Good article from the Mille Lacs Messenger today. 
p.s. Cool map of the lake in the link here to the messenger.
The Mille Lacs Lake of 50 years ago was quite different in many ways than the Mille Lacs Lake of today. Probably the biggest difference is the number of resorts that were on the lake at that time and the other subsequent businesses that fed off the tourism that the lake and all the resorts brought in.
Other than its size, the big lake really wasn’t much different from any of the other popular lakes in the state at the time that had lots of “Ma and Pa” resorts and bed and breakfasts on them. These properties usually encompassed a fair amount of lakeshore that through the years began to out value the business and were eventually sold off, bulldozed and subdivided into residential lots or turned into private retreats.
This was a very common occurrence for decades throughout Minnesota – and still is today, but to a lesser degree. Mainly because there are not that many left.
At one point, according to a map that was dated 1967, there were approximately 90 resorts and lodging establishments on the shores of Mille Lacs Lake. To put this in perspective, there were seven in Wigwam Bay alone – now there is one. There were 15 more packed in from St. Albans Bay to Garrison, as well as a number of bait shops, cafes and even a drive-in theater. Now there are just three that are still open.
There were seven in Isle Bay and up until a few years ago there were still five – now there are two. Another popular bay was Wahkon with 10 – now there is just one. You get the picture.
Back then, Mille Lacs Lake was primarily known as a fishing lake – the walleye capital of the world, by many and an extremely popular angling destination. But it was also known as a blue collar lake, mainly because of its fishing popularity and because a lot of the places on the lake were simply smaller cabins, trailers and fish houses (used as a cabin in the summer).
Due to its sheer size at 132,000 acres, it’s the second largest inland lake in the state behind Upper and Lower Red Lake. It can also be a very intimidating lake – storms can blow up quickly and create dangerous conditions on the water and therefore has never really been known as a recreational lake – like a lot of its popular counterparts.
But it also has the beauty, majestic rocks, fairly clear water and the endless views that are reminiscent second only to Lake Superior, but actually has usable lakeshore for boating activity, unlike a lot of the elevated shoreline cliff properties of Superior.
Again to put things in perspective, according to the U of M Sea Grant, there are 14,380 lakes in Minnesota that are 10 acres or larger. All together they cover 4,600 square miles of the state and average just over 202 acres each. That means you could fit over 650 “average” size lakes in Mille Lacs alone. Think about that for a minute.
Real estate
One by one as the resorts were sold and subdivided or taken over privately, came the bigger lake homes in their place, as well as many of the “cabins” on the lake that were either substantially added on to, or a “tear down” and demolished completely for a bigger lake home.
For years the Mille Lacs real estate market stayed flat while other areas of the state flourished. There was a nice peak in 2006/07. But then came the crash of 2008. More than a decade would pass before the area finally joined the ranks of other popular parts of the state that had already recovered – years earlier. And by the spring of 2021 (still amidst the Covid virus), Mille Lacs real estate was on fire with many properties doubling in value from just a few years prior.
The short term rental market has also taken Mille Lacs by storm in recent years – much to the chagrin of the neighboring property owners. This has driven new regulations regarding these properties and the ensuing problems they have created with the number of people coming to each rental on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.
Currently, when a lake property comes on the market, it’s a toss up whether it will be owner occupied, a second home or another short term rental. That’s how popular these rentals have become. And this is not just on the lake itself, properties even near the lake are capitalizing as well on this fairly new lodging opportunity.
How the lake itself has changed
Probably one of the biggest changes, is that unfortunately back then there were a lot of failing septic systems – as the rules and regulations/compliance were a lot looser than they are today. With that, a lot of sewage ended up in the lake and the water quality suffered because of it. But then came the Clean Water Act in the 1970s that helped to clean that up.
Decades would go by before the acronym AIS would become very popular – aquatic invasive species. These are brought in with the ballast water to the Great Lakes from ships that come from all over the world. They then hitch a ride on sport fishers boats to any other body of water that person travels to. Thus the new rule to “Clean, Drain and Dry” your boat before transporting it in hopes of getting rid of these aquatic hitchhikers.
