Fading Mille Lacs Walleyes

I recently contacted a member of the MN DNR asking about the crash of the Mille Lacs walleyes. As we all know fishing has been great up there this year because of the high population of small males willing to bite but I was questioning how they crashed in the first place. He wasnt very cooperative but from what I gathered Im thinking that it was a bad combination of zebra mussels making the water more clear and the declining tulibee population which resulted in more predator fish eating walleye forage. But thats just my opinion, I would like the hear some of yours. What do you think happened? How Do we prevent it from happening again?

I bet the netting was never brought up….
DT

deertracker wrote:

I bet the netting was never brought up….

X2!!!

do we really want to go down this path? do a search on this site or any other and you will find enough opinions about fishing management on lake mille lacs to last you a lifetime

Here we go again…..

they were netting this morning again….. plenty of walleyes evidently for them.

Yes, the best thing to do is not talk about issues…. they will fix themselves.

big_g wrote:

they were netting this morning again….. plenty of walleyes evidently for them.

Yes, the best thing to do is not talk about issues…. they will fix themselves.

I didn’t say that. you have something new to add to it? cause otherwise this conversation has been regurgitated more times than most people care to count. Conversation is good – repetition is boring, and like mentioned there is no need to begin a new conversation looking for opinions when you cant hardly search for anything related to fishing in MN on the internet without tripping all over the mille lacs story.

My take as I’ve always said is that a poorly thought out use of continual slot limits caused an abnormally high population of large walleyes which then ate all of the baitfish (shiners, perch, and then tullibees) which left them no choice but to cannibalize the smaller walleyes.

To help drive home the point I pulled DNR harvest data showing that after the slots were in place actual harvest went way down. For all of those who say it was over-harvest aka “greedy” walleye fishermen this shows that is clearly not what caused the downfall.

For those of you who like pictures here are additional charts to explain how the long term usage of a restrictive slot will cause an unnatural balance for the size structure of walleyes.

Adding to the crash (but not IMO the primary cause) were the water clarity improving and warmer water that further stressed the baitfish population at the same time as the walleye population imbalance… However, I fully believe this is a secondary driver of the issues and not the primary cause.

Will

EDIT – On my harvest data chart the vertical dotted line indicates 1998 which if I remember correctly was when the tribal management system driven slots took effect. The horizontal line pre 1998 represents the average harvest of ~417,000 lbs. The horizontal line to the post 1998 represents post tribal management average harvest of ~181,000 lbs.

(NOTE if we removed the high harvest level in 1999 which is most likely due to an abundance of slot sized walleyes that were already in the system before the full effects of the restrictive slot the harvest from 2000-2013 was 147,000)

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ok then…

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I blame Hillary,, I mean, think about it.

Joel VandeKrol wrote:

Here we go again…..

Yes and we should go again. Every single week of the year until the DNR either figures it out or gets the balls to face GLIFWC. The OP asked a legit question (for his first post anyway ) so answers are required. A search will definitely turn up many many threads.
Sticking our heads in the sand because it’s been discussed won’t help anyway.

big_g wrote:

they were netting this morning again….. plenty of walleyes evidently for them.

big_g, Are you sure they’re tribal nets? I know the DNR has set nets/pens since the opener to better “gauge” the hooking mortality. They had one set over here right out from Garrison. Surprised the heck out of some!

I would hate to imagine that there are still tribal nets out.

I had a gentlemen up here ice fishing last year and he has fished mailacs 60 years. His opinion was to many trophy fish. Musky, Pike smallies, walleye. He says the nets have no barring? I personally think the netting has a lot to do with it but what do I know. Ive only fished the lake three times in the 40 years I have lived in minnesota

again, problem solved. everybody net all year long, they have no barring ….

I agree to many big fish. And curtail the netting. I would not have such an issue with netting if they did not do it during spawn. I know if you take a fish out of the system no matter when that fish was taken it is not there to spawn in the spring. However the fish would not be so concentrated in the shallows making them so susceptible to the nets if done in fall or later in spring. I don’t buy the argument that they have to net before the fishing opener. In Canada the netting and fishing go on same time, nets clearly marked no problems. They don’t fish so much at night though as they do on Mille lacs.

That’s it! The only problem with Mille Lacs is trophy Muskie, pike, smallies and walleye.

We can’t blame the Indians, they would never over harvest a species.
They are”the stewards of the land”

Ever drive thru a rez? They care isn’t it obvious?

Nets have no bearing. Yea I don’t believe it one bit. The MDNR is just like the WDNR. Over here the spearing has no bearing but we have to lower the limits on almost all the lakes AND have slot limits.

mxskeeter wrote:

Nets have no bearing. Yea I don’t believe it one bit. The MDNR is just like the WDNR. Over here the spearing has no bearing but we have to lower the limits on almost all the lakes AND have slot limits.

Yep, I remember that from many years ago. Rocks and bottles on Butternut lake and others. Remember the guy that started “treaty beer”? Had the pizza place in Minocqua as a front!

You can thank good old liberal Federal Judge Barb Crabb for ruling in favor of our Native Americans. She is still presiding in Fed. Court.

My understanding was it was for sustenance. They ask for over 50000 lbs. every year. Thank god they don’t get close to their totals.

I admit I’m getting off topic here but I can’t resist. Here it is..the “Treaty Beer”. Below is some interesting history of the Wisconsin treaty issue back in the late 1980’s. Shocking…they could take as much as 100% of the surplus allowable catch.

“North-central Wisconsin, a veritable fisherman`s paradise, has not been the same since that decision. In the ruling, a U.S. District Court judge said that in keeping with the spirit of 19th Century treaties, Chippewa fishermen and hunters can take as much as 100 percent of the surplus allowable catch, using whatever means they wish, including spear fishing, gill netting and night hunting with spotlights-none of which non-Indian fishermen and hunters are permitted to do.

Consequently, this spring`s Indian spear-fishing season was marked by several landing-dock confrontations between jeering bands of non-Indian sport fishermen and tribal spearsmen.

The short-lived Wisconsin production of Treaty Beer pointed up another contested aspect of the dispute. The proceeds from this beer are to go to abrogation of all Indian treaties. That is racism pure and simple, said Sharon Metz, executive director of the Milwaukee-based Lutheran Human Relations Association of America, which announced the beer boycott last month. A spokesman said the group is dedicated to combating racism and sexism.

Long and his partner, Dean Christ, vehemently deny the racism accusation. Im not anti-Indian. But I dont think anyone is entitled to more rights than I am, said Long, owner of the Black Bear Trading Post in Minocqua. I believe all Americans should be on the same level.

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Where can I purchase some of that beer!

Oldstar…you finally found the trail of breadcrumbs! Welcome!