Mille lacs Slot Change- Effective July 9th

Just released from the DNR.

Mille lacs walleye slot limit will change to 14-16 inches at 12 midnight on Monday July 9th. Bag limit of 4 and one fish over 28 inches per person will remain the same.

Wow.That’ll cut down on taking fish home! Time to hunt piggies ……..

Thanks Derek,

I will now prepare myself for extensive long winded rants about the following topics….

MN DNR are all idiots

Tribal quotas are ruining the fishery

They don’t want us to eat any fish

All the resorts are going to go under

There are going to be dead fish everywhere

And so on, and so on, and so on.

I say save your breath, buy some leeches and crawlers, continue to catch walleyes, let a few more go, and for Chrissakes enjoy your time on the water.

Amen Dan!

Any idea on how long that will stay in effect?

100% Agree with Dan.

Best thing that could happen !!! If you want to eat walleye buy it at the supermarket. My only thoughts is that will any of the resorts or local busines’s feel the affects?

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MN DNR are all idiots
Tribal quotas are ruining the fishery
They don’t want us to eat any fish
All the resorts are going to go under
There are going to be dead fish everywhere

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I agree with what he said

Who cares if you bring home a fish. If the only reason you fish is for food, your not doing it right

From the DNR web site.

Slot change

Judging by the hot bite earlier this year and last fall I’m in no position to question the DNR’s managment of the lake! I’m almost exclusively catch and release anyways so this is fine by me. I’m sure others will be disappointed but it will be worth it in the long run. My two cents.

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My only thoughts is that will any of the resorts or local busines’s feel the affects?

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Doubtful, I don’t know anyone that would cancel a trip, or make less visits than planned, for a reason such as a slot change. If the bite continues to be as strong as it is now, or even half as good, all the public accesses will be loaded with trucks and trailers, the flats will look like a parking lot, and the resort owners will continue to count the money.

If $3.15 gas can’t slow us down, nothing will!!!!

I agree with Dan. This will just help KEEP the people who just go out for limit after limit, off the lake. This lake is as good as it is, because of C & R and close management.

big g

With such a great bite as of late, I guess it’s a good thing for the fishery if they limit the slot. My question is, how is this going to effect upcoming tourneys on the pond?

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Time to hunt piggies ……..

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Does anyone know what the DNR figures the mortality rate is for CPR? I’m just wondering how many fish I’m going to unintentionaly kill. Keep on killing thoes piggies.

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With such a great bite as of late, I guess it’s a good thing for the fishery if they limit the slot. My question is, how is this going to effect upcoming tourneys on the pond?

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Smaller weights and possibly fewer contestants…

As I’m in the minority here, I am changing our families and 3 others families plans. I’m not there to take limit after limit off the lake as one of the previous posted replys stated. I am there for an enjoyable time, and the one thing which makes a “fishing trip” more enjoyable is to enjoy a meal or two of fish, especiallly the ones the kids catch, they sure enjoy the meal just that much more. So I’ll take my dollars somewhere else. As far as tourism as a whole being effected, time will tell, but refference the year when the small slot size went in effect, all the resorts were complaining. I have no gripes with the DNR, they do run the resouce well, they do what they need to do and I’ll do what I need to do.

Chomps,
I am sorry to hear you changed your plans. I think however you are a meat hunter. If you were not a meat hunter you would not have changed your plans. I am not sure where you are going to go and have a experience like Mille Lacs offers right now. You are talking about kids too. I know my daughter would have issues with fishing anywhere besides Mille Lacs right now. How many lakes can you take a kid to and catch loads of walleyes and maybe a lifetime best. My choice would be stay at Mille Lacs and take the kids out for world class fishing, then head over to the supermarket and buy some fish and fry it up and enjoy it as you are reminiscing about the awesome fishing that day.
Just my opinion.

I understand your point Chomps, and I’m sure you will not be alone in changing your plans. I think it somehow feels enlightening to a lot of Mille Lacs regulars to call everyone meat hogs. The fact is, the resort industry caters to a clientele demographic much more similar to you, than it does regulars who happen to often already have places to stay, eat, etc.

I personally fished Mille Lacs straight through 2002 where keepers were hard to find due to a similar keeper slot, and I’m sure I will be back over and over after the current slot changes. But for someone making the lake a vacation destination, I’m sure this is not good news.

