One walleye! Again

Regulations just came out for ice fishing, same as last year, at least you can keep one!

That’s unfortunate.

I was hoping they would at least give open water anglers an equal opportunity at harvest (or at least guaranteeing no shutdown next summer). This all but guarantees no harvest next year on the open water and that a shutdown will be on the table.

Am I reading this right? March 31st?

Walleye: From Dec. 1, 2020, through Wednesday, March 31, 2021, one walleye between 21-23 inches or one fish longer than 28 inches. All other walleye must be immediately released.

buckybadger wrote:

That’s unfortunate.

I was hoping they would at least give open water anglers an equal opportunity at harvest (or at least guaranteeing no shutdown next summer). This all but guarantees no harvest next year on the open water and that a shutdown will be on the table.

Bunch of BS…favoring ice anglers yet again

gim wrote:

Bunch of BS…favoring ice anglers yet again

Is it a bunch of BS? I fish it in the winter and summer, and haven’t kept a walleye from there in coming up on a decade. Not sure if it makes a difference in people going there to fish at all at this point.

BigWerm wrote:

Is it a bunch of BS? I fish it in the winter and summer, and haven’t kept a walleye from there in coming up on a decade. Not sure if it makes a difference in people going there to fish at all at this point.

If there is going to be a mandatory month long closure in the open water season, why are they allowing ice anglers to keep fish? Doesn’t make much sense at all. It should be more fair for all anglers. That’s all I’m saying.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
Is it a bunch of BS? I fish it in the winter and summer, and haven’t kept a walleye from there in coming up on a decade. Not sure if it makes a difference in people going there to fish at all at this point.

If there is going to be a mandatory month long closure in the open water season, why are they allowing ice anglers to keep fish? Doesn’t make much sense at all. It should be more fair for all anglers. That’s all I’m saying.

Yeah, I agree they should not be closing it down. At all, ever imo. But I don’t think the 1 keeper is what is driving that, from what I understand with their Hooking Mortality calculations and management practices they estimate the winter harvest off of the numbers of people fishing and an estimated “harvest’ (including keepers and HM deaths in the same #), not the number of fish kept, so it would still close right with the same amount of winter traffic even with Catch and Release only in the winter?

You bring up good points Werm. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you on this. Allowing winter anglers to harvest fish cuts into the quota. And last year there was supposedly record fishing pressure during the winter which also resulted in a large amount of fish harvested. So after those results, they have to install a month long closure in July.

If there is the threat of a closure, no one should be allowed to cut into the harvest by keeping fish and cutting into the quota.

I expressed my displeasure on this last year and it seems likely to happen again in 2021.

ill take it as a win, hopefully they can get someone to negotiate a little better and keep it at one fish for the open water season too. however, since the MN DNR has zero education in sales and no experience, i see them loosing the negotiation for the 10th or however many years they have lost in a row.

gim wrote:

You bring up good points Werm. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you on this. Allowing winter anglers to harvest fish cuts into the quota. And last year there was supposedly record fishing pressure during the winter which also resulted in a large amount of fish harvested. So after those results, they have to install a month long closure in July.

If there is the threat of a closure, no one should be allowed to cut into the harvest by keeping fish and cutting into the quota.

I expressed my displeasure on this last year and it seems likely to happen again in 2021.

Yeah, I agree with you, and was just trying to point out that I don’t think the summer closure is impacted by the winter limit (or lack of one) due to the unique way they calculate things on that single lake. The poundage toward quota is calculated off of fishing pressure/angler hours and hooking mortality, both very questionable metrics imo.

lunker33 wrote:

ill take it as a win, hopefully they can get someone to negotiate a little better and keep it at one fish for the open water season too. however, since the MN DNR has zero education in sales and no experience, i see them loosing the negotiation for the 10th or however many years they have lost in a row.

Not sure I would take it as a win. Unless not going backwards is considered a win now. It was inevitable as the regs need to be set for winter before the poundage for the year is set. That is set sometime in Feb/March. So they are virtually setting a limit for winter ice angling before they even know what the agreed upon safe harvest will be for that year. With the lawsuit against Mille Lacs county by the Mille Lacs Band going on I would not expect next summer to be much different.
The March 31st end date is odd and I am thinking is a mistake.
I will let everyone else discuss this one and as I have been down this rabbit hole to many times now.

Who kills more, not in the abstract, reality, winter anglers or summer?

I fish the lake alot all summer and winter. I never keep one any ways. Who cares. If you are concerned about keeping fish go somewhere else. We all know the regs are dumb as hell on this lake. It’s not unfair or bs its just senseless all together.

And for the fair topic. Just like my mom taught me 30 some years ago. Life’s not fair.

It’s ALL based on hooking mortality IMO.. In the winter time, they (DNR) thinks very few fish die from being reeled up (questionable with all the deep water catches). In the summer time, they think a big percentage is killed because of the warm waters (questionable again).

BUT… in all honesty, how many Ice Fisherman have 50, 60, 80 fish days out there!? Very, Very few. If any!

I don’t have enough fingers to count all the 50+ fish days I’ve had in the boat during open water. So many more fish are caught during the open water season is why it is the way it is.

Also, The open water regs aren’t even released yet! The quota gets gone over again after the hard water season is done & that’s when they decide the open water quotas. If they would just get the quota back up in lbs to where it should be, this would all go away. (wishful thinking, I know). Just my 2 cents.

