News - Correction on party fishing on Mille Lacs Lake

[Rick]

Anglers and dark-house spearers are advised to closely read the regulations regarding party fishing on Mille Lacs Lake. A previous Department of Natural Resources news release and online material describing this regulation was inaccurate.

Regulations became effective Dec.1 that set the northern pike bag limit at five. Each angler or spearer can keep one pike longer than 30 inches only by first harvesting and possessing two pike under 30 inches from Mille Lacs Lake on the same day and by keeping them in immediate possession.

Anglers wishing to harvest a pike longer than 30 inches may not accept a pike shorter than 30 inches from another angler in order to fulfill the two-fish-under-30 requirement. However, anglers not harvesting pike larger than 30 inches may party fish for pike shorter than 30 inches.

“The bottom line is you need to take two northern pike shorter than 30 inches yourself before harvesting a pike longer than 30 inches,” said Brad Parsons, central region fisheries manager with the DNR.

Consistent with statewide regulations, dark-house spearers are not allowed to party fish, which means each fish a spearer harvests counts only toward that person’s bag limit. Because dark-house spearers are not allowed to party fish, spearers are not allowed to accept pike from another person to fulfill the two-fish-under-30 requirement.

For more information on Mille Lacs Lake management, see the Mille Lacs Lake page.  For Mille Lacs fishing and spearing regulations, see the regulations page  or contact the DNR Information Center at [email protected] or 888-646-6367 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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