Rumblings against Mille Lac Smallmouth

Rumblings against Mille Lac Smallmouth heard at last Mille Lac Walleye meeting. As reported in Outdoor News, some are wanting to target Smallmouth to increase walleyes in Mille Lac. The truth is that Mille Lac will never be the walleye factory it once was; water quality and clarity has increased due not only to Zebra mussels but from cleaning up the septic systems that were leaching nutrients into the lake. This has impacted the walleye population and production. Anglers, guides, resorts and businesses that recognize the quality fishing that comes from having a diverse population of Muskies, Sm & Lg Bass, Pike and Crappies can offer the type of fishing that Minnesota is known for. We need to add our voices to the walleye discussions.

Outdoor News

Why not just make Mille Lac a world class pike and smallie lake…

Red Lake boomed after the destruction of the walleyes 10 years ago when crappies were identified in record numbers.

I like the mille lacs crappie idea. If those crappie numbers boomed you would see people flock to the lake never before.

I guess all I can say to this post is Wow. I will be polite and say that I do not agree with this assessment. Not to long ago we needed to clean up all the water ways to promote better fishing and quality of life and now the system is is to clear to sustain a walleye population. Everybody is targeting the same size fish, and we wonder why the population is suffering. Protect certain species of fish and then say it okay because now we have another trophy fishery. . I have fished Mille Lacs for many many years and it is fun to catch a trophy fish regardless of what species. People please remember that Mille Lacs is and will be a walleye factory and maybe we need to stop protecting one group of fish or one species of fish over another!

yeah blame it on septic systems…. talk about a bunch of shi7….. the only mention of netting during spawn and the monitoring (counting) is by concerned citizens…. when are they (DNR) gonna take this serious ???

People remember Red Lake! Maybe 25% of the lake is open to hook and line by American citizen’s and the rest is open to netting by the steward’s of the land. I have to wonder at how a fishery of that size can crumble if not for the use of net’s.

By making the statement below you are wanting to protect the Walleye over the other species. The thinking on Mille Lacs needs to change just as the ways of fishing have changed. When the Walleye bite is hot 100’s of Walleye guys flock to the lake to fish for one day. 30 years ago this didn’t happen. 30 years ago there were no chips, GPS, locators, cameras or 200hp motors. All the above things make fishing Mille Lacs easier.

The fisherman need to adapt as do the business owners. Times have changed and we all need to change with them.

People please remember that Mille Lacs is and will be a walleye factory and maybe we need to stop protecting one group of fish or one species of fish over another!

I personally would like to see Mille Lacs as a world-class lake for both walleye and smallmouth – and do not believe that these 2 species have to be mutually exclusive.

Honestly, I don’t think smallmouth are high on the list of detriments for walleye on Mille Lacs. I think netting is…and have heard from DNR and guides that actually crappies eat more walleye fry than any other species.

But everyone is always looking for a scapegoat and silver bullet fix…

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I like the mille lacs crappie idea. If those crappie numbers boomed you would see people flock to the lake never before.

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Have never caught a crappie in the main lake basin. Only shallow bays. Not sure that idea would work in the long run. I think there would be more interest in a perch boom than crappie.

Every problem the lake is facing today is a direct result from tribal netting. Get the nets out – problem solved.

-J.

They should plant, er , stock some flatheads and channels in there.

Post deleted by JDP

Its not the smallmouth,or the zebras,or septic cleanup,its not the pike,muskies or crappies,its not the hundreds of thousands of angler kept pounds of walleyes,or the hundreds of floaters dead after release we all see.Its the nets,Its gotta be them,no possible way what so ever anything else could have caused this perdicament….

pull your tongue out of your cheek long enough… to realize it is a combination of many things… and then read and realize that the DNR and Natives refuse to acknowledge the netting plays any role in it. The nets went in about 20 years ago and way back then, it was promised this would happen… and it didn’t take Nostradamus to predict it either. Leaving the monitoring of the netting to the Natives themselves, is like having the bank robber guard the safe and having the DNR “manage” the lake, well we have all seen how that is working out for us all. People close to the lake, have seen this happening for over a decade… and the DNR in the last year, has actually acknowledged there is something happening at Mille Lacs…. but it cannot be from the netting… it’s from cleaning up septic systems today… yesterday it was mortality, the day before that it was lack of perch, then it was zebras… it never was from netting/raping the lake during spawn, when it is closed to everyone else, but the natives (with blond hair and blue eyes)

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Why not just make Mille Lac a world class pike and smallie lake…

Red Lake boomed after the destruction of the walleyes 10 years ago when crappies were identified in record numbers.

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make it a world class musky and smallmouth lake………. where have you been for the last 20 years??? sorry to hear you missed out on all the fun. numerous state record musky have been caught and released, oh ya, to be a state record you have to keep it. oh well, numerous 50 pound class musky caught and released every season. 20 inch plus smallmouth almost daily for the people that target them. the problem is, it is a walleye lake, just like red lake, and the state has to manage it as a walleye lake. the lake can’t be managed for trophy musky, trophy smallmouth, trophy walleye, trophy crappie, and net the s#%* out of it and have it survive. until the state puts the netting debate on the table, nothing will change except the hook and line fisherman’s slot size and limit.

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I personally would like to see Mille Lacs as a world-class lake for both walleye and smallmouth – and do not believe that these 2 species have to be mutually exclusive.

Honestly, I don’t think smallmouth are high on the list of detriments for walleye on Mille Lacs. I think netting is…and have heard from DNR and guides that actually crappies eat more walleye fry than any other species.

But everyone is always looking for a scapegoat and silver bullet fix…

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In a thread where you complain about scapegoating, you single out netting as the one factor responsible for the problems on the lake?!?