- Remains strong and anglers can expect abundant walleye from 12-26 inches. Walleye numbers in Upper Red remain high. Multiple strong year-classes have produced many fish in the 12-20 inch size range. Protected slot limits remain in effect Lake of the Woods and several secondary basins in the Region. Walleye abundance remains strong on Cass Lake.
- Statewide evaluation of slot limits across all of Minnesota's large walleye lakes as well as to obtain an additional year of information, the Leech Lake walleye slot limit will be formally reviewed prior to the 2011 fishing season. At this time there are no pre-conceived conclusions as to whether the regulation will change or remain the same.
- The 12-20 inch protected slot limit for smallmouth bass on Turtle Lake (Itasca County) has changed to a 14-20 inch protected slot, with only one over 20 inches allowed. NEW SPECIAL REGULATIONS. The possession limits for walleye on Green Lake (Kandiyohi County), Horseshoe and Minnewawa lakes (Aitkin County) have been reduced to three.
By SAM COOK, Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Fishing had been tough on the west end of Lake Vermilion for some time. Walleye reproduction had been fair to poor for a string of years, and the number of younger fish in the population was down.
'It got to the point where people were having a hard time catching eater-size fish,' said Duane Williams, large-lake specialist on Lake Vermilion for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
That was a problem, especially at resorts where out-of-state anglers like to take home some walleye fillets to share with their families. Resort owner Ed Tausk at Vermilion Dam Lodge on the west end of the lake said he remembers talking to one group from Indiana this past summer their last night at his resort.
'They said, 'You've got a great resort. We love the lake; it's beautiful. But we have to be honest. We're not coming back next year,' ' Tausk said.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has adjusted slot limits on Upper Red Lake. 1, all walleyes from 17 to 26 inches long will have to be released. The protected slot is currently 20 to 26 inches. Anglers can still keep four walleyes from Upper Red Lake, and one may still be longer than 26 inches.
The reason: They claimed they hadn't caught a single walleye less than 17 inches long. The slot limit on Vermilion, implemented in 2006, required anglers to throw back any walleye from 17 to 26 inches long.
'It's become really clear in the past couple of years on the west end of the lake: The walleye fishing is still good. You can go out and catch a lot of big fish. The economic impact comes from the inability for people to take fish home,' Tausk said.
So stakeholders on the lake — anglers, resort owners and others — began talking to the DNR about changing the slot limit. The result, announced recently, is a new protected slot limit from 18 to 26 inches that will take effect with the May 12 fishing opener. The daily limit remains at four fish.
'The number of 17-inch fish out there is well above average, so there will be some benefits,' Williams said. 'But they're still going to have to throw back a lot of fish.'
Not everyone is upset about the decline of smaller fish on the west end of Lake Vermilion. Plenty of anglers are happy to catch and release the abundant larger walleyes in the west end of the lake, said fishing guide Phil Bakken of Soudan.
'If I can go out and catch three, four, five fish over 22 or 23 inches, that's a good day,' Bakken said. 'I take some of my clients to the west end and they're happy as heck. I think it's phenomenal.'
Typically, when the DNR imposes a slot limit on a lake, the rule is left in place for 10 years before review. But in this case, DNR fisheries officials agreed with local residents that the rule should be evaluated sooner.
Williams isn't sure why reproduction has been below average for several years on the west end of the lake.
'We had very strong 2002 and 2003 year classes across the lake and especially on the west end,' he said. 'But basically we've had fair- to poor-year classes (on the west end) since '02 and '03. We've ended up with a walleye population that became dominated by big fish.'
In re-evaluating the slot limit, the DNR considered a more liberal 20- to 26-inch slot as well as the 18- to 26-inch slot limit. Twenty-nine percent of public comments favored the 20- to 26-inch slot, which would have allowed anglers to keep fish shorter than 20 inches. About 20 percent supported the 18- to 26-inch slot limit, Williams said. Twenty-five percent wanted to keep the 17- to 26-inch slot limit.
But population modeling by the DNR showed that the 20- to 26-inch slot would not have protected enough fish, Williams said.
So, the DNR settled on the 18- to 26-inch limit.
That should help those who want to catch eater walleyes on the west end, Bakken said.
'That's another inch they could keep,' he said. 'That will make some people a little happier. On the east end, it doesn't make that much difference. There's no difficulty in catching eater fish.'
Mel Hintz, president of the Sportsmen's Club of Lake Vermilion, said his group supports the slot-limit change.
'We'll defer to whatever makes sense from a fisheries standpoint,' Hintz said.
The DNR's Williams says that many wild walleye fry (tiny first-year fish) on the east and west ends of the lake aren't growing up to become larger fish.
'We have substantial wild fry being produced on both ends of the lake,' he said. 'It's just poor survival.'
The causes of that drop-off in survival aren't known. Walleye fry from the Pike River Hatchery on Lake Vermilion also are stocked annually in the lake. A program to mark those stocked fry started in 2009 and is ongoing. Through electro-fishing each fall, the DNR can determine survival rates for stocked and wild fry.
That study will continue, Williams said.
'We approached the DNR about stocking fingerlings instead of fry,' Hintz said. 'But there are some real problems with doing that from a biological standpoint. They're not predator-wary. They're very costly to raise. Sometimes the results aren't what you'd anticipate.'
Tausk calls the modification of the slot limit a 'short-term fix.' 'It doesn't solve the long-term problem that in the west end of the lake, the fish aren't making it from fingerlings to bigger adult fish.'
