Mille Lacs Input Group Meeting

Last night Adam and I attended the Input Group meeting on Mille Lacs. The meeting was held in Onamia with about 40 members present. There were several discussions about the lake and possible slot options for the 2004 season.

The DNR opened the meeting by passing out 3 options for slots, narrowed down from the 6 they offered last week and they were

20-28 PS one over 28-All season

20-28 PS one over 28, Changing to 22-28 PS July 15 and changing back to 17-28 PS Dec. 1st

20-28 PS with a June 14th change to 22-28 PS and a Dec. 1 change to 17-28 PS

I voted for option two and urged the DNR to remove the Dec. 1st provision from this. The vote was ballot type so we do not know how the results came out but as soon as I know I will post it here.

There was much discussion about other options, the condition of the lake and increasing the limit back to 6. The majority of us were not if favor of increasing the limit and hopefully that is a non issue now.

I want to give the DNR some credit, as they are in a tough situation and are trying to work within guidelines that are very limited. They did a great job of listening to everyone and were VERY interested in the feedback I brought to the meeting from this web site. In the end I believe your opinions mattered and the end result will reflect that. Thank to eveyone for you contribution

Is the third option written right Scott?
It’s the same before and after June 14th?

I like that second option as well. Did they mention their reasoning for the Dec 1st provision of dropping it back down to 17-28? I’m assuming to keep from *potentially* going over the allowable harvest rate?

Hooks, I think I got it changed now, thanks. It was our hope that the July 15 and Dec 1st dates would not be in stone. If the bite was bad they would open it up July 15th, and it the harvest got to high, they would limit it back down Dec 1st. if need be. That was the original intention but I am going to clarify with the Central Fisheries office today after 2 PM.

I like option 2 also, so you can bet that won’t fly! It seems from history what makes sense never happens, but everyone of us has an opinion.
Do you pick up on my skepticism with this? LOL

Is the Glass half full, or half empty?

Hooks, I personally talked to Ron Payer and Jack Wingate before the meeting. They are taking what this group input very serious. So, the only thing that can screw things up is how the group voted. That I don’t know yet.

Well, Like i’ve commented before. I’ve lived through all the changes, good or bad and will continue to fish this body of water for the rest of my days.
It’s hard for the weekend warriors and the once a year fisherman that have to keep up on the continuous slot changes. The rest of us just adjust.

The 20″ rule and early night ban worked for most of the 80s + 90s I don’t see why it won’t work going forward again. We had a pretty balanced fishery then.

Thanks for representing all of us at the meeting Scott, hopefully your input will prevail for this year.
Hoping for good things to come this summer!

Yea I told dem to open her up all da way ya know and they showed me da exit.

Dem fellas didn’t like dat one.

Well it sounds like either way it will be a interesting Wacker thats for sure.

Ditto Thanks for representing the fisherpeople that fish the lake.for business or for tournaments or just for a meal now and then.The 2nd or 3rd slot sounds like it would satisfy alot of us people.

Is it me or is the DNR opening there ears to what we have to say now.Maybe I was just not as involved But thanks to this website I found alot of things i didnt know about before.

Yes…….maybe the MN DNR is starting to open up and listen to our concerns.

hey guy’s, thanks for doing your part at the meeting

I talked with a few fisherman this past Saturday at the Hunters perch event about the new slot. I think everyone is anxious to hear this week the new slot limit for Mille Lacs Lake. Many I spoke to liked the idea of a 20-28 protected slot. I think that this will be well received by all this week……

The star and tribe reported today that the majority voted the 20-28 slot and it should be announced next week.

I was on the water all weekend with limited reception on my cell phone but I got 3 calls from the DNR. They were trying to tell me the results of the vote. I couldn’t really hear anything they were saying other than 70 some percent voted for the 20-28 PS. They said they would fax me the results on Friday but they could hear me telling them my fax number. I am sure the offices are closed today so as soon as I get the final numbers I will put them up here.

Summary of February 11, 2004 ballot vote by Mille Lacs Fishery Input Group

Regulation Type Input Group Gallery Combined
Protected slot (i.e. 20-28”; 77% 47% 62%
includes 17-28 and 20-26”)

Harvest slot(i.e. 17-21”; 23% 53% 38%
includes 15-20 and 17-22”)

Bag Limit – 4 23% 28% 27%
Bag Limit – 6 36% 18% 25%
No change specified 41% 54% 48%

What does this all mean? 77% of the input group is in favor of the 20-28 protected slot with a July 15 date to open the slot and a December 1st date look at it again.

What happens now? The DNR fisheries office will make a recommendation to the commisioner for approval. It appears that meeting will happen tonight and I will get you the results as soon as I hear.

What do I think will happen? I think we will see an opening day protected slot of 20-28 and on July 15th we will see the protected slot opened to 22-28 then on December 1st the slot will go back to 20-28 inches. These are just my predictions, but as I said earlier, I have a feeling this is how it will shake out.

I know I can live with that, how about the rest of you? If the slot is as I predicted, are you ok with that for the year?

What would be the bag limit??? (in your opinion)

The bag limit will be 4, that is one of the few things I can say with some degree of confidence.

This sounds good to me . I like to keep a few fish and release the big girls. And if I do happen to land a monster (28+) I like the option of keeping it or dumping it back in. I just hope this is the best thing for the lake.?

I just talked to Ron Payer at the central office and they will issue a press release on the new Mille Lacs slot within the next day or two.

Sounds reasonable. I would like to see a 2 fish limit, but I know from data bag limit won’t effect overall harvest much. Still, it gives me a degree of comfort in case the bite goes wild (unlikely with current lake dynamics). Thanks for all your hard work on this issue Scott. All of us that love the lake pay close attention to this issue and your participation make me feel like I have a small voice in the process.

I agree with you Scott, that option should make most everyone involved a little happier. Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed.