Tough year for the resorts......
http://www.kare11.com/news/local/dnr-ca ... n/94009301
Mille-Lacs
This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters Championship. It looks like a mirac- It's in the hole! It's in the hole!~ Carl Spackler
Re: Mille-Lacs
Mille Lacs to be catch-and-release only for walleye anglers; no live bait
By dennis anderson
March 21, 2016 — 11:12am
For the first time ever on Mille Lacs, only artificial bait will be allowed this summer for walleye fishing when the season opens on May 14. What's more, all walleyes must be released beginning with the season's first day.
The DNR made the dramatic announcements Monday morning in a media conference call.
DNR fisheries chief Don Pereira said that the chance of closing MIlle Lacs to walleye fishing is greater this year than it was last summer, when walleye fishing on Mille Lacs was abruptly ended in early August after the season's harvest quota was met.
“Even with our catch-and-release approach, the risk (of closing the season early) remains considerable,” Pereira said.
“A catch-and-release walleye season allows us to protect future spawners yet acknowledges the desire that fishing remain open,” added Pereira. “Not allowing harvest is a difficult decision but it provides our best option.”
From May 14 to Thursday, Dec. 1, anglers targeting walleye must use artificial bait and immediately release all walleye caught. Meanwhile, anglers targeting northern pike and muskies may possess and use sucker minnows longer than 8 inches. But all other anglers must not possess any other bait that is live, dead, frozen or processed.
One exception to the no-live-bait rule: Launch operators that participate in a DNR study can use live bait provided they agree to participate in efforts to collect data from fishing trips, launch customers and cooperate with the hooking mortality study. Their permits will be suspended if walleye fishing on Mille Lacs has to be closed.
“Anglers fish close together on launches, making it extremely difficult to safely cast artificial lures rather than dropping baited lines into the water,” Pereira said. “Since the DNR needs more data to refine its hooking mortality standards, asking launches to provide this data will allow a traditional, popular and enjoyable method of fishing on Mille Lacs to continue.”
Other changed regulations for the 2016 season on Mille Lacs announced by the DNR Monday morning:
Walleye: Night closure beginning Monday, May 16, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and continuing through Dec. 1. Muskellunge anglers may fish at night but all baits, live or artificial, in possession must be at least 8 inches long.
Northern pike: Five fish with only one longer than 40 inches. All northern 30-40 inches long must be immediately released.
Bass: Four fish with only one longer than 21 inches. All fish 17-21 inches long must be immediately released.
“These new regulations reflect the DNR’s commitment to continue providing world-class fishing at one of Minnesota’s premier vacation destinations,” Pereira said.
Last year on Mille Lacs, walleye anglers could use live bait and keep one walleye 19-21 inches long or longer than 28 inches. Walleye fishing closed in August when fishing pressure, the number of fish caught and temperatures combined to push the state over its 28,600 pound walleye limit. Fishing re-opened on Dec. 1, 2015, with a walleye limit of one 18-20 inches or one longer than 28 inches.
This year’s safe walleye harvest level established by the DNR and Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission remains at 40,000 pounds, with 28,600 allocated to state anglers and 11,400 to tribal anglers. Allowing fishing beyond those limits puts the walleye population at risk and a federal court decision requires that walleye fishing be suspended.
Concern stems from the additional pressure that hooking mortality – an estimate of the number of fish that die after being caught and returned to the water – has on walleye harvest. Hooking mortality rates also increase as water temperatures warm. Both factors are at play in Mille Lacs this year.
The DNR expects more small- and intermediate-sized fish to be caught, including fish hatched in 2013 that biologists are counting on to rebuild Mille Lacs’ walleye population. These immature fish, which are approaching a more catchable but comparatively small size of 14 inches and longer, need to be protected so they can spawn. Ice is opening on lakes earlier this year, increasing the likelihood that water temperatures will warm faster and sooner.
