Mille Lacs Reg Update 2024 – Sort of

Agree.

I was out on the pond the last three weekends. Crazy how quiet it was out there. The south end for sure had some crowds at times but I was fishing the Northwest side and every time I was out I saw 4-5 other groups max from where I could see. These fish were very unpressured for the majority of the winter. Contrary to the report of underfed/skinny fish you can see from the pictures it is quite the opposite actually. Every fish I caught was very well-fed. I caught less perch than typical for me this year but there usually isn’t lots of small perch on the mud anyways. The lack of pressure this season definitely did not hurt the fishery.

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_2523.jpg
   

2. 

   IMG_2538.jpg
   

Zero reports of skinny undersized fish.
The DNR is saying the population dipped by 10 percent. What they don’t say in the article but say at the meetings is the metrics they use have a 10-30 percent variance in error.

So basically they are feeding everyone BS to lower a number that has NOT been hit in 4 years.

This co management is clearly not working. No new news there.

Got it, Thanks for the clarification. Got a chance to read through the info a little more. Wondering what is in it for them to do a full shutdown Instead of catch and release?

Aboxy17 wrote:

Wondering what is in it for them to do a full shutdown Instead of catch and release?

Unexpected shutdowns are the worst. They’ve had to do it before and the overwhelming response was that a planned shutdown that is announced ahead of time is way better. Basically, people want to know its coming months in advance so they can plan for it.

Generally, they do a shutdown in the first half of July when water temps are the warmest. The reason is to reduce mortality (which is a whole different topic itself). During a shutdown you cannot specifically target walleye and live bait is banned. In other words, even if its catch and release, its contributing to the quota because of hooking mortality. The thought behind closing it in July is that it will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality.

I don’t personally think there will be a planned closure when they release the new regs in March, but I could see them not allowing any harvest of fish based on their recent communication of the subject. You can also expect another season-long night ban.

“We’re going to pump the brakes a little bit this year so we don’t have to take more drastic action later on,” said Brian Nerbonne, DNR regional fisheries manager.

Not to conflate subjects, but this reminded me of “2 weeks to flatten the curve”. About the same junk science behind both.

It is nice to see Target Walleye and the Lindner’s not holding back.

Joe Jarl wrote:

Not to conflate subjects, but this reminded me of “2 weeks to flatten the curve”. About the same junk science behind both.

Amen!

Joe Jarl wrote:

It is nice to see Target Walleye and the Lindner’s not holding back.

x1000!!!! Anyone heard from MN Fish…..

gim wrote:

During a shutdown you cannot specifically target walleye and live bait is banned. In other words, even if its catch and release, THEY MAKE UP NUMBERS BY SAYING IT IS contributing to the quota because of hooking mortality. The thought behind closing it in July is that it will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, WHICH AGAIN IS MADE UP NUMBERS BASED ON THE SAME BAD SCIENCE AS BAROTRAUMA.

Fixed it for you in bold and capital letters Gim!

Lol I knew you’d chime in on this.

gim wrote:

Lol I knew you’d chime in on this.

Haha well of course, I’ve read the studies and talked to the DNR’s own scientists, who agreed with the flaws in the hooking mortality studies. They are basically the same issues (hoop nets, lack of a baseline etc.) as the barotrauma ones that Wiebe pointed out. Only difference is Hooking Mortality is only used as a management tool on one lake, Mille Lacs. For good reason, because it is junk science, but junk science is a convenient tool to have when you (the DNR) solely do the tribes bidding on Mille Lacs.

x1000!!!! Anyone heard from MN Fish…..

They are officially off my Christmas card list.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

They are officially off my Christmas card list.

Haha and I’d put previous Christmas card(s) next to your Championship Parade chair!

