…..eventually.
DNR roundtable idea, and more so for all species in general. Good to see it being talked about at a higher level than just the forums.
http://m.startribune.com/dnr-looking-at-cut-in-60-year-daily-limit-of-six-walleye/409989125/
I like the idea of protecting pan fish in some way, all game fish for that matter. I think protecting the nicer sized pannies should have been done a long time ago.
Great news to my ears. Generally the only fish I keep are ones that are wounded and most likely wouldn’t survive a release anyways. There’s always a day or two a year where I go out for food, but usually it’s just for fun. I love the idea of slot fish but it pains me when I wound a fish outside the slot and have no choice but to release.
Like the idea of a limit being more related to what one person would eat. Things have changed theres more technology and pressure. Can’t have the old days of people filling there freezer and there neighbors freezer and wondering why the fishing isn’t as good as it used to be.
Could a reduced bag lead to keeping larger walleye?
Reduced limits are fine by me. I’ll say it every time it’s brought up: a statewide inland walleye limit of 4 fish with one over 18″ would be a lot easier for everyone and solve lots of problems for the special reg lakes.
Reducing the limits for everything is long overdue. Certainly walleye, but to be honest the worst effects of the trawling out of our lakes by freezer fillers can be seen best by looking at panfish size and numbers.
To be effective, this reduction is going to have to be accompanied by rigorous enforcement of the possession limits. Otherwise the freezer fillers will do just what they do now, go out and pull out a limit every day of the week and add it to the stockpile in their freezer. The fine for possession limit violations should be 10X the fine for an on-the-lake violation. That’s what it’s going to take to get the attention of the fishmongers out there.
Grouse
I would hope they would consider the metro area and those lakes that are filled with smaller fish. Less fish being harvest would lead to just more smaller fish and not help grow anything big. There are so many lakes where pressure are low but fish size haven’t increase due to over population.
Also would love to see less pikes in the central MN area lakes… Hammer handles are crippling these lakes and lead to nothing good.
I think this is all good news and hope they add a slot for sunnies. Like only one over 10”. We need the big ones to protect the nest.
No more Buckets of panfish being toted off your favorite lake can only be a good thing.
Lowering the bag limits is maybe a good thing, but who knows for sure until they try it. Each lake is not equal though. I know that every day this summer on Mille Lacs, I managed to catch my limit of walleyes first thing every morning I ventured out.
I caught my limit and didn’t even have to go out. 
So I was at the roundtable and can confirm everything in the article. I can also say that a BIG point of topic in every discussion I participated in was technology. From sonar, to boats and wheelhouses and social media. We are efficiently ON fish 24/7/365 and they don’t get much of a break. Heck, I watched a video the other day of an underwater drone now on the market…. At any rate, the walleye bag hasn’t been changed in 60 years it might be time to take a look at it. Honestly though it probably isn’t going to make much of a difference, more of a social change than anything very few catch their limit as it is. Also, I hate seeing the bucket brigade as much as the next guy, but ask any private pond owner, panfish are tough cookie to manage, even in those few acre ponds. The bigger looming problem is a plummeting fisheries budget and how they are going to fix that. Guys drop $50k (or more) for a new boat or wheelhouse but stomp their feet at a few dollar increase in license fees….
In deer hunting let them go so they can grow and take the mature in fishing seems the opposite. letting fish grow up and taking mature fish seems to make more sense. Big gills got big they were small. As for limits no need to change possession is still whats in the freezer. Like grouse said fines should be more for possession violations. Teaching Selective harvest would do just as much. I take what I can eat and no more. A limit means nothing to me. If we could educate others on the same thing that a good day fishing doesn’t mean you need to take a limit home. Many anglers only get a few weekends to fish so if they take 6 walleyes and have a few meals till they have another chance so be it. There is no proof that the fish population in MN waters need this to be changed.
Guys drop $50k (or more) for a new boat or wheelhouse but stomp their feet at a few dollar increase in license fees….
This has come up in discussions before and I didn’t get the sense that there’s all that much resistance to raising the license fee.
Basically for the reason you mention. I mean, considering the money tied up in boat, gear, etc, the license is laughably cheap.
I wonder how many guys burn more in gas on each fishing trip, figuring both the gas to get to the lake and the boat gas, than the cost of the license?
On top of any increase, I would GLADLY pay a voluntary additional fee to fund more conservation officers. I firmly believe that game violations are out of control in this state and the only reason we don’t hear about it is the number of COs is so low that there is almost no chance of catching perps.
I recall reading an article about a cabin owner getting busted up north for being over the limit on panfish. The CO asked him if he had fish back in the cabin and the idiot admitted he had fish there as well. So it turned out this assclown was 200+ fish over the limit. I thought what are the chances that this is the first time he’s done this? The guy has probably been breaking the law for decades and to the tune of thousands of fish poached and he got caught once and only because he was an idiot and basically confessed to it.
