If you trust people to self report accurately and honestly, and then trust GLIFWC to tally those #’s and report them to the DNR honestly and accurately without any supervision or auditing, then yes it’s correct. Personally I don’t have that much faith in individuals (of any race) nor govt bureaucracy (of any govt) to do so.
Agree.
-J.
…the same could be said for taxes, our President, corrupt politicians from all sides, political correctness, etc. but we rehash those debates and arguments daily
The distinct difference with all those things is we can do something about it by voting them out. We have NO chance of stopping tribal netting. Only the President has the power to do that and there is no chance a President will do that.
While I do agree that there should be more transparency in the process, interfering with it while it occurs can and will get into some deep sh**. If that’s a risk you’re willing to take, so be it. I’m not.
I go watch netting at the public accesses every year. Have been doing it for over 20 years. Last weekend included. I see exactly what BigWerm describes every time.
Have never personally seen the MN DNR at any netting site. Ever.
Fish are netted, brought to shore, loaded into trucks and they leave. Over and over and over…..
FWIW, watching is not interfering. Period. They use public access I also have a right to use. Never had an issue watching from a respectable distance. Close enough to watch, far enough to not hear what they are taking about kinda distance. Tip – show up with a boat. “Just here making sure the motor runs – just took it out of storage.” Stand around looking like you are checking the boat, trailer, motor ect. Back the boat in, start the motor. Hang around for 1/2 hour or so. Watch!
Here is what chaps may a$$. I have tons of video showing exactly what is going on. I have contacted all of the local TV stations. 4,5,9 and 11 – None will touch the story. Make you feel like a racist for just bringing up the topic. It’s pure BS.
-J.
Jon do you ever visit with them or just observe from a distance? Id be curious how friendly they are.
I have never tried to strike up a conversation. I have had a Tribal officer walk over and kindly asked me to leave once. And I left.
-J.
I have never tried to strike up a conversation. I have had a Tribal officer walk over and kindly asked me to leave once. And I left.
-J.
From a public landing?
What a joke.
I have never tried to strike up a conversation. I have had a Tribal officer walk over and kindly asked me to leave once. And I left.
Just curious Jon did he give you a reason to leave and would it not have been your right to stay if you wanted to. I understand that may have had some reaction, however I would think you could have said I’m good I just want to watch.
FWIW, watching is not interfering
I agree. None of what you did in that post would I consider to be interfering.
Just curious Jon did he give you a reason to leave and would it not have been your right to stay if you wanted to. I understand that may have had some reaction, however I would think you could have said I’m good I just want to watch.
I had already seen enough that day. (This was probably 5-6 years ago.) Didn’t want to make a stink with anyone. Cop or otherwise.
I had a feeling I was not the first to be asked to leave that day.
-J.
Gotcha, again just curious. 
I have done what Jon has done many times. Have seen it first hand many times. His description is 100 percent accurate. The messenger column is not. I have tried to strike up a conversation. Friendly how’s it going? Getting any big ones? More of a curious fisherman conversation. Let’s just say they would turn to look at me and ignore. Have been asked to leave multiple times as well. Not that interested in pushing the issue solo when they have dozens. I just keep in strolling down the lot whistling looking at the lake with the dog.
i went to the 3 birches landing on Winnie years ago. as i pulled up a couple natives came strolling in with there boat.
i asked how fishing was and all they did was grumble!! i thought it was funny. they didnt have any fish. it thundered and lightninged the nite before, 
needless to say we didnt catch any fish either!!!!! 
I was waiting for JJ to post. He has shared pictures in the past. The pictures are disgusting. If fisherman treated a resource like the NA do we would be in jail. Many walleyes are just wasted.
Supposedly the netting/spearing is for sustenance. 
Apparently the Casinos aren’t doing well enough for them to buy food.
On another site here in WI if you post anything about spearing it is deleted ASAP!!
There is NO accountability or transparency in anything the NA do. I don’t believe any of the numbers that GLIFWC declares as fact.
When the NA CO catch a violator there is never any fines or consequences reported. It gets swept under the rug.
The NA get millions and millions of TAXPAYER $$$$
And they want more and more and more! There is no end in site.
The lake has over 80 miles of shoreline and most of it has spawning habitat. How many miles of nets do the natives have? I am not a fan of netting or spearing but Mille lacs is a walleye factory and I don’t think the nets have much of an effect, if any, on the long term walleye population. The forage seems to be the bigger factor at play. I am sure that isn’t a popular opinion on here so go ahead and toss eggs.
I get far more bothered when they net and spear small lakes in MN and WI. Those lakes are very vulnerable due to size and spawning capabilities and the effects can be seen in just one year of them hitting a lake. Some of them spear Muskie and big pike just to put it on social media because they know it will pizz people off.