“A low level of allowed harvest doesn't’t necessarily mean slow walleye fishing,” Pereira said. “As we saw last year, factors can combine to alter estimates and require adjustments. We believe that allowing no walleye harvest through catch-and-release is a reasonable yet cautious response based on in-depth analysis and citizen input from the Mille Lacs advisory committee.”
As part of a more comprehensive study to better understand and estimate hooking mortality, the DNR will collect a variety of fishing information on Mille Lacs this summer. Temperature sensors will be placed in different parts of the lake at different depths to more accurately record temperatures where walleye congregate. Information on fishing methods and catches will be collected, too. Part of the information collection aspect of the research program will allow Mille Lacs’ fishing launches to be exempt from the live bait restriction.
Bass regulations compromise
Anglers can keep four bass in any combination of largemouth and smallmouth, down from last year’s limit of six fish. The new regulations add a requirement that all fish 17-21 inches be immediately released, and the length restriction for the largest fish an angler may keep increased from 18 to 21 inches.
The early harvest offered on Mille Lacs also was eliminated, requiring that – like the rest of the state – all bass caught during the first two weeks of the season be immediately released.
Mille Lacs’ exemption to the statewide fall closure of the smallmouth bass season remains, meaning that anglers may keep smallmouth bass they catch on Mille Lacs through Feb. 28, 2017.
DNR changed the regulation to balance bass angling groups’ call for stricter regulations to protect Mille Lacs Lake’s world-class smallmouth fishery with the desire and need to provide anglers opportunities to harvest fish.
“Bass regulations are a compromise,” Pereira said. “Last year’s regulations were biologically sound but it was important that DNR also factor in the emerging social aspects in this year’s regulations.”
The ability to exempt large bass tournaments from the size regulation and bag limits remains.
Northern pike regulations change
Mille Lacs anglers can keep five northern pike, only one of which can be longer than 40 inches. All fish 30-40 inches must be immediately released.
The five-fish limit was initially enacted last December. The protected slot limit replaces the provision that allowed anglers to keep only one fish longer than 30 inches.
The earn-a-trophy provision that required anglers to harvest two smaller pike before one larger one was eliminated for the 2016 open water season.
More information about Mille Lacs is available on the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov/millelacslake.
Mille Lacs stakeholders voice unrest over live-bait ban
Goal is to keep Mille Lacs open, but merchants are fearing deeper losses.
By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune
April 2, 2016 — 7:33pm
Department of Natural Resources officials are talking internally about unrest in the Mille Lacs community over a first-ever regulation that would ban the use of live bait this year for walleye fishing on the big lake.
Two members of the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee told the Star Tribune on Friday that they and other members of the committee have talked to Gov. Mark Dayton and DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr about dropping the live bait ban. Most people accept this year's catch-and-release mandate for Mille Lacs walleyes, they said, but the added restriction against live bait would keep too many families from visiting the lake.
"Very few people support it,'' said Steve Johnson, an advisory committee member and owner of Johnson's Portside Bait & Liquor store in Isle.
DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen said the agency hasn't changed its position but may soon discuss the live bait restriction with the advisory committee. The 17-member group, appointed by Landwehr last fall, includes local business owners, professional anglers and local government officials.
Brad Parsons, the DNR's central region fisheries manager, said the pushback on the live bait ban has prompted discussions inside the DNR, but no changes. The new regulations were established just two weeks ago to address a multifaceted problem with the survival rates of young walleye. The walleye season opens statewide May 14.
"In no way can I say whether it will be changed,'' Parsons said. "We are going to talk more about it.''
Dropping the artificial bait mandate would significantly raise the risk of an early shutdown of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs this year, something the local business community is set against. But Johnson said the negatives of the no-live-bait rule outweigh the chance of a potentially earlier closure of fishing.
Even if the artificial-only rule were to stick, there's no guarantee the lake wouldn't be shut down in midseason, he said.