If we had some actual enforcement in this state, I think we’d be SHOCKED at how many perps there really are out there.
Grouse
The DNR is petrified in raising fees. They always see a drop in license sales. Overall revenue is their goal. The less people that buy a license the more they are going to have to raise it. 
If we had some actual enforcement in this state, I think we’d be SHOCKED at how many perps there really are out there.
Grouse
X2 on this thought. Lots of people would have a hard time asking a stranger to share a few minnows but think nothing of taking multiple limits of fish if the bite is good…
There is no proof that the fish population in MN waters need this to be changed.
I want to fish where you fish 
Wonder how many people keep 6 fish to just say they got their limit?
Wonder what the tourism dollars would do if limit for eyes was dropped? FICA(fairness in conversation act), most ALL our major walleye destination lakes have special regs imposed already.
Done wondering for now 
Would also love to see more investment done to local metro areas lakes and not them nothern lakes. I don’t see why millions of dollars are spent at places where majority of the population is not. Anything within 30min of the metro would be nice. Love seeing them stock walleye but when it a lake 4 hrs away from here, doubt I be able to get there and utilize them resource.
Would also love to see more investment done to local metro areas lakes and not them nothern lakes. I don’t see why millions of dollars are spent at places where majority of the population is not. Anything within 30min of the metro would be nice. Love seeing them stock walleye but when it a lake 4 hrs away from here, doubt I be able to get there and utilize them resource.
There were 9,000 wheelhouses on URL last weekend. 
I look at this as why try to fix what isn’t broken? If a lake needs special reg’s go ahead and do it. (Perfectly respectable on Winni, Leech, Vermillion and Mille Lacs…). When it comes to small 400-1000 acre lakes the state regs are fine right now if the lakes are healthy. Taken on a case by case basis some adjustments can (and should…) be made though depending on fish population vs. fishing pressure.
Guys that are talking about ‘double trippin’ and ‘freezer fillers’ well that can happen with a limit of 1,3 or 5 fish so that is a CO issue not a state limit issue…RR
Would also love to see more investment done to local metro areas lakes and not them nothern lakes. I don’t see why millions of dollars are spent at places where majority of the population is not. Anything within 30min of the metro would be nice. Love seeing them stock walleye but when it a lake 4 hrs away from here, doubt I be able to get there and utilize them resource.
https://maps1.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefinder/mobile/
Your wish has been granted, and has been for many years. Look at your local lakes and you’ll see how unbelievable the amount of stocking done locally and across the state.
way too many guides
way too many guides
This is a great discussion topic for another thread. Not sure what to think, but once a guy starts crunching the numbers it can be staggering.
way too many guides
And way too many tournaments with awful mortality rates. 
In addition to lowering the limit on panfish, I’d be all for closing down the season on Sunfish and Crappies during the spawn. This is when the most damage is done and you get the “bucket fillers”. They’re an easy target on most lakes (not all of course), so the spawners get yanked out by everyone. This is especially true in the metro area where if word of a “hot bite” gets out you can bet that there will be 10-15 boats posted up on 1 spawning bed on any given day. I have also seen lakes with size restrictions on crappies in particular- “Must be 11″ or bigger to keep a fish.” From what i can see this is working well with crappies, so why not attempt it with Sunfish too…
Thanks for some factual info dtro. 
I agree 100% with everything you said. Specifically the need for a social change.
To add to it, reducing limits are subject to reduce license purchases (revenue) as well. Why travel from WI to Red Lake when you can go to Devils lake for higher limits?
I also want to note that most MN lakes are put and take (stocked) lakes with little or no spawning. There is no biological need for slots in those lakes but reduced harvest should have a positive impact.
The DNR is petrified in raising fees. They always see a drop in license sales. Overall revenue is their goal. The less people that buy a license the more they are going to have to raise it.
They are petrified because every time a increase is talked about the next thing mentioned is the waste within the department. Most of the DNR’s problems in my opinion is they are top heavy. What percentage of staff is located in the cities? They got guys crunching numbers, writing budgets,begging for money. But they don’t have enough people in the field enforcing and interacting with the public. Your roundtable is a prime example. How many thousands are spent to host this thing every year where SELECT people are invited to discuss matters behind closed doors? Same with the Mille Lac debacle, behind closed doors. It’s 2017 live web cams can broadcast these meetings if they really cared what we thought.
Back to topic. Lower the limits, raise the license fee’s, increase violations fines. But most of all DOUBLE the number of CO’s working today. I would truly love to know how many CO’s were checking Red and their 9,000 houses. How many were on Mille Lac last weekend? How many tickets were written at each?
Limit lowering is LONG overdue in the state of MN!!! Walleyes to 4, sunfish to 10, and crappies to 5.
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