Net Found Near Pine Island

My uncle and I were fishing out by Pine Island, and we were visited by the DNR. He asked us if we had seen a gill net in the area. He had reports that there was a gill net with a big walleye floating in it. We had not seen it. He also said that he knew for sure that it was not a tribal net. I am not entirely sure how he could tell that without even looking at it. And to be honest, I am not sure why he even made this unsolicited statement. He also said that he knew that it was not a DNR net. Again, I am not sure how he knew without looking at it.

He floated around us for a little bit, and after about 10 minutes we saw him dip a hook into the water and pull up a portion of the net. It was literally within 50 yards of us, and must have been pretty heavy. He hooked it up to a rear cleat and drug it into the landing. He was throttling pretty hard, and wasn’t making much progress. I considered heading over to the landing to see what was in it, but didn’t. Wish I would have… I did get this little pick though. Does the DNR usually comment on nets found in Mille Lacs?

-Drew

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Shhhhhhh, nets are a bad word on Mille Lacs.

DNR nets have a buoy with a big DNR sticker on it. Tribal nets have no requirement that I’m aware of. Usually a milk jug or laundry detergent bottle. Never ran across a poachers buoy????

Remember, although almost all tribal netting is done between ice out and opener, the tribes can net whenever they want. If they wanted to blow a hole in the ice in January n net, it would be perfectly legal for them to do so. Assuming the tribe was still under quota, of course.

-J.