Mille Lacs, like many other Minnesota lakes, has been plagued by them now for a couple decades or so. The most popular one – the zebra mussel – a native of Eastern Europe and Western Russia, came to the big lake around 2005, 16 years after initially being found in the Duluth/Superior harbor in 1989.
Zebra mussels are filter feeders and live on suspended particles, they adhere themselves to anything they can. There is usually a noticeable uptick in water clarity once they establish themselves in a system. They can currently be found on any hard substrate in the big lake.
Along with zebra mussels, Eurasian milfoil is another invasive species that has planted itself to the bottom of the big lake. Northern milfoil itself is common to many Minnesota lakes and is also known as coontail weed. Eurasian milfoil is coontail on steroids.
It can grow as deep as 20 feet in some areas of the lake and then lay on the surface for another 10 feet by late summer. It is thick and nearly impenetrable with a fishing lure and can make a mess of an outboard or trolling motor propeller in a matter of seconds. It actually thrives on being cut up by propellers (pruned), which then enhances the growing process.
Along with spiny water fleas, there is also curly-leaf pondweed and a host of lesser known invasive species. There are also many minnow species that have been incidentally introduced into the lake by anglers as well.
Fishing regulations
There has been a whirlwind of fishing regulations on the big lake since the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold the Band’s fishing rights of the 1837 treaty and put in place a co-management system on March 24, 1999, which is still in place today.
Prior to the 1999 ruling, the walleye regulation on Mille Lacs was a six fish limit with one fish over 20 inches. This is ironically the same limit that is used statewide to this day. Back then, nobody thought of that regulation as a “slot limit” but in reality, the protected slot was any fish over 20 inches.
In 2000 came the “actual” introduction of the slot limit. The limit was still six fish but they had to be between 14-18 inches long, with one fish allowed over 28 inches. By 2002, the limit was reduced for the first time in history on Mille Lacs to four fish, all had to be under 20 inches except one over 28 inches was allowed.
It wasn’t until 2013 that the more stringent regulations became the norm. That year the limit was slashed to two fish, the slot was 18-20 inches with one fish over 28 inches and was the last time the total “safe-harvest” allocation would be anywhere near 250,000 pounds for the year.
By 2015, the total allocation bottomed out and was reduced to 40,000 pounds (the lowest in co-management history) and the lake was shut down in August to walleye fishing for the first time in history due to anglers exceeding the state’s share. DNR officials said the restrictions were necessary to help the lake’s walleye population recover from 40-year lows.
Since the initial shutdown there have been a myriad of regulations and shutdowns – some planned, some not – but it’s been mainly catch and release with an occasional small harvest window.
The 2023 open water season was finally a breakthrough, there was a harvest of one fish 21-23 inches for the entire season, with no shutdowns. There was also an expansion of the slot to 20-23 inches after Sept. 1, due to state anglers being so far behind the 100,300 pound share of the 175,000 pound total allowable safe harvest. But anglers still struggled and managed just 60,310 pounds of the allocation – due to the tight regulations.
The regulations for the 2024 open water season have yet to be announced as of this writing. So if you’re coming to fish this summer, be sure you check the regulations as Mille Lacs has many special regulations that are not part of the statewide regulations.
Some things change, some stay the same
A lot has changed above and below the water line on the big lake over the decades, but the one thing that has remained a constant on the big lake is the fishing has always been great for one species or another at any time.
There have been years when the walleye fishing has ebbed and flowed – that is why the lake was nicknamed “The dead sea” back in the ‘80s, when the fishing was very slow for a few years. But as of lately, the fishing has been very good, especially for walleyes and smallmouth bass.
People actually come from all over the country just for the bass fishing alone, thanks to the BassMaster Elite events held on Mille Lacs in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017. Subsequently, Mille Lacs was named the number one bass fishery in the country by Bassmaster Magazine.
So whether you’re new to the area, or you’re a lifer, Mille Lacs will always be a magical place of mystery and beauty. People have come for the fishing, they’ve come for the relaxation and recreation, but also to witness the power of the big lake.
And in some cases, the visitors never left and ended up becoming part of this community.
