Mille lacs slot will remain the same.

Article in todays Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/767/2881987.html

In my opinion….I like it.

Whats your opinion?

Well, my opinion is the lake can handle a larger amount of harvest overall. I’m not talking double, but a larger amount of total weight.

My biggest concern for the lake is forage, right now anyway. I don’t see how we can keep targeting the same fish every year, and not run out sometime soon. Especially if the forage base is down and the young of the year are replacing that forage base for all these large fish in the system. Hopefully everything I’ve heard/read about the forage base is untrue and I don’t have anything to worry about.

I would like to hear what you guys that live up there or fish the lake a lot have to say about this though.

Well, I’d be going to the big pond just as much – either way. I haven’t been up there since before Memorial Day weekend but I’ll be on Mille Lacs again this Saturday. So far, my slot rate has been 6%. 6% of my Mille Lacs walleyes have been in the slot (8 of 130). I’m guessing this rate will continue and on most days, I’ll have zero to two slots to bring back to the dock (to be carefully re-measured by the DNR).

We had a lot of fish between 16-17″ in the boat so I’m guessing the slot expansion would have made a few more meals for me this summer.

So, in the end I guess I am a little disappointed but I’ll be there either way. Mille Lacs is just too much fun.

Its OK by me. I dont think the DNR has accurate data on how many fish are in the lake, or how many we can safely harvest, but they are trying to do whats good for the fishery. Time will tell. I was up last Saturday and caught 18 walleyes, 7 under and 11 over the slot. I love a meal of fresh fish, but if you are a meat hunter, this is not the place to fish. If you love to catch fish, you cant beat it right now

Waterfowler- I too have the same concerns as you about the forage and class of fish being targeted.

I would have liked to have seen a more open slot. I think today’s anglers are more conscious of what is damaging to a great fishery like Mille Lacs and would be keeping fish that are hooked deep or stressed to a point where it would be wise to count it towards a limit rather than toss it back to see it floating 10 minutes later. But I have to say that this lake has been producing some great fishing the past few years and the slots in place seem to be working so far. I see no evidence to support that the regulations are hurting a certain class of fish and have a blast catching and releasing today and hope its the same tomorrow.

In a nut shell, I have no reason to doubt the dept of natural resources. They say 14-16, I say.. take my picture quick so I can release and get me another one of those hawgs.

I’ve lived in MN for just over two years now and I’ve only fished Mille Lacs a few times compared to you guys so my historical knowledge is zero. I fell in love with the lake the first time I ice fished it though. All I truely care about, I want to be able to continue to fish the lake for many more years. So I hope the DNR is doing their best job to manage the lake for long term productivity.

I’ve been up a couple times this year but a good friend of mine now has a cabin up there and has been out a bunch, and it seems like we are catching more slot fish and smaller fish as it’s getting warmer. Over memorial day weekend he had no problem catching his four fish in the slot bobber fishing the rocks. We came home w/ two fish, but I did release a couple just over 14″ becase they just seemed too small to take home.

I have concerns about the forage base, but I think there are way more fish and forage in that lake than anyone really knows. Let’s hope anyway. It’s possible that last year’s perch hatch was bad and that’s why we’re seeing such great fishing. When the cycle comes around and there’s a great forage hatch, we’ll all be complaining of the tough bite. For now I guess if I want to catch a ton of big fish, I go to Mille Lacs. If I want to take home a meal of nice fish to eat, I go to Pepin and bring home some keeper sized saugers. Bret

Personally I have absolutely NO faith in the good intentions of the masses when it comes to self-controlled game harvest practices. Pull the regs. off Mille Lacs and the “non-native” game hogs would have that gem of a lake strip mined inside of a few years and we’d be back to the days of the Dead Sea or as I used to hear it referred to… “the home of the 1/4 Lb’er.”

I seem to be having too much luck on the lake and I am concerned about the restrictive slot having a negative effect on the forage and health of the fishery. No one really knows how many fish are in the lake but the lake has realy changed over the last few years.

When the slot was 16 to 20 inches it seemed perfect. You could keep some medium sized fish but had to return the bigger spawners. The regulations have become more restrictive and the ecosystem is messed up. Few perch, few tullibies mean a diet of bugs and very small walleyes.

Yes I am having fun on the lake right now and yes the fish seem to be biting everything we put in front of them but what about the long term effects. I have been checked by the DNR 1 time in the last 4 years (25 or so trips) so I know their data is not accurate.

I hope the management of the late is done with long term thinking for what is best for the natural resourses, not any group of people.

I read in the Star Tribue that the DNR had figured 9,000 lbs of hooked mortality is this really possibly? That sure would seem like a lot of fish with the cold water and all. On the trips we have made so far this year out of about 110 fish the have been 2 that have been under the slot. This really makes a guy think that we are taking the same fish year in and year out. Good luck and take a kid fishing.

I guess I was kind of surprised to hear that many fish had been harvested so far this year, after hearing most people say the eaters were few and far between.
I don’t think it will change peoples minds about fishing the lake this year though. I don’t think most people come up to the lake planning on taking a bunch of fish home anyway. I think most people including myself, just enjoy being there and eating a few fish while they’re visiting.
Myself, I’d rather there be a one fish daily limit. Keep it 14″-18″, which is perfect for a one person meal, but I’m sure there’s probably a reason why that wouldn’t work either.
I guess if the people who fish the lake every day seem to think its a good idea, chances are it probably is.