mille lacs walleye troubles

I just got done listening to the podcast of the hunting and fishing show with don perera and I thought is was good info, I wish it would have been longer and he could of answered more questions though. He basically said that there were plenty of one year old walleyes just none that were two years old. Checking stomach contents of all fish they said very few smallies were eating walleyes and some pike were. He said that adult walleyes were eating the most.
My thought is there isn’t enough perch and tullibee to eat but I would really like to know everyone else’s thoughts on why those walleyes are disappearing. But remember he said it wasn’t from netting or the smallies aren’t eating them.

Link to Pod Cast<

Thanks Brian I would have done that but my daughter isn’t home to help me.

“He said that adult walleyes were eating the most…”

Ya’ because that lake is sooo outa’ whack from a stupid, make no sense slot to having so darn many 13″-15″ male eyes’ get caught in a net. It’s sooo simple that they don’t want to admit fault…

I beleieve the problem is mis-management. The slot size remaining the same to many years. This has lead to a good population of Older large females ( Many past prime reproduction ) and too few males ( usually smaller fish ) to help with Production. Add in that those larger fish eat way more and larger Baits and the forage base is getting depleated ( Thus they are eating more than normal of their own young year class. That is my .02 worth

^^Another one that should have called in last night.

well i know the tulibee population in the past 6 years seems better than ever, i know the perch go up and down which seems to be up this year…… i think there is a few smaller problems creating one huge problem, i really do. i just hope someone figures it out soon… im starting to think its turning into a metro style lake where everybody keeps everything that they can!

Don Perera’s hands are tied behind his back. He is nothing more than a talking head for the state. He has absolutely no power to challenge the tribes. If he did, he may well get fired. These guys can do all of their studies, waste another 10 years looking for an answer when it problem is crystal clear. GET THE NETS OUT OF THE LAKE!!!!

I obivously have lost all confidence in our state DNR in regard to Mille Lacs lake management. They have screwed it up for 10 plus years and are laying plan to continus to do the same.

-J.

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“He said that adult walleyes were eating the most…”

Ya’ because that lake is sooo outa’ whack from a stupid, make no sense slot to having so darn many 13″-15″ male eyes’ get caught in a net. It’s sooo simple that they don’t want to admit fault…

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You should listen to the podcast, from the sound of it there is plenty of reproduction they are just not surviving to the second year.

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“He said that adult walleyes were eating the most…”

Ya’ because that lake is sooo outa’ whack from a stupid, make no sense slot to having so darn many 13″-15″ male eyes’ get caught in a net. It’s sooo simple that they don’t want to admit fault…

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You should listen to the podcast, from the sound of it there is plenty of reproduction they are just not surviving to the second year.

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My point exactly BBasser…The miss-management has left far too many larger walleye in the lake that use the young walleye as a forage base thus they cannot make it to the ripe old age of 2…AND if they do make it past 2 years of age they swim into a net. Tough for a male walleye to survive with that going on…RR

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^^Another one that should have called in last night.

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Was on hold for a half hour before I was hung up on…….

^^ Sorry for jumping to conclusions.

No problem…Probably good I didn’t get on. My temper tends to boil over on this subject and that wouldn’t have been fair to Don. I just think back 35 years when myself, dad and our 16ft red Lund with the Johnson 25hrs would go out to Shermans flat, anchor on the edge and catch as many year classes of walleyes as we wanted. Take a couple home for the pan and all was good. June was a crazy good month on that flat (probably all flats) and it just makes me sooo mad that those days are gone…Too many 20″-26″ fish in that lake. Like I said it’s outa’ whack due to one thing…Miss-management…

i agree jon jordan….. it seems like in the last 20 years the mn dnr is always a few years behind…..upping the smallie limit on mille lacs, and look at red, 5 years of crazy crappie fishing results in little to none crappies left in red. why didnt they lower the limit on them before they were gone..

the dnr “fix ideas” swing to far, by the time they do something which is drastic, its too late

I for one and I know many like me, who have not waited for some radio podcast to voice our concerns…. I have been voicing to the DNR for years, to no avail. What would one more regular guy do to make them listen

thanks big G for doing your part!

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GET THE NETS OUT OF THE LAKE!!!!
.-J.

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Agree 100%….Hmmmmmmm Why aren’t other lakes that have a similar slot collapsing?

Where is the common sense?

GET THE NETS OFF THE LAKE!

In addition, Go no harvest for anglers for a few years and adjust the slot once the lake is rebuilt.

It was a live show G. The podcast was to listen at other times.

All I can say is that if everyone took the attitude of “I give up” nothing will ever happen.

Which reminds me, I need to call the Lake City office. Thanks for the reminder.

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I for one and I know many like me, who have not waited for some radio podcast to voice our concerns…. I have been voicing to the DNR for years, to no avail. What would one more regular guy do to make them listen

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Exactly. Not only a Mille Lacs lake problem, but a huge public perception problem to boot. One moth ago the DNR and Don Perera announce this grand plan and open the door to public comment. Good luck with that. ANY mention of tribal netting will get the door slammed in your face, the phone hung up on you or your email deleted. Believe me, I have tried. What a bunch of BS> Has anyone got any kind of reply from the DNR on the topic of tribal netting? Anyone????