The first midseason shutdown of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs came last year when the DNR announced that the state had overstepped its walleye harvest quota of 28,600 pounds. The allocation was established under a joint fisheries management structure with Chippewa bands, and this year's quotas are the same as in 2015. They are meant to protect walleyes needed for regenerating the lake.
Even though state anglers won't be able to keep walleyes they catch on Mille Lacs this year, fish deaths resulting from hooking will count against the allocation. The DNR has said exclusive use of artificial bait will slow hooking mortality by 55 percent.
"Keep in mind the goal is to keep the lake open,'' Niskanen said.
Dean Hanson, co-chair of the advisory committee and owner of Agate Bay Resort, said a number of his customers have canceled their reservations, citing the live bait ban.
"There's a large group of people who find it unacceptable,'' Hanson said.
The objectors include families accustomed to having their children bobber-fish for walleyes using worms or minnows. Many of those customers aren't interested in transitioning to artificial bait, Johnson said.
Some panfish anglers, too, won't visit Mille Lacs this season if they can't use live bait. The regulation states that Mille Lacs anglers may not possess any bait that is live, dead, frozen or processed. Anglers targeting northern pike and muskies may possess and use sucker minnows longer than 8 inches.
Johnson said the new regulation, if left in place, would wipe out $2 million a year in local sales of live bait and related fishing tackle.
Johnson and Hanson said they aired their complaints in a recent conference call with Dayton and Landwehr. Joining them on the call were other members of the advisory committee, but Johnson stressed that the committee has not taken an official stance.
Niskanen said the governor's "key interest'' is maintaining open communications with the community and keeping the area's economy viable and vibrant.
Pro angler Tom Neustrom, another member of the Mille Lacs advisory committee, said part of the unrest stems from surprise. While the DNR had discussed the hooking mortality benefits of using artificial bait, it did not discuss the possibility of a catch-and-release season coupled with only artificial bait, Neustrom said.
"I think we have to take a look at this,'' he said.
By dennis anderson
March 21, 2016 — 11:12am
For the first time ever on Mille Lacs, only artificial bait will be allowed this summer for walleye fishing when the season opens on May 14. What's more, all walleyes must be released beginning with the season's first day.
The DNR made the dramatic announcements Monday morning in a media conference call.
DNR fisheries chief Don Pereira said that the chance of closing MIlle Lacs to walleye fishing is greater this year than it was last summer, when walleye fishing on Mille Lacs was abruptly ended in early August after the season's harvest quota was met.
“Even with our catch-and-release approach, the risk (of closing the season early) remains considerable,” Pereira said.
“A catch-and-release walleye season allows us to protect future spawners yet acknowledges the desire that fishing remain open,” added Pereira. “Not allowing harvest is a difficult decision but it provides our best option.”
From May 14 to Thursday, Dec. 1, anglers targeting walleye must use artificial bait and immediately release all walleye caught. Meanwhile, anglers targeting northern pike and muskies may possess and use sucker minnows longer than 8 inches. But all other anglers must not possess any other bait that is live, dead, frozen or processed.
One exception to the no-live-bait rule: Launch operators that participate in a DNR study can use live bait provided they agree to participate in efforts to collect data from fishing trips, launch customers and cooperate with the hooking mortality study. Their permits will be suspended if walleye fishing on Mille Lacs has to be closed.
“Anglers fish close together on launches, making it extremely difficult to safely cast artificial lures rather than dropping baited lines into the water,” Pereira said. “Since the DNR needs more data to refine its hooking mortality standards, asking launches to provide this data will allow a traditional, popular and enjoyable method of fishing on Mille Lacs to continue.”
Other changed regulations for the 2016 season on Mille Lacs announced by the DNR Monday morning:
Walleye: Night closure beginning Monday, May 16, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and continuing through Dec. 1. Muskellunge anglers may fish at night but all baits, live or artificial, in possession must be at least 8 inches long.
Northern pike: Five fish with only one longer than 40 inches. All northern 30-40 inches long must be immediately released.
