keeping fish question

Hey,
Question for you guys; especially those with experience with the DNR. Heading to Mille Lacs over MLK wknd renting a sleeper. Over the weekend, we might try to fish some nearby lakes, and if we catch legal walleye on those lakes I’d like to keep them. The problem is, the only place to store them (that I can think of) would be at or near our sleeper house on Mille Lacs. I’m guessing if we got checked by the DNR, they would have a hard time believing us that we caught these fish on a different lake, and they would likely be under the slot of 21-23”.

Thoughts? Any way around this? In the end if it’s more of a C&R trip I guess that’s ok too.

In your case, I’d make sure to take pictures of the catch at the other lake/landing. Also, clean bag and label for legal transport, then dispose of the carcasses before heading out on Mille.

That’s a very good question that no one here can answer with confidence. Call the local CO in the Mille Lacs area to get the right answer.

No matter what, there’s no way to prove any fish in your possession is from any other lake than Mille Lacs.

*

Great Question.
Like Biggill said call the CO, and I would get his name. If he says it is OK, I would also tell him your name and when you plan on being up there just in case you bump into a different Warden when you up there.

Let us know if you find the answer.

I actually asked the DNR a similar type question a year ago as follows. Maybe this will be of some help.
Question:
MN DNR,
I have a general question regarding the Mille Lacs walleye possession restrictions as it relates to the general statewide restrictions:

Say a person targets walleyes on an arbitrary lake X and legally harvests walleyes but has not reached the general statewide daily/possession limit. They place their walleyes within a cooler in their vehicle.

If one decided to target perch on Mille Lacs later in the day on their way home are they in violation of the Mille Lacs walleye possession restrictions if they drive on the ice with their cooler? As a follow up question: would it be within the regulations if they left their vehicle and cooler of fish from the different location at the landing?

Reply:
Yes you would be in violation if you took them onto the lake. You would need to leave them at the access or off the lake somewhere then pick them up for the rest of your trip home.

Interesting post from Tegg. So maybe hiding them in a cooler in the woods would be the way to go just to avoid any potential issues

Ask the resort that you’re renting the sleeper from, if they have a freezer you can keep your fish in that you have from the other lake (make sure they are properly identified).
Anything you have on the lake (fishhouse or vehicle) must be within the slot for that lake.

I was told by a CO – If they are anywhere on a lake, they are considered to have been caught on that lake.

We fished a lake earlier in the day for panfish ( No special restrictions on this lake ) We decided to head to a different lake that has a 10 fish limit on sunfish. We keep 10 at the 1st lake knowing we could only keep 10 more at the new lake. We got checked by a CO on lake # 2. We each had our 10 fish limit at the time we were checked – He asked us if we had fished anyplace else earlier that day – We said yes. He asked us how many sunfish we keep for the other lake and where they were at. We said 10 and they are in a bucket in the truck at the landing – He said that’s good because if the truck was parked on the lake he would have needed to ticket us

This jibes with the info I got from a CO after asking if I could launch on pool 2, lock up to pool 1, catch/keep walleye, and transport them back through pool 2. He told me that no matter where they were caught, i could be cited for possession of any walleye on pool 2.

You need to keep them in truck on shore or at a resort tagged. Red lake does this with people coming back from LOW. Not as much now with being able to keep 4 fish at Red. In the past this was the way to avoid getting tagged.

I was on Mille Lacs this past weekend and the DNR paid us a nice visit while I had a slot Walleye frozen on the ice. He of course asked to measure it. I use tailors tape (cloth kind of) and had her at a solid 22.5″. He used his trough measurer and it came out to 21 1/8″…was quite nerve racking. Just throwing it out there that for anyone wanting to keep walleyes on Mille Lacs, I would bring a good quality solid measurer and measure that puppy a few times! Get group consensus too if you can.

Kelsey wrote:

I had a slot Walleye frozen on the ice.

Fish shrink when they freeze. If it comes up short, ask if you can put it in a bucket of water and thaw it out. Otherwise, just keep fish in water until you dice them up.

-J.

Kelsey wrote:

I was on Mille Lacs this past weekend and the DNR paid us a nice visit while I had a slot Walleye frozen on the ice. He of course asked to measure it. I use tailors tape (cloth kind of) and had her at a solid 22.5″. He used his trough measurer and it came out to 21 1/8″…was quite nerve racking. Just throwing it out there that for anyone wanting to keep walleyes on Mille Lacs, I would bring a good quality solid measurer and measure that puppy a few times! Get group consensus too if you can.

Just bring a bump board

The CO will use a bump board, you should be using the same method to be safe. And why risk anything close? There’s no way it’s worth it. I have a tape in my pocket for fun, but a aluminum bump in my portable to be sure, if I’m keeping slot fish.