Why no chatter on the one fish slot on ML

I thought this might be a hot topic or have we beat this to death?

Buzz wrote:

I thought this might be a hot topic or have we beat this to death?

AIS is childs play compared to the fiasco on Mille Lacs.

the only fishermen who haven’t given up on Mille Lacs are the Musky and Smallie guys … and they don’t care about possessing more than one (trophy) fish

At what point? All it does is boil blood. Everyone has the fix and cause…
It is the same thing every year.

there’s only one fix, but NoOne has the political fortitude to accomplish it

sounds like an easy year to tie the limit up under the water/ice …. sometimes a guy just has to say…. wtf ??? Outlaw a leech but not a gillnet….

When are they going to announce what the dock slot is going to be???

This lake just has a constant shroud of contraversey and political bs hovering over it. I do feel sorry for the resort owners that have a massive investment in the lake, not just financial.
As far as I’m concerned though I’m done with Mille Lacs. I have no desire to ever fish it again. The constant debates, rule changes etc… have just become noise to me. I understand my thinking might be narrow but I know I’m not alone.

I have a place near the lake, so I am invested. I didn’t buy the place to take limits out of the lake every weekend… I still frequent the resorts on the Eastside (probably more now) than I used to. As long as the DNR is not willing to talk about the real issues, for fear of losing their jobs (sounds a55 backwards to me) I am not going to waste anymore time or energy or re$ources of mine… I am guessing the low amount of allotment for the tribe again this year, should keep the Pig Wisconsin bands away again. I hope anyways…. Meanwhile, I will fish the opener (better odds of limiting out for me) and go on a few launch trips this summer, to help keep them afloat and weather the lakes condition another year. It’s all I really can do at this point, just tired of complaining to deaf ears.

big_g wrote:

Meanwhile, I will fish the opener (better odds of limiting out for me)

wellll, when the limit is “one”

I intend to post but it won’t be a short post and between family and work my “fun” time on the computer has been very limited… I didn’t think my already low opinion of how well this lake has been managed could drop any lower; however, the current state of affairs has lowered the bar yet again.

Never underestimate the magnitude with which a bureaucracy can screw something up and still claim partial success.

I have no problem with a one fish slot or it being entirely catch and release. From reading the blue ribbon panels report, if people want to help the lakes walleye recover the best thing they can do would be fishing to catch and keep as many small pike as they can and leave the walleye alone entirely. I don’t know that I will take advice on this score. The walleye population in any given lake isn’t my highest priority.

With the bass catch and release season I may very well not hit Mille Lacs at midnight for eye’s on the Opener from shore or wading, which has been my tradition since 2003 when I moved north. I don’t know if they are even going to allow night fishing on Opener this year anyway, so that might be an easy decision.

Dave,
The Blue Ribbon Panel never set foot in Minnesota much less actually came to Mille Lacs. They made their recommendations based solely off the data provided them by the DNR. BTW, thats the same DNR that hired them & paid them.

So you see the DNR still has no idea (that they will publicly admit)what to do with Mille Lacs. The latest idea of spearing the trophy Pike out of the lake will be a success, however I think we all know they weren’t a problem to begin with.

Buzz, tell your buddies down at the DNR that coming clean on what happens on Mille Lacs will be good for their sole. Just tell the Minnesota tax payers that they have no more to do with the management of Mille Lacs then our kids do. Admit GLIFWC (Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission) is pulling the strings.Tell them to grow a pair and man up.

So what did the blue ribbon panel get wrong? How is the data they got from the DNR wrong or not reliable?

Other then the lake is at historical lows for Walleye you mean?

Not a thing, the DNR is doing a bang up job on Mille Lacs. I don’t know that things could be better.

If it is a serious question please take a little time and research some of the threads on the internet, lots of good info there. If you are one of the DNR bobo’s get with them and dream up your next crisis for Mille Lacs.