Bass: Four fish with only one longer than 21 inches. All fish 17-21 inches long must be immediately released.
“These new regulations reflect the DNR’s commitment to continue providing world-class fishing at one of Minnesota’s premier vacation destinations,” Pereira said.
Last year on Mille Lacs, walleye anglers could use live bait and keep one walleye 19-21 inches long or longer than 28 inches. Walleye fishing closed in August when fishing pressure, the number of fish caught and temperatures combined to push the state over its 28,600 pound walleye limit. Fishing re-opened on Dec. 1, 2015, with a walleye limit of one 18-20 inches or one longer than 28 inches.
This year’s safe walleye harvest level established by the DNR and Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission remains at 40,000 pounds, with 28,600 allocated to state anglers and 11,400 to tribal anglers. Allowing fishing beyond those limits puts the walleye population at risk and a federal court decision requires that walleye fishing be suspended.
Concern stems from the additional pressure that hooking mortality – an estimate of the number of fish that die after being caught and returned to the water – has on walleye harvest. Hooking mortality rates also increase as water temperatures warm. Both factors are at play in Mille Lacs this year.
The DNR expects more small- and intermediate-sized fish to be caught, including fish hatched in 2013 that biologists are counting on to rebuild Mille Lacs’ walleye population. These immature fish, which are approaching a more catchable but comparatively small size of 14 inches and longer, need to be protected so they can spawn. Ice is opening on lakes earlier this year, increasing the likelihood that water temperatures will warm faster and sooner.
“A low level of allowed harvest doesn't’t necessarily mean slow walleye fishing,” Pereira said. “As we saw last year, factors can combine to alter estimates and require adjustments. We believe that allowing no walleye harvest through catch-and-release is a reasonable yet cautious response based on in-depth analysis and citizen input from the Mille Lacs advisory committee.”
As part of a more comprehensive study to better understand and estimate hooking mortality, the DNR will collect a variety of fishing information on Mille Lacs this summer. Temperature sensors will be placed in different parts of the lake at different depths to more accurately record temperatures where walleye congregate. Information on fishing methods and catches will be collected, too. Part of the information collection aspect of the research program will allow Mille Lacs’ fishing launches to be exempt from the live bait restriction.
Bass regulations compromise
Anglers can keep four bass in any combination of largemouth and smallmouth, down from last year’s limit of six fish. The new regulations add a requirement that all fish 17-21 inches be immediately released, and the length restriction for the largest fish an angler may keep increased from 18 to 21 inches.
The early harvest offered on Mille Lacs also was eliminated, requiring that – like the rest of the state – all bass caught during the first two weeks of the season be immediately released.
Mille Lacs’ exemption to the statewide fall closure of the smallmouth bass season remains, meaning that anglers may keep smallmouth bass they catch on Mille Lacs through Feb. 28, 2017.
DNR changed the regulation to balance bass angling groups’ call for stricter regulations to protect Mille Lacs Lake’s world-class smallmouth fishery with the desire and need to provide anglers opportunities to harvest fish.
“Bass regulations are a compromise,” Pereira said. “Last year’s regulations were biologically sound but it was important that DNR also factor in the emerging social aspects in this year’s regulations.”
The ability to exempt large bass tournaments from the size regulation and bag limits remains.
Northern pike regulations change
Mille Lacs anglers can keep five northern pike, only one of which can be longer than 40 inches. All fish 30-40 inches must be immediately released.
The five-fish limit was initially enacted last December. The protected slot limit replaces the provision that allowed anglers to keep only one fish longer than 30 inches.
The earn-a-trophy provision that required anglers to harvest two smaller pike before one larger one was eliminated for the 2016 open water season.
More information about Mille Lacs is available on the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov/millelacslake.
Mille Lacs stakeholders voice unrest over live-bait ban
Goal is to keep Mille Lacs open, but merchants are fearing deeper losses.
