Mille Lacs walleye regs

[Lee Borgersen]

         Walleye regulations announced for Mille Lacs .

The slot for walleye on Mille Lacs Lake will be expanded this year to protect fish between 17 and 28 inches. Last year it was 18 to 28 inches.

Commissioner Tom Landwehr told me a short while ago that Mille Lacs is the one lake of most concern if the legislature and governor decide to move the fishing opener a week earlier, as the House recommended earlier this week.

“If we have a really hot bite on Mille Lacs (on a May 5 opener), this could be a problem come mid season,” Landwehr said. However, he added, if the opener, currently scheduled for May 12, is moved to May 5 and the weather is bad or fish are skittish, it would be irrelevant. Generally speaking, Landwehr said the DNR’s biologists are not overly concerned with the effect of a May 5 opener on fisheries, since the early ice-out and warm spring has prompted early spawning.

From the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:


 

New walleye regulation at Mille Lacs Lake; good fishing expected

Anglers who fish Mille Lacs Lake during the 2012 season will be able to keep walleye less than 17 inches in length, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This is a change from last year’s regulation that allowed keeping of walleye less than 18 inches.

The 17- to 28-inch protected slot regulation is designed to keep the walleye harvest by state licensed anglers within the state’s allocation of safe harvest. One walleye 28 inches or longer may be included in the four-fish limit. The walleye season is scheduled to open Saturday, May 12.

“We expect anglers to do very well at Mille Lacs,” said Dirk Peterson, DNR Fisheries Section chief. “The winter bite was good. The open water bite should be very good, too.” He said the new regulation on Mille Lacs is identical to that of Rainy Lake and similar to regulations on several other large walleye lakes.

Mille Lacs Lake is being managed this year for a safe walleye harvest level of 500,000 pounds. The state angler allocation is 357,500 pounds. The tribal allocation is 142,500 pounds. The DNR met with the citizen-comprised Mille Lacs Fishery Input Group twice this past winter to discuss fishing issues.

Peterson reminds anglers that Mille Lacs also offers outstanding muskellunge and smallmouth bass fishing. The muskellunge season opens June 2. The smallmouth bass season on Mille Lacs opens May 26.

[ray634]

Would you expect that they would forecast a poor season???????????????

[HD]

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