Now that DNR has screwed up walleyes and big notherns, smallies are next.

john23 wrote:

There’s an awful lot of energy put into the anti-netting effort. Maybe some effort should also be put into educating ML anglers so they’ll behave more responsibly? There aren’t a lot of muskie fishermen that keep muskies on ML because of the effort that community put into encouraging responsible harvest that preserves the resource (in the case of muskies “reasponsiblee harvest” is often zero harvest). Of course, if everyone insists of killing as many walleys as they can on ML anglers and netters will have to put up with bad harvest years and good harvest years going forward.

Good point John, however it’s the DNR that set those limits and slot sizes so it’s there you need to turn to get them changed. I do agree there is over harvest by some hook and line guys. They are commonly known as poachers. I’m all for stepped up enforcement if the Walleyes come back to a fish-able population.

Did the DNR screw it up, of did WE ALL screw it up? Did anybody ever really think catch and release from 30′ is a good idea?? Does anybody not put out a line until fish are on the sonar with the latest GPS to get us to the exact spot??

We are all responsible for the decline. The biggest travesty in my opinion is all the worry about the resort owners, and not so much about the lake itself. Owning a resort on a lake does not give you a guarantee to be successful, its an opportunity like any other business.

No…Pretty much just the DNR screwed it up…RR

john23 wrote:

Maybe some effort should also be put into educating ML anglers so they’ll behave more responsibly?

Isn’t that what the DNR is suppose to do? BTW, not a good idea in my book to go around “educating” people who have no interest in what you have to say. Especially once you are up north and out of the 494 loop.

I think the average angler did exactly what they thought the DNR wanted. Thin out the bass population.

-J.

Dutchboy wrote:

So following the fry will satisfy you but the simple fact that late ice out the past 2 years and now having a strong class of Walleyes in the lake says nothing to you about nets?

I guess we have nothing further to talk about.

Here’s the thing with the strong class. I assume you are referring to the 2012 or 2013 class which by all accounts is showing great promise in surveys,etc. The problem has NOT been successful spawning. PERIOD. The fish have spawned exceptionally well, but they just do not reach maturity. In previous years the YOY just didn’t survive. Did the nets get them? RIGHT!
It was predation, or lack of viable food for them.
It was not a fact that reproduction was poor in earlier years, it was just a matter that those that hatched didn’t survive for long. It says this in every single publication I have read on the topic.

Can we keep this a bass discussion? There are plenty of other threads related to the mess up with walleyes.

Right on Jon. I do not fault those for keeping smallies per the rules, even the person who caught the +20 and kept as the rules allow him to do so. He was out with probably what was his 12-13 year old daughter and having a lot of fun. Smiles all around when the +20 made it to the net. Same in my boat when my sister in law caught her first +20.

My sister in law couldn’t wait for the email and picture from me so she could show her friends and co-workers. The guy and his daughter also are probably singing the virtues of smallie fishing on ML. Good publicity for ML.

But I truly do believe that a reduced limit and promoting catch and release will help keep the smallie population strong until the walleye population rebounds.

How many of these from Hunter’s bass tourney last summer do you suppose made it?

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brad-o wrote:

buy this I mean buzz words ( change the culture, best management practices, etc.).

You left out the greatest buzzword of all…FOR THE CHILDREN!.

Dutchboy wrote:

Really Chuck? Did you just move here from from Florida? If the DNR isn’t the problem who is?

Chuck, have you thanked him for the compliment yet?

The funny thing about keeping bass just to make room for walleye is you are probably just making room for for the rest of the bass.

Sure, Jon, it’s probably better to regulate people rather than educate them — especially people up north who won’t listen to guys who live in the city like you and me.

Does anyone really believe that the DNR/fishing regulations are the only way to manage angler behavior on Mille Lacs? If a significant percentage of anglers keep everything they can on Mille Lacs the lake will have population swings for eternity. No amount regulation can prevent that on a lake that receives intelligent pressure like Mille Lacs does.

The DNR doesn’t do much to manage bass angler behavior on most lakes. Why do most bass anglers relase such a high percentage of their catch? Why can’t that happen on Mille Lacs? And why not with other fish species (besides muskies, which are the obvious success story)?

The bass regulation is six total per day with one over 18″. Does that regulation tell me I should keep six smallies every day? Does it tell me I should keep one over 18″ every day and five others? What is a guy who cares about the fishery to do?

It seems to me that harvest regulations can’t be written with only the health of the fishery in mind — that’s just not possible due to the politics and practical realities involved. And even if the harvest regulations were somehow written perfectly there could be changing circumstances that, compared to estimated harvest rates, improve catch rates dramatically and cause overharvest simple because some people have the desire to fill their freezers and/or feed everyone they know.

Without over thinking the question, I’d say its because a Mille Lacs walleye is a darn tasty fish!

One other thing that has kinda got lost in all the commotion is the Perch. Just thinking out loud here. That population of harvestable fish is basically depleted. What if Mille Lacs was only managed for Perch? And I mean nice sized perch with liberal limits. The resort launces would be happy, the meat hogs would be happy, the ice business would explode like Red did when it was a crappie lake. And to top it off, I doubt there would be a lot of tribal netting for them either! HA!!!

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Without over thinking the question, I’d say its because a Mille Lacs walleye is a darn tasty fish!

