Turtle

[8-Ball]

Anyone familiar with Turtle Lake by Staples? If so, any info wiiling to divulge? Not looking for a honey hole- just curious if it is worth dropping my rig in sometime.. Thanks in advance. 8-Ball.

[8-Ball]

C'mon, no-one has anything on this lake?

[therancher]

Sorry dude - this is a Brainerd Forum. With all the great lakes around here not too many folks find themselves fishing where there are so few options.

[8-Ball]

Yeah I know theres alot to choose from there. Just trying to find out about it from anyone who may have tried it sometime. Someone else suggested posting it on this forum.

[captkev]

Are you talking south of Staples? If so, I lived in the area my whole life, its been hit prety hard, its a small lake and can't take the presure it see's in the summer, it is one of the closest lakes to the Sylvan Shores development area, and is vacationed hard in the summer you can find a decent crappie from time to time but they are few and far between, if your after small N. Pike, you'll be happy there, the walleye stocking is unsucessful due to the high pike population, its just another one of them lakes that need some other form of management from the DNR, along with about 20 other lakes in the area, I say close the season on it for a few years and see what happens, trap the pike out of it and leave some to grow, they ask that you keep the pike under 24" and release anything bigger, but you know how well that works when its only a sugestion and not a law, other lakes just to the south like Coal, Thunder, Mill, Horseshoe, Pine Island, and Big are all alike, way too many fish kept and not enough let go to sustain the preaditor balance, everyone keeps the big sunfish, crappie, and perch, and then you have lakes that are stunted, you end up with the land of 10,000 lakes, but half of them are full of small fish, and no bag limmit quotas. I wish the DNR would impliment a plan to close some of these lakes to other than land owners on a every other year basis, and set stricter size limmits for all the species.

[8-Ball]

I hear you 100 % Capt. It happens all over the state. But it is getting a little better as time goes by, IMO. Thanks for the info. I like to try small lakes that others may perhaps whiz by to another destination. I guess I will whiz by this one as well. You work for Todd. Co. Sheriffs office, by chance?

[gorrilla]

captkev, I think your observation of this lake's problems are acurate and common. The one thing I'd like to comment on though is the equally common opinion that the "DNR should manage it differently". One thing I observe is the fairly recent change in the DNR's desire to balance out hammer handle lakes.

The problem usually is like you said, that suggestions don't work very well. The implemented regulations often get fought with tooth and nail by jugheads unlike you and me who don't realize how much of a problem keeping only the nice fish out of a small system can be.

I guess what I'm seeing isn't so much the DNR not managing lakes the right way, but our arm-chair wannabe biologists fighting the DNR and putting political pressure on them, not letting them do the right thing. The best way is not to hope the DNR manages things better, but help them and not fight them (like the Big Birch Lake fiasco started by spearers fighting a northern slot AGAIN!!).

[therancher]

I do not know why people in the Big Birch area are so upset with that. They now have a great fishery and monster fish. Big Swan is another lake in that area where the slot limits on pike have proven to work. I think there should be more restrictions put on. I think that the bag limits for non-residents should be made smaller. To many out of staters come in and take the max. of fish they can no matter the size or species.

[captkev]

8-Ball, No I'm not with the Sheriff's dept. I'm a truck driver for a local company.

Now on the DNR issue, I for one try and help them as much as possable, I have 5 of the closest CO's on speed dial and the TIP number in my cell phone, I do my part. It just seems no matter what they do someone is going to (Contact US Regarding This Word) anyway, If I would have wrote that they are doing everything they can to improve the area lakes, someone else would have commplained that there not doing enough, there is allways going to be a tug of war on this issue no matter what anyone says. So they have done a great job on Swan and Big Berch, now that there is some nice fish in there again, someone wants to go get some with a spear and change the law again, I say great, have at er. go down there and give some of the other lakes a break for a while. This is exactley my point, close alot more of the lakes with stricter size & bag limmits so there will be more lakes to bennifit and more of them will make recoveries faster. Without more Laws to protect more lakes and not just the big ones, I say they're just shooting pool with rope.

[Guest]

It isn't just the out of staters that pile the fish up. I've seen the same local people take the limit off of the ice and water every day they are out. I don't think they realize what posession limit means. I think people think that possesion limit means what you take off the lake that day not that they have their freezer piled clear full of fish. Also out of state fisherman are big revenue for Minnesota. I think that the local bait shop will testify to that. But I agree that regulations are definately needed and slot limits do work. Sometimes I wonder if the slot limits are the correct ones.

[gorrilla]

Anybody care to get back to giving out fishing tips? I just spent 3 hours out fishing this evening and like magic I don't feel like beeotchin' anymore. Funny how a little fishing makes everything hunky dory just like that...