Dec 1st. That's on top of the new slot restrictions.

[B-man715]

Great to see a proactive approach from the MNDNR.

The lake gets hammered, and hopefully this can help to keep the fishing great for years to come

[leech~~]

Huum, may as well go play around on Mille Lacs and save the drive for one extra fish!

[B-man715]

Huum, may as well go play around on Mille Lacs and save the drive for one extra fish!

.......and hopefully lower the fishing pressure ^^^^^^^^^^^^

[MNsetters]

Huum, may as well go play around on Mille Lacs and save the drive for one extra fish!

Yes stay South don't need the traffic ! :-)

[PurpleFloyd]

That is enough for a meal.

[CAMAN]

Great move! Hopefully it keeps this lake as amazing as it has been for the past few years, and the meat hogs away.

[Bureaucrat]

Did the MDDI guys have some mission creep into red lake walleye? I've always caught tons of walleyes where I fished on Red.

[Guest Kyle]

Doesn't mean a guy can't catch and release. I'll be up there this weekend.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Wow supprised you guys are complaining about this. My local decent lake to fish has been a daily limit of 3 and a 17-22 slot for a number of years. What was the limit before this?

[harvey lee]

I will never understand why some believe they have to keep a bunch of fish, seems like the way of the old day when we almost fished some lakes out.

If they dropped it to a zero limit, I would still go, fun to catch as many fish as one can on URL.

[Boar]

4with a narrower slot. Im cool with this. Just trying to do whats right.myself and wife and kids. 12 fish to get and 15-17 is perfect fying fish. Nuthing to complainabout

[DLD24]

I will never understand why some believe they have to keep a bunch of fish, seems like the way of the old day when we almost fished some lakes out.

If they dropped it to a zero limit, I would still go, fun to catch as many fish as one can on URL.

X2..... half the time I don't feel like cleaning fish anyway so I toss them back ha

[fshhntfootball]

I also don't have a problem with the regulations, and if me keeping one less fish means that URL stays healthy for the day that I eventually have kids, then so be it. Don't get me wrong, I like to have a fish fry just as much as the next guy, but would rather have the opportunity years down the road to experience the great fishing that we have today.

[Reverend]

I agree with most everybody on here in regards to this new limit. Keep the lake and populations healthy and go eat a crappie.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Heck 3 fish per person. That is one for each meal of the day. I'd call it a perfect limit.

[fisherman-andy]

I am ok with this regulation also and I think its a good thing for the lake. However I live 5hrs away from this Upper Red and it takes 10hrs total roundtrip. I generally do 1 or 2 trips per ice season to Red; non during open water. Add cost of travel and outfitter expenses and it becomes hard to justify the trip on 3 fish. Even worse if you cant get into a good number of fish; which by the way does happen more frequent then some will be willing to admit. In the past we have had to move or go off on our own in portables just to find fish as the sleepers we stayed in were not producing. If these regulations was a meant as a deterrent then it certainly has garnered that attention for some. But I can understand the need to protect the resources also so I am no way outrage by this.

However if your a local in the area this is good news as it has little to no impact your decisions as much to fish Upper Red. I know I would feel the same way.

[usmtsrocks]

I like it! Red is a special fishery. I don't go up there saying I just wanna get my limit, it's about the thought of 20,30 and 40 fish days. No where else is that possible. Add the chance of a monster slab or giant pike...come on can't beat that. I personally think the statewide limit should be 4. Who needs 6 19" walleyes in a day? One guy can barely eat 1 with some fixings! 48 hours from now I will be sitting on the ice up there and I can't wait!

[woodt22]

whats the size and limit till dec 1 thanks

[broman]

whats the size and limit till dec 1 thanks

I believe it's 20 to 26 with a limit of 4.

[terrible_fisherman]

I would be happy if they cut the limit way back or even just made it catch and release for that matter. I just find it fun up there to be able to just relax, not worry about fishing crazy hard, and still do well. I go back for that, not for the fish I can bring home. If I was worried about the meat, I would save the gas money and go buy some walleye fillets.

[Boreas]

If I was worried about the meat, I would save the gas money and go buy some walleye fillets.

Dead on! We passed the fish for food ratios years ago. Wheel houses at 10-40k, gas at $3-4 , $100 ice rods and ice augers at $500...I really don't want to know what each fillet I bring home cost me. Red Lake is all about the crazy action, if restricted limits and slot is what is needed to keep it going I'm all for it.

