Hi all. Just want to share with you guys my story from my last fishing adventure on Mille Lacs a few weeks ago. I parked my vehicle on shore because I was going to make the long walk out to my fishing spot. Well just before I parked my truck, there was a car parked in the middle of the road and I thought that was a little strange, but I drove around it and parked my vehicle off the side of the road just past the parked car. Got my gear out and started walking to the ice, and just when I got to the ice I noticed a person walking and coming towards me. He was a native and I politely said “Hi. How are you doing?” I then started a conversation with him. It went something like this:
“So. you are going to try your luck fishing huh?” (native)
“Yep. The ice is getting a little soft and so it will probably be my last day ice fishing for the year. The fish have been biting pretty good though.” (me)
“It will be a couple weeks yet before we can start netting.” (native)
“Yeah. Where do you usually net at?” (me)
“We have been netting just south of Garrison the last few years. There is a good little spot just off the point just out from the public access. There are some rocks and gravel in that area that hold huge numbers of walleye.” (native)
“I bet. (I’m an avid muskie fisherman, so I got curious..) So, you ever get muskies in your nets?” (me)
“Yeah all the time. You should have seen the size of the muskies that we have caught! The problem is that we usually don’t keep them because they go on to our total poundage. If we keep a 40 pound muskie, that’s like 20-25 walleyes worth.” (native)
“Yeah. Muskies usually are not very good to eat anyway. Walleyes are much better.” (me)
“Oh no, muskies can be very good! I usually smoke them.” (native)
“Alright well, I better get out there and start fishing. Nice talking to you. Have a good day.” (me)
“Good luck.” (native)
“Thanks.” (me)
After I started walking out to my spot a little ways, I stopped and looked back, I seen a guy stop in a car and carry a gas can over to the car parked in the middle of the road to put gas in it. He had run out of gas and that was his car parked in the middle of the road. Who would have thought?
I guess the point of sharing this story is that the natives can pretty much do whatever they want while netting. There are no restrictions on which kind of fish they can keep or what size. The only thing that matters is the total poundage of the fish (not necessarily walleyes). Another thing is that the fish that they release are probably in poor shape? Will they live even if released? I hope so.