What is the solution?

[avrg.joe]

With the perch population depleted, and the walleye as well as the pike and muskie population strong. What are these game fish to eat? Small walleyes? It seems to me the fishery is very close to collapse.
There seems to be a lot of people here with a lot of experience with the lake. Also a lot of complaints with the slots. What do all you people think can can be done to preserve good fish population? Im looking forward to your posts!

[AWH]

I think it's pretty drastic to say that the Mille Lacs fishery is near collapse. Granted, the bait fish population is definitely at a lower than average state right now. But all lakes go in cycles. Mille Lacs MAY be at the beginning of a downward cycle right now. But like it always does, the fishery will rebound. It's Mother Nature's way of doing things. We as anglers can do our part in helping to maintain a quality fishery. But no matter what we do, lakes will always go in cycles. This is largely due to how successful the spawns are year in and year out, not only for bait fish, but for game fish as well.

AWH

[Guest]

it will eventually come around. Like he said, its all the cylce. If there is little for bait fish, The big fish die out which allows for the bait fish to bounce back. It will all turn out.

[Guest]

I guess iam thinking this: who ever created Mille Lacs and every other lake, did they put into the equation that humans will control the population or nature itself? Mille Lacs and its walleyes are thosands of years older than us. How many times in other years has the bait fish pop been down? 1992 was a good year. What about the summer of 1600 when no one was keeping any fish over 20inches? Lets just enjoy the bite now until the next cycle.. Good Luck

------------------
MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[avrg.joe]

No doubt Mille Lacs is resilient, and can come back from this. I feel with the nets targeting the same year classes as we are, it won't take long for those fish to be gone. If they are not there to grow, sooner or later the big fish will die off due to age or being caught fifty times. At least then the bait fish would have a chance to come back, but what will happen to the walleye population? Should the slots stay? Should they be changed? What should the limits be?
I feel pick a slot, say 15-18. Allow one fish 20-24, or one over 28. Limit four.
It may be a little confusing, but I think walleye fishermen are bright enough to handle it.

[AWH]

Personally, I think there are very few people out there that are educated enough on the Mille Lacs fishery to come up with a knowledgeable opinion on what the actual slots should be. I would like to think that they could use some tinkering from what they currently are. But then I am not in the know. I'll leave those decisions up to the DNR and trust that they are doing what is best for the lake. They're the only ones with enough information to make those decisions. The rest of us, for the most part, can only make uneducated opinions.

AWH

[Guest]

There is no doubt that mother nature in all forms has a cyclical rythm, it is like a pendulum in a grandfather clock. There is no doubt that nature is very persistant and resilient, bouncing back and restarting the rythm after it has been interupted. But we need to realize, that how far we push things out of balance is up to us. What this breaks down to in reality, is how long after the next crash will it take for the fish to restabilize themselves? How long will the label "dead sea" as applied to Mille Lacs stick next time? How many more resorts will go under? Who will buy these resorts when the bank puts them up for sale? Probably people nearby, who run a profitable business, say, like a casino. What happens when more and more resorts are owned by these people? Think about these things next time someone tells you to not worry, just enjoy the fishing while it is good, or suggests that the all you can eat buffet, or hotel rooms at the casino are a better deal, are they really?

[avrg.joe]

coldone
Very well stated. The "Pendulum" seems to be near the top and ready to swing the other direction. From what I have read from people more educated on the subject,the DNR numbers are way off. And it doesn't seem they have a good plan put together to lessen the impact of the down swing.
I feel for the resort owners, a large swing in the fish population could devistate them.

[This message has been edited by avrg.joe (edited 04-16-2002).]