[Bureaucrat]

Mathematically you are correct without argument. But you'd be amazed at what people can convince themselves of with a fish in hand.

[BigDogRob]

With a little figuring...My fish were only about $100/keeper. Last year...lol

[fishuhalik]

Just ask all of us who fish Winni & ML what this kinda slot can do to a lake. Hopefully it doesn't happen up there. URL is a pretty special place

[Boar]

My wife puts it inperspective for me every year," I dont eat fish, very little with my touchy stomach, I just wanna catch fish and hang out BBQ and socialize, bringing home fish means nuthing to me". sometime our wives canbe pretty smart.

[kelly-p]

Devils Lake, Lake of the Woods and Upper Red Lake all on track to provide good fishing again this winter

By Brad Dokken Today at 3:00 a.m.

Quote:

Upper Red Lake

With a maximum depth of 15 feet, Minnesota’s 48,000-acre share of Upper Red Lake is always among the first big lakes in the region to freeze, and this year is no exception.

Anglers already have been walking onto the lake for several days, finding anywhere from 6 inches to 9 inches of ice depending on where they’re fishing; ATV traffic is being allowed in places.

For now, at least, stick to the marked trails.

All signs point to a winter fishing season that picks up right where the gangbusters open-water season left off. Walleyes last spring and summer cooperated on Red Lake in a big way.

Upper Red Lake and Lower Red Lake, which are connected, cover about 285,000 acres, and all but 48,000 acres of Upper Red lie within the boundaries of the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

“I think it’s going to be an excellent winter,” said Henry Drewes, regional fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji. “The walleye population is strong, they bit throughout later summer and into the fall, and they’re going to be active.”

The recent trend of excellent fishing on Upper Red has prompted the DNR to tighten walleye limits in an effort to ratchet down the harvest. Beginning Dec. 1, the walleye limit on Upper Red will be reduced to three, and anglers must release all walleyes from 17 inches to 26 inches, with one fish larger than 26 inches allowed in the three-fish limit.

Anglers currently can keep four walleyes, with a 20- to 26-inch protected slot and one fish longer than 26 inches allowed in the limit.

According to Drewes, this is the first time since Red Lake’s walleye population recovered and fishing reopened in 2006 that fisheries managers have dialed back the harvest.

Quote:

As part of an agreement with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the DNR’s “target harvest” in Minnesota’s portion of Upper Red is 168,000 pounds annually.

Drewes said the harvest in state waters flirted with the 168,000-pound target in 2012 and 2013, and the harvest in the 12-month period ending Nov. 30 is projected to hit about 230,000 pounds — 120,000 pounds last winter and 110,000 pounds this past spring and summer.

The target is based on a three-year average, Drewes said.

“We control 17 percent of the Red lakes, and the band controls 83 percent, so it’s important we stay within our targets,” he said. “So, we need to bring that harvest back down.”

The tribe has an annual target of 829,500 pounds. Pat Brown, biologist for the Red Lake Band and Chippewa, said the band is on track to harvest in the range of 710,000 pounds to 740,000 pounds of walleyes in tribal waters this year.

Quote:

While the DNR is moving to reduce harvest, Drewes said the walleye population shows no signs of stress, and fish from 12 inches to 20 inches are common.

“There’s fish in every inch category, so the population looks good,” he said.

Winter fishing pressure on Upper Red in recent years has been dominated by wheeled houses, Drewes said, and anglers last winter alone logged 1 million hours on the ice, which was a first on the big lake.

Creel surveys show the average wheel-house trip on Upper Red is 2½ days, Drewes said.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the peak in terms of the wheeled house craze,” he said. “They are definitely driving the pressure.”

[kgpcr4]

Doesn't mean a guy can't catch and release. I'll be up there this weekend.

not picking on you Kyle but C&R kills fish as well. If you are done you should stop fishing. I get a kick how some C&R people look down on others that keep fish when the C&R people actually killed far more fish by fishing all day.

[Alagnak]

not picking on you Kyle but C&R kills fish as well. If you are done you should stop fishing. I get a kick how some C&R people look down on others that keep fish when the C&R people actually killed far more fish by fishing all day.

So with your logic do you think we should just get rid of catch and release fisheries because it may kill a few fish? So unless I need a meal of fish and want to kill I should just stay home? Lol give me a break.

[kgpcr4]

I never said that. I did say that many times the guy who kills a limit and quits kills far fewer fish than that C&R guy who has a big day. I am really tired of the C&R people who think they are better than anyone that keeps fish.