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Walleye Limit On the URL


wild bill

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As I understand the law when there is a slot limit you can not fillet or eat those fish on the lake.

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I think that is what I read also. You may want to check with the DNR to see what you can and cannot do. Good luck!

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I have been telling my customers to plan on taking there fish to westwind and having them for dinner there. Kind of a hassle but if you can not cook them on the lake and your in a sleeper what other options are there other then shore lunch.

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From what I understand the carcus counts as your limit but I am not DNR and I would not trust what other people say. Find out for yourself from the DNR.

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No fileting/eating walleye while on the water/ice. There is no way for a warden to measure the length of a carcass to make sure it is under the 17" limit. You may gut out the fish but that is all. If you want to eat walleyes on Red (or any other lake that has a walleye "slot" like LOTW, Rainy, ML, Rainy, Kab etc), then you have to be on shore to fillet and eat them. I would guess the same would be true for northern on Red if you were going to keep a smaller one to eat, no filleting on the lake. Your fishhouse/sleeper is treated the same as a boat. This was explained to me by the warden on Kabetogama, Lloyd Steen, but should apply equally to Red as well.

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I wonder if there are any DNR agents that read this website? It would be great if each forum had some way to contact the DNR agent in that area. Just a thought for this wonderful website!

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Just a second part to this question. Is it legal to clean & cook crappies on the ice. There is no slot limit on those? Thank you in advance.

O2BFSHN

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I beleave if you can catch any crappies you can eat them but they do count as part of your daily limit in case you hit the mother load

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This is the answer I got from Jim Abernathy, the DNR Information Consultant:

Hello,

On lakes which have a slot limit. Then those type of fish which there

is a slot limit can not be eaten on the lake. They must be left in the

whole(so they can be measured if checked by a conservation officer).

Other fish that don't have a slot limit maybe cleaned and eaten. They

are still part of the daily limit until midnight.

good luck

jim

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Daily and possession limits are the same for crappies and everything else except perch. You can't acquire a limit each day unless you consume all those fish in your possession.

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Does anyone know the answer to this question: can you keep 2 walleyes at Red lake, then take them back to your cabin, then go back the next day and keep 2 more, take them to the cabin, go back the next day and keep 2 more. You would be at the statewide 6 walleye limit at that point. Could I then drive home with those 6 walleyes?

Roscoe

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No you can not. You could eat two, go the next day eat 2 more, go the next day and take two home. You may only possess two red lale walleyes at any time

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Roscoe, some guy tried that earlier this year. He got busted by the DNR. Most all the 'keeper' walleye on Red were from the stocked fingerlings and they were treated with tetracycline. The DNR can determine which fish are from Red Lake by the tetracycline stain from the inner bone of the fish. It was the 1st such case successfully prosecuted in the state based on this evidence. Your possession limit of RED LAKE walleyes is two. It is all spelled out clearly in the fishing regs booklet.

My fear is a lot of guys and their greed will try to round-about the law instead of following it and letting the lake fully recover.

Good Luck!

Ken

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Not sure I follow you on this one, Labs? In Roscoe's example, there are only 2 fish being harvested each day, so it's not affecting the 'recoverability' of the lake.

I don't understand why you can only possess 2 URL eyes at once - as long as you're within legal daily harvest limits and within MN possession limits, why are URL fish dealt with differently?

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Why are Red Lake walleyes different? Just because they are. It's in the regs. The DNR is being very cautious with harvest... remember we've been given two gifts, 1) a recovered(ing) lake and 2) the opportunity to harvest walleye 3 years in advance to the original timeline.

If you eat them each day, no problem, you are within the guidelines of the law. Your Red Lake possession limit is two... your daily limit and possession limit are the same, that goes for all lakes and species except perch. If you go back to the cabin and 'stack' your daily limits to make 6 for a regular possession limit on other inland water lakes, you are illegal and can be cited. Page 24 of the regs. pertaining to special Red Lake regs... "Possession limit 2 with only one over 26". Statewide bag limits may include 2 Red Lake walleye."

I don't make the laws, just report 'em! grin.gif

Good Luck!

Ken

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Thanks for the clarification guys. I had emailed the DNR this past spring about the various limits and situations, but I forgot to ask about that particular one.

Here is an interesting situation that I bet many anglers will not realize this winter:

If you keep 2 walleyes at Red Lake and then go to Lake of the Woods you are bound by the statewide walleye/sauger limit of 6. So you could only keep 4 more walleye/sauger at LOW. I bet a lot of guys are gonna think they can have a separate 8 fish limit from LOW to go along with their 2 from Red, or that they can keep 6 at LOW, as long as only 4 are walleyes. They will think then that they are within the statewide limit of 6 walleyes, where only 2 can be from Red, but the statewide limit is walleye/sauger together, not separate.

The bottom line is if you've got fish from any lake other than Lake of the Woods, you must abide by the state wide limit of 6 walleye/sauger. If you've got fish ONLY from LOW, then you can have 8 walleye/sauger, no more than 4 walleyes. I bet there will be a lot of tickets written to confused anglers this winter for this one.

Roscoe

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Going from red lake to lotw for walleyes would be a waste. Why keep 2 walleyes less than 17" when you could have 4 walleyes 17-19.5" it is only 2inches but seems like a waste of time. If I want crappies hit red then go to lotw for the eyes and sauger. Max your options.

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