I have even seen them electroshock a shallow lake killing everything in their path from big fish down to small fish and forage. That is the definition raping the resource. The local CO said he couldn’t do a thing.
I am not a fan of netting or spearing but Mille lacs is a walleye factory and I don’t think the nets have much of an effect, if any, on the long term walleye population.
That may be true. We don’t know. But we do know it has an effect on the way our fishing regs are set. If netting doesn’t “have much of an effect”, then Mille Lacs open water limits should mirror the state wide limits.
-J.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FinnyDinDin wrote:</div>
I am not a fan of netting or spearing but Mille lacs is a <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye factory and I don’t think the nets have much of an effect, if any, on the long term walleye population.That may be true. We don’t know. But we do know it has an effect on the way our fishing regs are set. If netting doesn’t “have much of an effect”, then Mille Lacs open water limits should mirror the state wide limits.
-J.
I agree.
When the fish were starving it should have been obvious things were out of whack. Top heavy fisheries are a problem.
To answer the question, yes they have been netting pretty much non-stop since the ice went out. I have driven by their preferred access on the east side at least 8 times in the last week and every time 20-30 vehicles there. It makes me very angry.
So serious question. So when these fish are netted/speared could they collect eggs and milt from them? Or could they not cause they are already dead? If they could wouldn’t it be a wise decision to put a system in place to strip the females and raise them in a hatchery? Hatcheries have way better success rates than nature. That way the dead fish could actually replace themselves 10 fold back into mille lacs.
^Great question.
I’m no biologist but if the fish are “alive” at all in these nets, you’d think this is an opportunity that’d be worth exploring.
Then again, it’d likely take true cooperation and logical reasoning between the Bands and the MNDNR, or that GLIFWC group. From what I’ve gathered, their so called “cooperation” is the Bands telling every other group how it’s going to be and everyone else being a neutered cause.
So serious question. So when these fish are netted/speared could they collect eggs and milt from them? Or could they not cause they are already dead? If they could wouldn’t it be a wise decision to put a system in place to strip the females and raise them in a hatchery? Hatcheries have way better success rates than nature. That way the dead fish could actually replace themselves 10 fold back into mille lacs.
That would seem to make a lot of sense, especially since the Tribe is so (supposedly) concerned with sustainable harvest and protecting mother earth and Ooga (walleye). I’ve asked this of the DNR, and their response was that would be up to the tribe as we do not interfere with nor influence their tribal harvest. And I asked GLIFWC, which got no reply.
That may be true. We don’t know. But we do know it has an effect on the way our fishing regs are set. If netting doesn’t “have much of an effect”, then Mille Lacs open water limits should mirror the state wide limits.
-J.
Bingo…we have a winner
These photos along with a video of them hauling in these fish were posted on Facebook last week.
I also found the job posting if anybody wanted to go and get a first hand look when they come off of the water.
C7516BF4-12B9-4A57-9F9B-16EC67FF0D04.jpeg
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Oh the classic eye ball hold.
Oh the classic eye ball hold.
Lol I noticed that too. Those fish are not nearly as happy as the woman holding them!
GLIFWC runs Mille Lacs. There is no use in complaining about or to the Minnesota DNR about rules and regulations. The MN-DNR has their marching orders and aren’t about to concern themselves with what tax-payers or license buyers think.
To think that Mn-Fish would get involved is the #1 funniest thing i’ve read on this site in years.
Lol I noticed that too. Those fish are not nearly as happy as the woman holding them!
She looks hungry. Probably hasn’t eaten in 15 min
These photos along with a video of them hauling in these fish were posted on Facebook last week.
what facebook page? I want to check out the video
Was at Malmo Landing last weekend no DNR on site. Scene from the landing: Walleye being removed from nets, loaded into plastic totes, totes loaded in the truck and off they went. Must be very responsible parties involved with trusting he/she to accurately report back the harvest. *Which I am sure they do* haha
Some of this is down right despicable. Holding fish by the eyeballs and placing potentially trophy caliber pike in a plastic tote is just shows everyone how much they don’t care about the resource.
Clearly some of what I posted in this thread earlier has already been proven inaccurate. My apologies.
Well at least we have hope in late ice outs.
The less time they have to net the better off the lake will be.
Al Linder kind of confirmed my theory on the affects of netting on angling edge this week.
He stated that perch and shiners spawn right after walleye.
When the tribes net late, how many big spawning perch and shiners are caught in nets meant for walleye?
In my opinion the tribes aren’t really as concerned about substance fishing or preserving their costums as they are about netting because they can and it pisses us off.
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