Snow and frigid temperatures are combining to make more of southern Minnesota’s shallow lakes susceptible to winterkill conditions, prompting the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to open them to liberalized fishing.
Winterkill conditions are created when sunlight is unable to penetrate the ice and oxygen levels in the water drop. Fish are often unable to survive in these low oxygen conditions.
“Rather than just let those fish go to waste, so to speak, we try to give anglers an opportunity to instead harvest as many of them as they want,” explained Jack Lauer, acting fisheries manager for the DNR Southern Region at New Ulm.
There are currently 15 lakes open to liberalized fishing with more expected to fall into that category soon, Lauer said. Lakes now open are:
Dora and Pepin in Le Sueur County;
Union in Rice County;
First and Second Fulda in Murray County;
Fremont in Sherburne County;
Graham in Grant County;
Arville, Hoff, Maple, Sellards, Spencer, Towers, and Turtle in Meeker County;
Clear in McLeod County.
Under liberalized fishing regulations, a resident angling license is required and you cannot take fish through the use of seines, hoop nets, fyke nets or explosives. However, fish can be taken in any amount by spear, gillnet or angling. It is legal to sell any rough fish taken