In fishing, if someone keeps more fish than you, they are automatically a “meat hog” or “meat hunter”, if they keep less, they are either PETA or snobbish.

Mille Lacs is my favorite fishery. I love the average size and the numbers you can usually pull out of the lake. I agree it should be managed closely for the future. But, I haven’t evolved so far away from fishing’s original intention to not enjoy the occasional shore lunch fish fry either.

I release most (90%) of my fish I catch, even slot fish. I absolutely love the look on some peoples faces when you drop slot fish after slot fish back into the water and swim away as you are them. Especially at night corking when everyone is in tight qaurters.

I don’t think I have ever looked at anyone else’s face when I have released a fish.

I enjoy eating them now and again but that is secondary. The most important thing to me is that the lake continues to produce the size and numbers that it has been. This is a special, special, lake! There are just not many places you can go and consistently catch 24-27 inch fish every weekend. I am glad they changed it and I hope it has the desired results that they are looking for.
A fish fry is great but a burger and a beer will do for me – as long as I can continue to catch big fish! Just my 2 cents –

My only comment is this. It’s very important for everyone to remember that these regulations are being put in place for POLITICAL reasons, not for any kind of DNR fish management reasons and not for what is considered “GOOD” for the lake. In other words, reducing the slot to 14-16 is probably not going to be beneficial to the overall lake health. All it does is keep the non-Indian harvest quota under the court mandated harvest poundage. Nothing more.

-J.

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My only comment is this. It’s very important for everyone to remember that these regulations are being put in place for POLITICAL reasons, not for any kind of DNR fish management reasons and not for what is considered “GOOD” for the lake. In other words, reducing the slot to 14-16 is probably not going to be beneficial to the overall lake health. All it does is keep the non-Indian harvest quota under the court mandated harvest poundage. Nothing more.

-J.

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You know, someone who calls me out as a meat hunter probably should have their shorts re-adjusted. I also release about 90% of the fish I catch, and no, I’ve never cared what another boat thinks of that, I will however be a bit kinder on the kids when they ask if they can put a perfect 19″ slot into the livewell, especially if they have managed to get the hook out all by themselves. My job is to keep the kids happy, not be an accused “meat hunter” just to place food on the table. I could just as well fish the lake and take the chance of multple fish trips per day, times three boats, all catching 3-4 fish per person times 5 days. Now figure the mortality in that, and not even 5% of the catch fitting into the slot. Im still paying property taxes, but I’m choosing to take my vacation dollar somewhere else. I’ll be up in the fall several times, so then I’ll go meat hunting for some perch.

Time for Lake Michigan. Will be on the pond in the fall.

The next phase in this Milac’s Trilogy will be anglers required to purchase a “Walleye Stamp” for Milac’s Lake. You know it’s down the road – something off the wall by the “Politicans” that govern the DNR – you watch, it will happen.

My two cents in this is the winter months. We have already seen the big summer weekends on the pond…sure there are still the busy saturdays, but nothing like may/june. I am curious to see the effects on the people out on the lake this winter with a 14-16″ slot. Isn’t the main reason they sized the limit down is to do the very thing Chomp’s and many others are doing (changing fishing plans on the lake?) My understanding is not so much the actual slot fish being taken right now, but the water temp being so high it’s hitting the higher hooking mortality rate kill. Didn’t they say in their studies that in over 70 degree water there is an almost 20% hooking mortality? I don’t know all the exact #’s, maybe someone can chime in…but I would guess they would like nothing better than to see less fisherman out on the lake this summer….am I off on this?

Jon J. your absolutely correct. it’s funny how so many people give the DNR so much credit for the management of the lake when there hands are so tied up in the political game of harvest quotas, release mortality, formula’s for this that and the other. I can remember back in 1992 when the walleyes were on total suicide and the numbers for that year were, correct me if I’m wrong, somewhere over 750,000, quite possibly closer to 1,000,000. There was not a 2″ harvest slot in anybodys vocabulary then and probably would not be now had we not…..probably better stop right there. I do fear the buisnesses will see the biggest impact.

The 14-16 inch slot is in effect till 11-30-07 per the MN DNR statement. On Dec. 1st it will possibly change back?

What does everyone think about putting a minimum slot on the fish next year? Something like 16″ – 20″ you can keep, then (if the quota allows) open it up to 22″ or even keep the slot @ 20″ the entire year? Maybe even having a tighter slot for tournaments?

Just tossing out ideas!