The following is information from another fishing website
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This morning, I spoke to Tom Jones – the Large Lake Specialist for Mille Lacs lake. In our conversation, I asked Mr. Jones to clear up some of the rumors that are flying around regarding the current and future walleye slot limits on Mille Lacs. I’ll recall for you the key components of our conversation. We started with the dates and maximum weights as they are laid out in this year’s agreement: 1. By June 30th, the harvest may not exceed 365,000 pounds. 2. By August 15, the harvest may not exceed 449,000 pounds. 3. By November 30th, the harvest may not exceed 547,000 pounds. This final number reflects the 122% “overage buffer” allowed by the court. The official weight for June 15th (the most current “official” data) is 292,000. Mr. Jones has taken some intermediate survey weights since the 15th and they indicate that if all things remain the same until June 30th, we will be VERY close to the 365,000 pound “circuit breaker”. As some of you have surely seen, the bite has slowed somewhat since last Saturday, which may add a slight bit of “breathing room” to this threshold. If the total poundage remains under 365,000 pounds on June 30th, the next “date of interest” becomes July 15th – the date that the release slot is currently scheduled to change to “…must immediately release all walleye 22-28 inches”. This would still be on the table, but would be under tight scrutiny prior to July 15th. The next weight threshold becomes 449,000 pounds by or before August 15th – if the total poundage does not exceed 449,000 pounds by then, anglers will likely finish out the open water season with the existing regulation that is in force at that time. Should anglers reach/exceed the maximum allowable poundage on either June 30th or August 15th, a change to the current slot size would be likely. At no time during our conversation did Mr. Jones commit to a 2-inch slot (which seems to be all the chatter on the internet), rather he suggested waiting until the data was in to see if any change at all would be necessary. There are a lot of scenarios being thrown around and even some premature cancellations starting to roll in – next week will show us a new page, let’s wait until then before we start selling boats and lake homes.
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