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OutdoorMN News - DNR manages wild rice lakes with an eye on water levels and climate


Rick

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

On a recent visit to Lower Dean Lake, Ann Geisen, wildlife lake specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, looked out at what she called a gorgeous stand of wild rice.
“We’re happy to have a part in managing this lake for wild rice and wildlife. Favorable weather helps the rice, too,” Geisen said. “Wild rice and its harvesting are fundamental to Minnesota’s tribal nations, and many other Minnesotans also enjoy harvesting wild rice.

Our state has more acres of natural wild rice than any other state in the country.”
Wild rice harvesters are preparing to scout and harvest rice this year, and wildlife managers around the state are seeing highly variable rice conditions. Harvesters are allowed to take ripe wild rice each year between Aug. 15 and Sept. 30.

More than 2,000 lakes and rivers in 64 Minnesota counties contain wild rice, with concentrations of rice being the highest in Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca and St. Louis counties. But harvestable stands of rice can be found from the Canadian border to the Twin Cities metro area.

In some parts of the state this year, rice stands are poor due to abundant rain and high water. But other parts of the state have excellent rice beds. Harvesters who spend some time scouting waters before the rice is ripe should have good success.

In 2001, the DNR and Ducks Unlimited began a cooperative project to manage water levels on wild rice lakes by keeping outlets free of beaver dams and obstructions. That effort continues today. As many as 110 wild rice lakes have been managed annually in Minnesota as part of the project.

While wild rice management helps keep lakes at the appropriate water levels, rainfall adds to the equation. With Minnesota’s climate changing rapidly, the state is seeing larger, more frequent extreme precipitation events. For wild rice, the extreme weather events associated with climate change can cause water levels to rise rapidly, resulting in failed rice stands.

“We are concerned with predictions that there will be more heavy rain events in the future,” Geisen said. “For the DNR, this means we need to do what we can, where we can to manage water levels for wild rice.”

In addition to being a traditional food source for Minnesota’s early inhabitants and an important part of American Indian culture, wild rice is an important food staple for migrating waterfowl each fall. The growing plants also provide important habitat for fish, invertebrates and waterfowl broods.

Peak harvesting dates are estimated to be in late August to mid-September as long as weather remains mild and dry. Like other forms of gathering, finding a mentor who is willing to share skills and knowledge can greatly improve success. Scouting lakes ahead of time can also be very helpful for finding harvestable stands of rice and locating access sites.

Minnesota’s green rice law makes it illegal to harvest unripe or “green” rice, even within the Aug. 15 to Sept. 30 harvest season. So even though rice beds may look like they are ready, ricers must make sure the grain is ripe and falling easily from the stalk before attempting to harvest it.

For a wild rice season outlook, more information about wild rice management, and wild rice harvesting license and regulation information, visit the DNR’s wild rice management page at mndnr.gov/wildlife/shallowlakes/wildrice.html.

 

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
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