M.Lacs live bait banlifted

[Lee Borgersen]

  MNO breaking News.....This just in......

DNR lifts live bait ban on Mille Lacs walleye fishing

Environment Matt Sepic · Apr 7, 2016

  ...make up my mind already
Live bait will now be allowed on Mille Lacs Lake starting with the May 14 fishing opener, although the catch-and-release only rule for walleye remains in place, DNR officials said Thursday. Matthew Hintz | For MPR News 2015


  .....
Just weeks after banning anglers from using live bait this season while fishing for walleye on Lake Mille Lacs, Minnesota conservation officials changed course.

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Live bait will now be allowed on Mille Lacs starting with the May 14 fishing opener, although the catch-and-release only rule for walleye remains in place, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Thursday.

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The DNR said it decided to allow live bait after getting feedback from its local advisory panel. The agency is "hearing that anglers are accepting of the catch-and-release aspect of the walleye season, but members of the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee heard clear concerns about the live bait restriction, as did the DNR," Don Pereira, the DNR's fisheries section chief, said in a statement.

Live bait use is part of a long Mille Lacs tradition and it would be "difficult for some anglers to adapt to using only artificial bait, and it could particularly discourage young anglers," according to the DNR release.

The DNR has been particularly concerned about "hooking mortality," the fish that die after being caught and returned to the water.

"Hooking mortality increases as water temperatures warm and catch rates increase. Both factors are at play in Mille Lacs this year," the DNR said. "Studies show anglers using only artificial bait can reduce hooking mortality substantially because fish are less likely to swallow artificial bait and suffer internal damage from a hook."

A multitude of studies back this idea, showing that live bait use kills fish at higher rates than artificial bait and lures, said Ray Newman, a University of Minnesota fisheries professor.

Anglers using artificial bait or lures more often hook the fish in the mouth or jaw, he said. Those hooks are easier to remove.

But with live bait, Newman said, the hook will often go farther down in the fish's mouth or throat. Taking those hooks out is more difficult for the angler and it puts more stress on the fish, which can be detrimental to the fish's health — on top of the hook that may be piercing its insides.

Pereira said the initial decision to include a live-bait ban for Mille Lacs regulations reflected the desire of anglers and area businesses to keep walleye fishing open as long as possible.

The DNR's announcement in late March that it would ban live bait and enforce catch-and-release only for Mille Lacs walleye sent shock waves among resort owners and businesses that depend on walleye fishing on the iconic lake. Many had been hard hit last year by the state's decision to close the open-water walleye season early on Mille Lacs. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources OK'd a winter walleye season but the warm weather put a damper on it.

Listen to the full audio reports here:  http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/04/07/dnr-lifts-live-bait-ban-on-mille-lacs-walleye-fishing

[snow1]

Hey Lee,I see I'm not the only one up in the whew hours of the morning,got you email alert2 2:30am 

[Lee Borgersen]

Hey Lee,I see I'm not the only one up in the whew hours of the morning,got you email alert2 2:30am 

Life is to short to waste it sleeping.

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[Cody Gruchow]

Lifting the ban was dumb. I can see why people were upset because the launches got a pass an could use live bait. But maybe implement circle hooks.

[snow1]

"Dumb" you say? How about this,the fond du lac tribe has setup shop @ the cedar creek launch,they have declared a "perch"
 harvest via gill nets,doing so gives them a free pass of walleye up to 1000lbs as "insedental" catch and guess what.NO ONE is on point watching the harvest!!!!our dnr should be on spot! sheet like this makes blood squirt out of my eyes.

Ang WHY in hell does the state implement a stocking program while the natives still net and spear?

[Cody Gruchow]

Dumb to the fact that everyone complaining about wanting the fishing to be better but no one person is willing to sacrifice anything. Mille lacs band is willing to let the walleyes recover by not netting but we aren't willing to stop all the hooking mortality with gut hooked fish! It's 50-50 on the lake. The only ppl who can stop the Wisconsin bands is the Mille lacs band.

[snow1]

The hooking mortality is a farce,mere guess-ta-ment,hell few people fished mille lacs last summer up till close,infact I fished the lake the last weekend before the shut down and never seen another boat out,why in the hell are we non native tax paying,license buying born and raised swede natives paying for this venture while the natives gill net on our dime!?!? Oh yeah,I forgot,we're doing it so our dnr can manage for the netters.

[dew2]

"Dumb" you say? How about this,the fond du lac tribe has setup shop @ the cedar creek launch,they have declared a "perch"
 harvest via gill nets,doing so gives them a free pass of walleye up to 1000lbs as "insedental" catch and guess what.NO ONE is on point watching the harvest!!!!our dnr should be on spot! sheet like this makes blood squirt out of my eyes.

Ang WHY in hell does the state implement a stocking program while the natives still net and spear?

I cant find anything about this???Can I get your link describing the perch take and incidental eye take.

[snow1]

1st hand local info,even if the media got this report its doubtful they would write or aire any of it.However you are free to contact Steve F and he'll fill you in as well,sad deal but true.