By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune
April 2, 2016 — 7:33pm
Department of Natural Resources officials are talking internally about unrest in the Mille Lacs community over a first-ever regulation that would ban the use of live bait this year for walleye fishing on the big lake.
Two members of the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee told the Star Tribune on Friday that they and other members of the committee have talked to Gov. Mark Dayton and DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr about dropping the live bait ban. Most people accept this year's catch-and-release mandate for Mille Lacs walleyes, they said, but the added restriction against live bait would keep too many families from visiting the lake.
"Very few people support it,'' said Steve Johnson, an advisory committee member and owner of Johnson's Portside Bait & Liquor store in Isle.
DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen said the agency hasn't changed its position but may soon discuss the live bait restriction with the advisory committee. The 17-member group, appointed by Landwehr last fall, includes local business owners, professional anglers and local government officials.
Brad Parsons, the DNR's central region fisheries manager, said the pushback on the live bait ban has prompted discussions inside the DNR, but no changes. The new regulations were established just two weeks ago to address a multifaceted problem with the survival rates of young walleye. The walleye season opens statewide May 14.
"In no way can I say whether it will be changed,'' Parsons said. "We are going to talk more about it.''
Dropping the artificial bait mandate would significantly raise the risk of an early shutdown of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs this year, something the local business community is set against. But Johnson said the negatives of the no-live-bait rule outweigh the chance of a potentially earlier closure of fishing.
Even if the artificial-only rule were to stick, there's no guarantee the lake wouldn't be shut down in midseason, he said.
The first midseason shutdown of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs came last year when the DNR announced that the state had overstepped its walleye harvest quota of 28,600 pounds. The allocation was established under a joint fisheries management structure with Chippewa bands, and this year's quotas are the same as in 2015. They are meant to protect walleyes needed for regenerating the lake.
Even though state anglers won't be able to keep walleyes they catch on Mille Lacs this year, fish deaths resulting from hooking will count against the allocation. The DNR has said exclusive use of artificial bait will slow hooking mortality by 55 percent.
"Keep in mind the goal is to keep the lake open,'' Niskanen said.
Dean Hanson, co-chair of the advisory committee and owner of Agate Bay Resort, said a number of his customers have canceled their reservations, citing the live bait ban.
"There's a large group of people who find it unacceptable,'' Hanson said.
The objectors include families accustomed to having their children bobber-fish for walleyes using worms or minnows. Many of those customers aren't interested in transitioning to artificial bait, Johnson said.
Some panfish anglers, too, won't visit Mille Lacs this season if they can't use live bait. The regulation states that Mille Lacs anglers may not possess any bait that is live, dead, frozen or processed. Anglers targeting northern pike and muskies may possess and use sucker minnows longer than 8 inches.
Johnson said the new regulation, if left in place, would wipe out $2 million a year in local sales of live bait and related fishing tackle.
Johnson and Hanson said they aired their complaints in a recent conference call with Dayton and Landwehr. Joining them on the call were other members of the advisory committee, but Johnson stressed that the committee has not taken an official stance.
Niskanen said the governor's "key interest'' is maintaining open communications with the community and keeping the area's economy viable and vibrant.
Pro angler Tom Neustrom, another member of the Mille Lacs advisory committee, said part of the unrest stems from surprise. While the DNR had discussed the hooking mortality benefits of using artificial bait, it did not discuss the possibility of a catch-and-release season coupled with only artificial bait, Neustrom said.
"I think we have to take a look at this,'' he said.
.
God, help me be the man that my dog thinks that I am.
God, help me be the man that my dog thinks that I am.
Re: Mille-Lacs
DNR changes its mind: You can use live bait on Mille Lacs this year
April 7, 2016 By Maria Herd, BMTN
After much feedback, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is reversing its live bait ban on Mille Lacs Lake for this year.
The announcement came after a pro-and-con discussion regarding the ban between the Mille Lacs Fisheries advisory committee and the DNR, the agency announced Thursday.