-J.

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All I can say is that if everyone took the attitude of “I give up” nothing will ever happen.

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BS. If the DNR won’t even put the topic on the table for disucussion nothing will ever happen.

Again, I’ll post Don’s email address.

[email protected]

Feel free to send him a message. Ask the tough questions and let me know if you get a reply.

-J.

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i agree jon jordan….. it seems like in the last 20 years the mn dnr is always a few years behind…..upping the smallie limit on mille lacs, and look at red, 5 years of crazy crappie fishing results in little to none crappies left in red. why didnt they lower the limit on them before they were gone..

the dnr “fix ideas” swing to far, by the time they do something which is drastic, its too late

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Which would explain the lack of 20″ + saugers in pool 4

I don’t think Red crappie situation has anything to do with the bag limit. In my opinion there was a perfect storm back in the mid 90’s for the crappie boom. There were no walleyes to eat them and the conditions were almost ideal for the 94 95 class. If they would have not restocked the lake with walleyes maybe it to this day would still be full of crappies. I wish the DNR would have left the lake alone and managed it for crappies. That was a lake no other in the state, whereas there are plenty of great walleye lakes. Not worth crying about it anymore. Maybe in another 25 years the same thing will happen again. History repeats it self more often than one would expect. I believe the natives have done away with hook and line and are using nets again. Hopefully they are being regulated better than the past.

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i agree jon jordan….. it seems like in the last 20 years the mn dnr is always a few years behind…..upping the smallie limit on mille lacs, and look at red, 5 years of crazy crappie fishing results in little to none crappies left in red. why didnt they lower the limit on them before they were gone..

the dnr “fix ideas” swing to far, by the time they do something which is drastic, its too late

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5 years of crazy crappie fishing results in little to none crappies left in red. why didnt they lower the limit on them before they were gone..

I personally would have a tough time sticking $15 into a box knowing that $10 is going directly to the tribe…I’d rather sit at their damn blackjack table and see if i can turn that $10 into a $20 if thats the case…

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GET THE NETS OUT OF THE LAKE!!!!

.-J.

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Agree 100%….Hmmmmmmm Why aren’t other lakes that have a similar slot collapsing?

Where is the common sense?

GET THE NETS OFF THE LAKE!

In addition, Go no harvest for anglers for a few years and adjust the slot once the lake is rebuilt.

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The nets do likely have something to do with it, so does the proximity to the cities. But the other lakes that have slots on them look like they may be going down the same road that Mille Lacs has. Leech currently is trending toward a population with too many big fish and last summer they were starving and skinny. Winnie looks to be moving toward a population with more bigger fish also.

Give the other ones time and they just may run into the same problems we have at Mille Lacs.

Winnie is looking like Mille Lacs too. Mostly overs

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GET THE NETS OUT OF THE LAKE!!!!
.-J.

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Agree 100%….Hmmmmmmm Why aren’t other lakes that have a similar slot collapsing?

Where is the common sense?

GET THE NETS OFF THE LAKE!

In addition, Go no harvest for anglers for a few years and adjust the slot once the lake is rebuilt.

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The nets do likely have something to do with it, so does the proximity to the cities. But the other lakes that have slots on them look like they may be going down the same road that Mille Lacs has. Leech currently is trending toward a population with too many big fish and last summer they were starving and skinny. Winnie looks to be moving toward a population with more bigger fish also.

Give the other ones time and they just may run into the same problems we have at Mille Lacs.

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The numbers of walleyes taken by the nonstop pounding and keeping of slot fish has way more to do with the walleye decline then nets,the math is very simple if you look at the numbers harvested by both methods.I think many anglers and the Dnr just dont and wont take the resposibility for the overharvest of a certain size fish continuosly for years.Blame it on the nets all you want,but the math speaks otherwise.

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The numbers of walleyes taken by the nonstop pounding and keeping of slot fish has way more to do with the walleye decline then nets,the math is very simple if you look at the numbers harvested by both methods.I think many anglers and the Dnr just dont and wont take the resposibility for the overharvest of a certain size fish continuosly for years.Blame it on the nets all you want,but the math speaks otherwise.

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Pure rubbish. The slots mandated to keep harvest poundage under a court ordered number is not our fault. No nets, no unscientific slot. In other words, the slots set since tribal netting started is purely political not biological. Absolutely nothing to do with what is best for the lake.

Get the nets out and manage the lake properly. Period.

-J.

Clearly this is an education for me.

Is there access to the quotas the anglers and nets can and did take?

In case anyone wonders, I would like to see the netting removed not for fish management reasons but for the “one nation” reason. Sorry if that bothers some.

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Is there access to the quotas the anglers and nets can and did take?

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No. Another sore spot. There is no Minnesota DNR oversight of tribal netting. Most of us who observe the spring netting believe the tribes are going way over quota. They net non stop from ice out until the day before opener. The longer that time span, the more fish netted. The only thing that slows the netting is ice. It’s a complete free for all and the tribes know it.

Even if the MN DNR found the tribes over quota, they have no legal standing to prosecute the case. It’s a complete sham and all of the netters know it.

Even more troubling, some of the netters are no more Indian than me. They are paid workers to do the dirty work.

This has to stop.

-J.