I’ll apologize now for my attitude, Mille Lacs is a sore subject for me and anything I have posted isn’t meant at you personally.

So basically I take it you blame the Indians netting for ruining the lake. I guess for those that hold the view, what is to keep me or any other fair minded person from concluding it isn’t just the Indians and the DNR covering for them that ruined the fishery. What about all the people including me who have kept every walleye they could legally keep. Not to mention the many people that keep fish illegally. Saying that the DNR is to blame for setting overly overly liberal harvest quota’s is a cop out. It is us who caught and kept the most walleye, not the DNR and not the Indians. Then to go and say the quota’s allowed now are too low and the slots BS, is BS to me. The solution of doing away with the slots and quota’s and allowing people to keep even more fish seems to me to be an insane idea. Is the way to deal with a declining population to remove even more fish? Really? Come on, man!

Dave, why was Mille Lacs limit changed to 4 fish… ? Why slots ?

people been keeping walleyes to eat out of ML for years and the lake continued to kick out the walleyes. The lake walleye population did not crash until the netting was allowed to occur. Draw your own conclusions

Bass Pundit wrote:

So basically I take it you blame the Indians netting for ruining the lake. I guess for those that hold the view, what is to keep me or any other fair minded person from concluding it isn’t just the Indians and the DNR covering for them that ruined the fishery. What about all the people including me who have kept every walleye they could legally keep. Not to mention the many people that keep fish illegally. Saying that the DNR is to blame for setting overly overly liberal harvest quota’s is a cop out. It is us who caught and kept the most walleye, not the DNR and not the Indians. Then to go and say the quota’s allowed now are too low and the slots BS, is BS to me. The solution of doing away with the slots and quota’s and allowing people to keep even more fish seems to me to be an insane idea. Is the way to deal with a declining population to remove even more fish? Really? Come on, man!

Good job, you are sucking me right in to this.

I’m not blaming the DNR for everything. Quite the contrary they haven’t messed everything up. But here is what they have messed up in my opinion.

1) Slots. That has been a mess from day 1.
2) Netted fish never spawn. Line hooked fish that are eaten never spawn. But…heres the difference. Netted fish NEVER spawn. There is no chance of being released either because of size or limit numbers. Once netted it’s dead, period.
3) The absolute refusal of the DNR to acknowledge that netting affects everything that happens on that lake.

For historical reference go back to prior to the nets. Compare fishing hours to poundage estimates by the DNR. If that doesn’t work for you go back 2 years. Due to weather conditions there was limited netting for 2 years. This year GLIFWC is keeping the Fond-O-Lac band home, thus cutting the netting drastically. Now find the currant DNR projections that the YOY Walleyes are coming back and they expect a strong year class from the past couple of years. Add in the lack of nets this spring coupled with a almost non-existent hook & line limit and you will have……………wait for it…………wait some more……….a 2016 DNR report stating the Walleye population is on the rebound!!

Dave everybody knows the bands aren’t completely responsible. However the people who fish Mille Lacs are sick and tired of the DNR backing down from GLIFWC every chance they get. If they truly believe the crap they are trying to sell then shame on them. Common sense says there is a elephant in the room and ignoring that elephant will get somebody fired.

Enough from me. If you needs stats shoot Steve Fellegy a PM he can provide enough DNR stats proving what we are saying to make your eyes bleed. Also I’m sure Wil and Bobber will catch up to this thread and add more.

Again there is nothing personal here on my part. I’m glad it’s being discussed.

Netting isn’t the cause of the problem … Netting is the result of the problem

tomr wrote:

people been keeping walleyes to eat out of ML for years and the lake continued to kick out the walleyes. The lake walleye population did not crash until the netting was allowed to occur. Draw your own conclusions

The lake didn’t crash until GPS technology was wide spread and accurate maps of the lake were available as well. Not to mention the information revolution on how to be a successful angler and the increase in affluence and fishing tackle technology both ice and open water. The netting isn’t the only significant change. I didn’t start fishing the lake until the 2000’s either. Those factors weren’t given much credence in the blue ribbon panels report. Maybe they are totally all wrong about our (our as in our and the Indians) harvest not being a factor. If so we, have no one to blame but ourselves. Blaming others when we are quite possibly equally or even more responsible for the state the lake than the Indians may make some of you feel better, but it doesn’t fix the lake.