One other thing that has kinda got lost in all the commotion is the Perch. Just thinking out loud here. That population of harvestable fish is basically depleted. What if Mille Lacs was only managed for Perch? And I mean nice sized perch with liberal limits. The resort launces would be happy, the meat hogs would be happy, the ice business would explode like Red did when it was a crappie lake. And to top it off, I doubt there would be a lot of tribal netting for them either! HA!!!

-J.

Love it! Cleaning Perch would be way too much work for them!

I think the perch question is a great one. To me the question becomes, is there any fish that can keep up with the harvest demand?

…and the consumption demand for all those pesky musky too!

-J.

I was just talking a buddy over the weekend and I brought up the perch thing. People spend a bundle every winter heading to Devils Lake. It’s marketing…ask someone where to hammer jumbo perch thru the ice an the answer is….

A few interesting things happened at Dons house. He just had a new neighbor move in next door recently. Nice guy, outdoorsman and all. He’s got a big old Ice Castle parked out front, plugged in with a fridge full of beer. Well he invited us for a cold one and we started talking about M.L. he started in on the crappy limits & slots blah blah blah. He then opens a cabinet and shows us his vacuum sealer. He says pretty much every eye he catches up there gets fileted and packaged immediately and loaded into a secret compartment. All this with his young kids along “learning”. Do you think he’s the only one that does this? Doubt it.

This is not meant to be a smart A$$ statement but does anyone think that narrow slots and one & two fish limits cause folks with already shaky morals feel justified in doing this?
This guy’s reasoning was he’s got thousands invested and by God he’s gonna eat Walleyes.

One just needs to look at the DNR’s sound management and “safe harvest levels” for the past 18 or so years… then go back and read the articles and posts (even here on IDO for the past 15 or so years) and on the PERM site, what was currently and what would happen to Mille Lacs in 15 or so years (today) and this should not be a surprise to anyone. FWIW, I rarely caught small mouth bass 20 years ago…. now you can’t keep them off the line…

Jon Jordan wrote:

Without over thinking the question, I’d say its because a Mille Lacs walleye is a darn tasty fish!

One other thing that has kinda got lost in all the commotion is the Perch. Just thinking out loud here. That population of harvestable fish is basically depleted. What if Mille Lacs was only managed for Perch? And I mean nice sized perch with liberal limits. The resort launces would be happy, the meat hogs would be happy, the ice business would explode like Red did when it was a crappie lake. And to top it off, I doubt there would be a lot of tribal netting for them either! HA!!!

-J.

I’d be fine with that. They are ton’s of great walleye lake in Minnesota but very few Great Perch lakes. I’d be all for a world class perch fishery. As far as your Tasty walleye’s go. I’ve fried up Walleye and smaller bass ( Taken in the earlier early or late season or out of deeper water ) the people I served them to almost always chose the Bass as being better. These were most people who don’t fish so they had no idea of what piece was what. People need to get over the thought that bass don’t taste good. Taking a few of the smaller 12-14″ fish out of some of the lakes would do the fishery some good as well

big_g wrote:

One just needs to look at the DNR’s sound management and “safe harvest levels” for the past 18 or so years… then go back and read the articles and posts (even here on IDO for the past 15 or so years) and on the PERM site, what was currently and what would happen to Mille Lacs in 15 or so years (today) and this should not be a surprise to anyone. FWIW, I rarely caught small mouth bass 20 years ago…. now you can’t keep them off the line…

Its possible the Smallmouth bass have done a better job of adapting to the changing conditions of the lake. Or it could be that Bass fisherman do a much better job of practicing catch and release. Or the factor that Bass fishermen tend to use artificial lures which leads to less deep hooked fish thus less of a hooking mortality rate. Not sure why there are so many bass now. But there is no info. to conclude that they are the cause of the decline of the walleye’s. What ever the reason for the bass, the area better find a way to utilize them to their advantage or there is going to be a lot of business’s out of business before they can figure out the whole walleye mess up there.

of course, it would go to logic, if one species of 2, that use the same resources is depleted, the other will thrive. CPR’d Bass today will definitely strengthen them even more… that is why they are encouraging a liberal limit. For years you heard “bass don’t taste good” credit the BASS Foundation for getting their agenda out there…. meanwhile people go on eating carp and sheepshead, because nobody told them they were not good to eat…. now people are “acquiring” a taste for a bass dipped in batter and into the oil and discovering, they are quite tasty… and the Bass world is beside itself…. I think it has little to do with hooking and plastics and more to do with not passing the tartar and salt…

And what “same resources” would that be, the same rocky structure? How does a CPR’d bass strengthen over the years and relate to a liberal limit? So what is wrong with promoting catch and release to keep a fishery strong? If more walleye fisherman did this, there might be more walleyes. I do not tell friends/family/etc.. that small mouth are very good as I do not want them to start keeping them for dinner.

But then again I guess I am part of the BASS Foundation in trying to protect what happens to be my favorite species to fish. Go figure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started this thread as I truly believe that the promotion of small mouth as the savior for the region until walleye recover will lead to destruction of the small mouth fishery.

I just wish that along with the promotion, the regs were changed to better protect the fishery.

gonefishin wrote:

But then again I guess I am part of the BASS Foundation in trying to protect what happens to be my favorite species to fish. Go figure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started this thread as I truly believe that the promotion of small mouth as the savior for the region until walleye recover will lead to destruction of the small mouth fishery.

But how can I blame the Indians if the smallmouth population takes a nosedive?

because they helped with the decline of the walleyes… duh !!! (try to keep up)