Yes, I agree with your assessment IceNEyes. Angling pressure is significantly higher in the winter because people simply spend a lot more time out there. Obviously the fishing isn’t nearly as good because fish are cold blooded and their activity level is much lower because of their slower metabolism. But, there’s the factor of using 2 lines and basically leaving them down there all the time while you watch satellite TV, play cards, drink beer, sleep, etc. I just don’t think that they should favor one crowd at the expense of another, and that’s what they are doing. If it all has to be catch and release, so be it. I’m fine with that. But don’t open the flood gates for one type and shut it down for another.

gim wrote:

But don’t open the flood gates for one type and shut it down for another.

Flood gates!? 1 fish!? C’mon now..

I do understand where you are coming from. But, if you want that 1 fish, reserve an Ice Shack out there from one of many resorts & give it a go. As far as closures, when was the last time there wasn’t some kind of closure?

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

Flood gates!? 1 fish!? C’mon now..

Floodgates was a little aggressive.

I’ve been taught we all make choices in life. Some of us choose to ice fish mille lacs and some of us choose to cry about the ice fishermen being able to keep a fish. Go keep a fish this winter.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>IceNEyes1986 wrote:</div>
Flood gates!? 1 fish!? C’mon now..

Floodgates was a little aggressive.

I was hoping to be out there in a boat on December 1st but looks like the weather is going to turn next week. too early to tell at this point.
DT

I go “ice fishing” on mille lacs when I want to get drunk and relax with my buddies in a rental shack and expend zero effort outside of throwing my trash in a bag and taking it home. When I want to catch fish I go elsewhere with my portable and catch fish.

When we go to mille lacs this year I might not even bring my vexilar, last time it was just something to stare at over morning coffee

FYI….currently without October numbers the state is 22,000 lbs short of the number this year for poundage. Let’s hope they use that in the negotiations come March. Not going to hold my breath however. The state will probably finish 20k short of the allowed lbs for the year.

Bob Ford wrote:

Am I reading this right? March 31st?

Walleye: From Dec. 1, 2020, through Wednesday, March 31, 2021, one walleye between 21-23 inches or one fish longer than 28 inches. All other <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye must be immediately released.

I see they have changed it on the website, now its thru feb 28th. So we did get an extra week anyway out of it, normally it would have closed on the 21st.

In 2019 during the month of July there was 32,000 lbs of hooking mortality. During the 2020 winter season there was close to 29,000 lbs of walleyes kept by anglers, fileted, fried up, and eaten. Subsequently, there wasn’t walleye fishing allowed for July of 2020. Do you see where I’m going with this?

The DNR is deliberately giving open water anglers the shaft just so they can meet the demands of MLFAC and the resorts. Their single biggest demand they want above all else is for allowing “take home” possession harvest during the winter season. If you look at Mille Lacs from an economic standpoint, most of the money that crosses hands is made during the winter season. It’s the resorts bread and butter.

Here’s why I have a problem with this:

The DNR is funded by licensed anglers, and that’s who they’re supposed to be managing the resource for first and foremost. It’s a public resource owned equally by all of us and that’s why no preferential treatment should be given to any one demographic amongst those purchasing a license over another. Opportunities to use the resource should be appropriated equally to all.

How can it be argued that the DNR isn’t giving preference to winter anglers when they get the opportunity to not only fish during that season uninterrupted (no closures have ever occurred during the winter season), but on top of that allow them the opportunity to harvest and keep walleyes…yet open water anglers aren’t allowed to even fish for the same species of fish for a third of the summer? July is a pretty important month since the only summer holiday takes place during it. Going fishing is an activity many families and friends enjoy when they get together over the 4th. Not being able to fish at that time isn’t some small “ask.”

On top of that what is right in terms of managing the resource from a moral and ethical standpoint?

Hooking mortality is the lowest during winter. A much higher percentage of fish released in the summer swim off only to die later than in the winter months. Is it respectful to the resource to be killing fish that would otherwise be alive and swimming in the lake if released like the DNR is choosing to do in the winter season, and then not allow any fish to be kept when we know the highest amount of them are going to swim off, die, and go to waste? Allowing fish to be kept in the summer months so anglers could utilize them when the highest percentage would otherwise go to waste seems more respectful to the resource itself IMO. Allowing winter anglers to keep fish seems as if the DNR is deliberately trying to rack up pounds against the quota at a time when there would otherwise be almost none.

It’s more respectful to harvest fish when hooking mortality is the highest if you’re going to allow guys to keep fish, but that’s a very big “if.”

Because the biggest priority first and foremost is to have the lake open to fishing throughout the entirety of the year. Minus the statewide closure on walleyes from the middle of February to the May fishing opener, Mille Lacs should never be closed. That should be the goal first and foremost. When penciling in how the state’s share of the quota gets used before anything else is discussed, they need to allocate using the pounds in a manner to meet the goal of there not being a closure. Do that first and foremost every time. Period. That’s how you do it if you’re trying to allocate opportunities fairly. A guy who purchases a license who wants to fish the lake in January shouldn’t be allowed to fish the lake that entire month while keeping a walleye every day when the guy looking to use his license in July is told he can’t even fish for them.

What the DNR is doing is complete and utter bullshjt. This is them shamefully pandering to a room full of two to three dozen area small business owners and screwing over their constituents (license holders) who they are obligated to serve and treat fairly, without preference or bias. The last time I checked MLFAC doesn’t fund the DNR, and they aren’t entitled to being given an extra amount of a public resource for business purposes while the people who do actually fund the DNR and are supposed to be getting an equal share of the resource take it in the shorts.

This is a blatant violation of the public trust doctrine and we should be looking to raise money in order to hire an attorney and sue the DNR. They’re not legally allowed to do this. How is this fair? How is this in the public (license holders) best interest?

Seriously, we need to sue the DNR if we want them to stop giving open water anglers the shaft.

Well for once, you and I agree on something Joneser. The preference towards ice anlgers is clearly not based on science, its based on business/economics.