As for the Indians not netting, the past couple of years and boom there is a rebound. As Dutchboy mentioned fishing by non Indians for walleye has been down drastically the last couple of years as well, so to me the expected rebound doesn’t prove to me that it’s all about the nets. I would prefer the lake not be netted as well, what sport fisherman wouldn’t. But I’m not gonna cry or get steaming mad about it either. Like I said the walleye population in any given lake isn’t my highest priority, I fish for bass 90% of the time.

As for the question why the 4 fish limit? Why the slots? That isn’t all about the nets either IMO. Maybe these regulations came in when the treaty harvest was started; But there seems to be pretty unanimous agreement among fisheries scientists that such measures work to help keep fisheries sustainable if they are believed to be in jeopardy of over fishing. All lakes in MN at this point are in danger of being over fished these days, netted or not. Imagine where the lake would be without reduced limit and slots. If you believe all would be hunky dory you are out of your mind IMO.

Nets schmets!

What drives me out of my mind is that I was born in MN to parents that were born in MN. I am as native to this country as any living person. But I am of Finnish heritage, resulting in a pale complexion, so I am bound by the laws of the state. If I was born in MN and my parents were also, but I was a reddish-brown color, I would not have to follow the laws. It seems very very odd to me that as a white guy, I have a black president that denounces racism, but a red man next to me can gillnet fish because of his color.

SOMETHING SEEMS AWRY.

If you go back and look at past years you will see that fisherman have taken in multiple years the same tonnage or have exceeded the tonnage of fish taken out of ML that the courts have allowed to be harvested under the tribal agreement. Some years up some down but lake was always consistent producer. Now look at what happened after netting, the lake cannot maintain the population. What happened to Red Lake? Also if you were to study the DNR creel results in ML you would be surprised how ineffective the average angler is even with all the modern electronics filling their limit.

Please list all the lakes in the lower 48 states where gill netting is allowed during the spawn.

I’ll wait for the answer.

Reduced limit and slots are ALL about the netting. They both came into play when the nets did… a big fat coincidence ? The funny thing is, the slot has slid from 13-20″ for as long as I can remember…. the exact size the native nets target. Guess what size walleye are missing from the lake….? Guess what size walleye most predators take ? Blue ribbon my a55

tomr wrote:

If you go back and look at past years you will see that fisherman have taken in multiple years the same tonnage or have exceeded the tonnage of fish taken out of ML that the courts have allowed to be harvested under the tribal agreement. Some years up some down but lake was always consistent producer. Now look at what happened after netting, the lake cannot maintain the population. What happened to Red Lake? Also if you were to study the DNR creel results in ML you would be surprised how ineffective the average angler is even with all the modern electronics filling their limit.

Red Lake and Mille Lacs are two totally different scenarios IMO. When was Red Lake not netted? I read netting started on Red Lake commercially in 1918 and prior to the crash regulations hadn’t changed in 55 years. Red Lake is something like 75% Indian only water. Clearly the Indians were mostly responsible for that fiasco, which seems to no longer be a fiasco.

As far as the DNR’s creel survey data. I wonder how accurate the info given to them actually is. Fishermen lie especially the more successful they are or if they are poaching fish. It is my understanding they rarely if ever talk to the launches on the lake.

But then again if your creel survey guys show up at a access on Mile Lacs in the winter what do they report?

Who’s they? I don’t understand your question.

Did you get your answers from Steve? If you really want to know about Mille Lacs he is your go to guy & I’m sure he would be willing to discuss it. However if you just want to dance we can do that also.