Now I know where you’ve been hiding Castaway 
I would be a little amazed if we had more than a 14 – 16 inch slot with one over 28. limit of 4. Once we get past June and they figure out we havent kept many fish we may see this open up.
Of course I will be there…where else can I irritate my neighbors and be welcomed back. See you in the spring.
foneman 
Well that was a confusing read! Here I thought Mille Lacs stood for “my lake” as in my lake not his! Just kidding, I love the lake and love the fishery it provides. Fishing is still very good and the crowds are down…hard to beat that! Bring on the rain….please.
foneman 
Definately low! I got to jump in the harbor last weekend to push my boat off the muck! Muck to your knees is not a very pleasurable experience…yuck! Boat is now on the trailer. Come on rain!
foneman
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This is not the first time the slot has been 14-16″, so I don’t think this was any sort of “test”.
I really dont think this slot change has much to do with the landings not being full. At the time the slot was changed, mother nature did her part and slowed things up a bit. The die hards are catching fish but many are not. As we know, it is a bit tougher out there right now than it was in June.
I am up there most every weekend and could really care less about the slot. I enjoy the lake, the people and a few cold ones. Oh and I also enjoy fishing whether I am catching anything or not.
foneman
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IMHO – If the Native Americans had their way with Mille Lacs, our fishing limit would be similar to Upper Red Lake (URL). All walleyes from 17” – 26” must be immediately released. Possessions limit 2 with only one over 26”. The GREAT THING about Mille Lacs, Native American does not own ¾ of the lake (only a rough guess).
If we put a hold on new Public Launches, there goes our PUBLIC LAND. The 14” – 16” slot limit set by the DNR has major impacts to local businesses and surrounding Resort Owners. IMHO – This was a test to see if the public would tolerate the 14” – 16” limit. Most Resort Owners would rather sell their business to the Native Americans if they were given “GREAT Offers”.
Even us cities folks seen it C’mon, on “PRIOR LAKE” area. Our local golf course, used to be “LONE PINE” sold to “MYSTIC LAKE CASINO”. I use to play that course at least 7 times per summer. I haven’t been to it since. It’s a two way streak. Even we City Folks understand ECNONMICS and POLITICS.
SO PLEASE STOP BASING THE CITY FOLKS!!!! We are not going to insult your intelligence, so please don’t insult ours!!!
The 14-16″ slot was choosen for one basic reason. People could still fish and have to chance to maybe keep a fish or two without overly endangering the chance of exceeding the harvest CAP . That cap is 122% of our allocation. If we exceed that number the lake is closed for all non indian anglers until the 1st of December! That means any and all fishing.
The DNR and the Input Group are aware that the 14-16″ population segment is the smallest population segment in the lake so it was a safe choice to offer the public. Our job is to try to keep the Mille Lacs fishing economy alive while adhereing to the requirements levied on us by the Supreme Court decision on the 1837 Treaty case.
Also, to share an observation with everyone here. Prior to the slot change, every public landing on this lake was full every day. Since the slot change, I have not seen one landing full, even on the weekends.
Why aren’t the city anglers supporting the lake NOW?
