Mortality is probably at its highest of the entire year right now. Once the water passes that 70 degree threshold, it goes way up. Plus I’m guessing most people are still using live bait which isn’t helping.
Ummm, maybe we need to drop a couple million $ on a study of Tullibee mortality.
I’ll volunteer to pocket that money and write up a fancy report that can be ignored. 
Ummm, maybe we need to drop a couple million $ on a study of Tullibee mortality.
I’ll volunteer to pocket that money and write up a fancy report that can be ignored. 
Lol 
Yup. Open it up and watch the lake fall back into trouble in a couple of years.
When the DNR set a 2″ slot for 3-4 years they wiped out 3-4 years of year classes, it will take at least that to re-establish a balanced year class.
Why can’t we anglers realize that if bringing fish out of deep water in the winter kills fish, it does the same in the summer.
Where are walleye being caught right now?
Exactly.
Hooking mortality is an issue with warm water, that is a no-brainer’. Hooking mortality is also an issue when catching fish in deeper water (most species, walleye included). When you mix those two variables together, fish are going to die. The idea that some of these “anglers” are catching a lot of fish well past 20′ deep, pulling cranks at upwards of 3mph or other tactics tells me that fish are getting killed regardless of the limits. On the pond, I’ve seen fish up in the rocks and had great days in less than 10′ in the dog days of summer. Why people continue to fish the deepest water with 70+ degree water baffles me. On my home waters of P4 I witness the same thing and just shake my head as they toss back short fish to become eagle food.
In regards to those hoping for an actual open water “harvest” in the near future…I think you have a better chance of being struck by lightning while sitting in the basement on a sunny day. The MNDNR could be “Optimistic” until they are blue in the face. They have almost NO say over the harvest for Mille Lacs, just as most of us here don’t either. (I’m not saying I agree with it, but it’s a reality)
Yup. Open it up and watch the lake fall back into trouble in a couple of years.
Fall back into what trouble? It’s been basically catch and release since 2013. And no one is saying this means we should immediately go back to annual harvests over 200k pounds like there was every year pre-1999.
Hooking mortality is an issue with warm water, that is a no-brainer’
I disagree. Do some fish die from hooking mortality all year, yes. Do more fish die from hooking mortality when the water is warmer, yes. Is the number of fish dying from hooking mortality significant enough to impact the biomass or accurate management? I’m not sure. And more importantly, can walleye hooking mortality be accurately calculated by the DNR using their current methods? I’m pretty confident the answer is no.
Would I like to be able to bring a fish or two home? Absolutely, but the fishing is so great on Mille Lacs for the last 12 years (since I’ve been fishing it regularly) that I don’t really care that much about keepers, and I’ll continue to be optimistic about fishing the Big Pond to anyone who wants to hear about it. I won’t be optimistic that we have leaders that want to LEAD out of the co-management mess, until we have new leaders.
In regards to those hoping for an actual open water “harvest” in the near future…I think you have a better chance of being struck by lightning while sitting in the basement on a sunny day. The MNDNR could be “Optimistic” until they are blue in the face. They have almost NO say over the harvest for Mille Lacs, just as most of us here don’t either. (I’m not saying I agree with it, but it’s a reality)
Let’s revisit this next spring. I’m willing to bet there’s a better chance of keeping a walleye next year then getting struck by lightning in a basement.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
In regards to those hoping for an actual open water “harvest” in the near future…I think you have a better chance of being struck by lightning while sitting in the basement on a sunny day. The MNDNR could be “Optimistic” until they are blue in the face. They have almost NO say over the harvest for Mille Lacs, just as most of us here don’t either. (I’m not saying I agree with it, but it’s a reality)Let’s revisit this next spring. I’m willing to bet there’s a better chance of keeping a walleye next year then getting struck by lightning in a basement.
I hope you’re right for the local businesses’ sake.
I just don’t see the tribes giving in to the MNDNR who essentially has no leverage. When looking at things from the other side of the table, what do they gain by negotiating/allowing an angler harvest?
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