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I’ve read the studies and talked to the DNR’s own scientists, who agreed with the flaws in the hooking mortality studies. They are basically the same issues (hoop nets, lack of a baseline etc.) as the barotrauma ones that Wiebe pointed out. Only difference is Hooking Mortality is only used as a management tool on one lake, Mille Lacs. For good reason, because it is junk science, but junk science is a convenient tool to have when you (the DNR) solely do the tribes bidding on Mille Lacs.

Could you post the links to those studies so we can read them?

Thanks.

Buffalo Fishhead

The DNR said twice as many fish were harvested this winter vs last.

You can’t even make this stuff up anymore.
This co-management is such a joke.

If twice as many fish were harvested with half the fishing pressure it can only be one of two things.
One, fishermen got way better at catching fish or two there isn’t enough baitfish in the lake to feed the fish.

I really doubt we got that much better at catching fish, especially considering that from the trips I made it seemed to be a complete night bite.
If the lake is short on baitfish a better solution might be to remove some of these eating monsters, before they deplete the baitfish population to the point of cannibalism.

Tom schmitt wrote:

If the lake is short on baitfish a better solution might be to remove some of these eating monsters, before they deplete the baitfish population to the point of cannibalism.

That concept does make sense, but the double edged sword with that is the bigger ones are the females responsible for recruitment in the lake. Removing mature females would inhibit natural reproduction (even though the tribe does it, I know).

Sorry I missed the study request until now @BuffaloFishhead. You may need to reach out to the authors/DNR directly for the whole study, but the summaries are available online. It’s also important to note these studies all utilized the same hoop nets as used in the barotrauma study.

Rainy Lake: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02755947.2011.623759

ML: http://www.afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02755947.2011.557944

P4: http://www.afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02755947.2011.571490

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tom schmitt wrote:</div>
If the lake is short on baitfish a better solution might be to remove some of these eating monsters, before they deplete the baitfish population to the point of cannibalism.

That concept does make sense, but the double edged sword with that is the bigger ones are the females responsible for recruitment in the lake. Removing mature females would inhibit natural reproduction (even though the tribe does it, I know).

There is no double edge sword. There are plenty of of fish in the lake probably close to be maxed out and plenty females to reproduce. You don’t have one of the largest spawns on record and then worry about if there are enough fish.

There was a fraction of the people that ice fished the lake this year compared to last.

Tom schmitt wrote:

If twice as many fish were harvested with half the fishing pressure it can only be one of two things.
One, fishermen got way better at catching fish or two there isn’t enough baitfish in the lake to feed the fish.

I really doubt we got that much better at catching fish, especially considering that from the trips I made it seemed to be a complete night bite.
If the lake is short on baitfish a better solution might be to remove some of these eating monsters, before they deplete the baitfish population to the point of cannibalism.

Yes we are headed in that direction again.

Can someone please find the Tribal hook and line regulations on the Political Pond for me? I have looked and can not find them.

In 1990 the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the tribes and enforced the 1837 treaty. This gives exclusive hunting and fishing rights to the tribes. They allow us a portion of the harvest. But they are not required to.

It puts the DNR in an awful position as they really don’t have any authority. The only thing the DNR can do is try to keep our catch within what the tribes have allowed.

We certainly don’t like it. But there isn’t much we can do about it.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/526/172/#top

Kris Berg wrote:

Can someone please find the Tribal hook and line regulations on the Political Pond for me? I have looked and can not find them.

https://data.glifwc.org/regulations/inland.fish.php

Looks like catch and release till August.

https://m.startribune.com/lake-mille-lacs-walleye-fishing-regulations-dnr-minnesota/600350910/#

Kris Berg wrote:

Can someone please find the Tribal hook and line regulations on the Political Pond for me? I have looked and can not find them.

Pike, walleye, smallmouth 10 a day any size.

Musky 2 a day 40in min.

ptc – In 1990 the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the tribes and enforced the 1837 treaty. This gives exclusive hunting and fishing rights to the tribes. They allow us a portion of the harvest. But they are not required to.

I do not see that these rights are exclusive to the tribes. Can you point out where you are getting this interpretation?