“The DNR 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, fisheries section chief for the DNR, said in the release.
Those concerns included the difficult for anglers to adapt to artificial bait, and discouraging young anglers. Furthermore, bobber fishing with live bait is a tradition on the lake.
“We have had reasonable discussions with the DNR and they have changed the regulations to make them more appealing to a wider range of anglers, while still protecting the resource,” said Johnsons Portside – a local bait, liquor and convenience store – in a Facebook post. “This discussion and resolution shows that we are all determined, first and foremost, to increase the walleye populations in Mille Lacs, while still providing the best recreational opportunities on Mille Lacs for families, children, and fishermen with a wide range of experience.”
The DNR announced fishing regulations for Mille Lacs Lake last month. They were the strictest rules ever imposed on the lake, but were meant to avoid having to shut down the walleye season halfway through the year – like what happened last year.
The other regulations remain in place, including the catch-and-release regulation for walleye. Check out the other rules for this season here.
The DNR’s strict management plan comes after after years of a declining walleye population in the lake.
April 7, 2016 By Maria Herd, BMTN
After much feedback, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is reversing its live bait ban on Mille Lacs Lake for this year.
The announcement came after a pro-and-con discussion regarding the ban between the Mille Lacs Fisheries advisory committee and the DNR, the agency announced Thursday.
“The DNR 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, fisheries section chief for the DNR, said in the release.
Those concerns included the difficult for anglers to adapt to artificial bait, and discouraging young anglers. Furthermore, bobber fishing with live bait is a tradition on the lake.
“We have had reasonable discussions with the DNR and they have changed the regulations to make them more appealing to a wider range of anglers, while still protecting the resource,” said Johnsons Portside – a local bait, liquor and convenience store – in a Facebook post. “This discussion and resolution shows that we are all determined, first and foremost, to increase the walleye populations in Mille Lacs, while still providing the best recreational opportunities on Mille Lacs for families, children, and fishermen with a wide range of experience.”
The DNR announced fishing regulations for Mille Lacs Lake last month. They were the strictest rules ever imposed on the lake, but were meant to avoid having to shut down the walleye season halfway through the year – like what happened last year.
The other regulations remain in place, including the catch-and-release regulation for walleye. Check out the other rules for this season here.
The DNR’s strict management plan comes after after years of a declining walleye population in the lake.
.
God, help me be the man that my dog thinks that I am.
God, help me be the man that my dog thinks that I am.
Re: Mille-Lacs
http://www.twincities.com/2016/04/08/mi ... 0-seconds/
The most important 60 seconds about Mille Lacs live bait you'll hear today
By Dave Orrick | dorrick@pioneerpress.com
April 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 2 days ago
Want to understand why Mille Lacs resort owners are willing to increase the risk of walleye fishing getting shut down early?
The pair of 30-second clips below explain it. They were taken from an audio recording of Wednesday’s conference call meeting between the Minnesota DNR and the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee.
The first voice you’ll hear is Melissa Treml, fisheries research manager for the DNR, explaining how lifting the ban on live bait increases the risk of the lake being shut down. The second is Dean Hanson, who operates Agate Bay Resort in Isle and co-chairs the committee.
The most important 60 seconds about Mille Lacs live bait you'll hear today
By Dave Orrick | dorrick@pioneerpress.com
April 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 2 days ago
Want to understand why Mille Lacs resort owners are willing to increase the risk of walleye fishing getting shut down early?
The pair of 30-second clips below explain it. They were taken from an audio recording of Wednesday’s conference call meeting between the Minnesota DNR and the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee.
The first voice you’ll hear is Melissa Treml, fisheries research manager for the DNR, explaining how lifting the ban on live bait increases the risk of the lake being shut down. The second is Dean Hanson, who operates Agate Bay Resort in Isle and co-chairs the committee.
.
God, help me be the man that my dog thinks that I am.
God, help me be the man that my dog thinks that I am.
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