Hintz and Tausk also brought up the growing cormorant population on Lake Vermilion. Cormorant populations have increased in recent years because DDT, banned in 1972, no longer is in the environment. Cormorant control is practiced on Leech Lake, where the birds were thought to be having an effect on the fish population.
Nesting pairs of cormorants have risen on Lake Vermilion from 34 in 2004 to 338 last summer, Hintz said.
'But nothing can be done to reduce the population until you can show they're doing damage,' he said.
— — —
Information from: Duluth News Tribune
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in coverage from our reporters across the state, stories that connect us, and conversations that provide perspectives. Help ensure MPR remains a resource that brings Minnesotans together.
By SAM COOK, Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - 'Slot limit' used to be a dirty word. Ortwo words.
Nobody was keen on the idea of putting back walleyes thatotherwise might have wound up in a frying pan.
Deer River fishing guide Jeff Sundin remembers speaking up for aslot limit that was proposed for Lake Winnibigoshish in the late1990s.
'I was a believer in the first place,' Sundin said. 'Istumped for it. I lost some friends over it initially. Some havecome back around. Some haven't.'
Slot limits on northern Minnesota's main walleye lakes have comeof age now. The more restrictive limits require anglers toimmediately release walleyes in a specific size range, perhaps 17to 26 inches or 17 to 28 inches.
Not everyone is upset about the decline of smaller fish on the west end of Lake Vermilion. Plenty of anglers are happy to catch and release the abundant larger walleyes in the west end of the lake, said fishing guide Phil Bakken of Soudan.
'If I can go out and catch three, four, five fish over 22 or 23 inches, that's a good day,' Bakken said. 'I take some of my clients to the west end and they're happy as heck. I think it's phenomenal.'
Typically, when the DNR imposes a slot limit on a lake, the rule is left in place for 10 years before review. But in this case, DNR fisheries officials agreed with local residents that the rule should be evaluated sooner.
Williams isn't sure why reproduction has been below average for several years on the west end of the lake.
'We had very strong 2002 and 2003 year classes across the lake and especially on the west end,' he said. 'But basically we've had fair- to poor-year classes (on the west end) since '02 and '03. We've ended up with a walleye population that became dominated by big fish.'
In re-evaluating the slot limit, the DNR considered a more liberal 20- to 26-inch slot as well as the 18- to 26-inch slot limit. Twenty-nine percent of public comments favored the 20- to 26-inch slot, which would have allowed anglers to keep fish shorter than 20 inches. About 20 percent supported the 18- to 26-inch slot limit, Williams said. Twenty-five percent wanted to keep the 17- to 26-inch slot limit.
But population modeling by the DNR showed that the 20- to 26-inch slot would not have protected enough fish, Williams said.
So, the DNR settled on the 18- to 26-inch limit.
That should help those who want to catch eater walleyes on the west end, Bakken said.
'That's another inch they could keep,' he said. 'That will make some people a little happier. On the east end, it doesn't make that much difference. There's no difficulty in catching eater fish.'
Mel Hintz, president of the Sportsmen's Club of Lake Vermilion, said his group supports the slot-limit change.
'We'll defer to whatever makes sense from a fisheries standpoint,' Hintz said.
The DNR's Williams says that many wild walleye fry (tiny first-year fish) on the east and west ends of the lake aren't growing up to become larger fish.
'We have substantial wild fry being produced on both ends of the lake,' he said. 'It's just poor survival.'
The causes of that drop-off in survival aren't known. Walleye fry from the Pike River Hatchery on Lake Vermilion also are stocked annually in the lake. A program to mark those stocked fry started in 2009 and is ongoing. Through electro-fishing each fall, the DNR can determine survival rates for stocked and wild fry.
That study will continue, Williams said.
'We approached the DNR about stocking fingerlings instead of fry,' Hintz said. 'But there are some real problems with doing that from a biological standpoint. They're not predator-wary. They're very costly to raise. Sometimes the results aren't what you'd anticipate.'
Tausk calls the modification of the slot limit a 'short-term fix.' 'It doesn't solve the long-term problem that in the west end of the lake, the fish aren't making it from fingerlings to bigger adult fish.'
Hintz and Tausk also brought up the growing cormorant population on Lake Vermilion. Cormorant populations have increased in recent years because DDT, banned in 1972, no longer is in the environment. Cormorant control is practiced on Leech Lake, where the birds were thought to be having an effect on the fish population.
Nesting pairs of cormorants have risen on Lake Vermilion from 34 in 2004 to 338 last summer, Hintz said.
'But nothing can be done to reduce the population until you can show they're doing damage,' he said.
— — —
Information from: Duluth News Tribune
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in coverage from our reporters across the state, stories that connect us, and conversations that provide perspectives. Help ensure MPR remains a resource that brings Minnesotans together.
By SAM COOK, Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - 'Slot limit' used to be a dirty word. Ortwo words.
Nobody was keen on the idea of putting back walleyes thatotherwise might have wound up in a frying pan.
Deer River fishing guide Jeff Sundin remembers speaking up for aslot limit that was proposed for Lake Winnibigoshish in the late1990s.
'I was a believer in the first place,' Sundin said. 'Istumped for it. I lost some friends over it initially. Some havecome back around. Some haven't.'
Slot limits on northern Minnesota's main walleye lakes have comeof age now. The more restrictive limits require anglers toimmediately release walleyes in a specific size range, perhaps 17to 26 inches or 17 to 28 inches.
The first walleye slot limit was established on Rainy Lake in1994. Mille Lacs went to a slot in 1999. Big Winnie's slot tookeffect in 2000. Leech Lake's was implemented in 2005.
When used in conjunction with other management tools, slotlimits have proven effective in increasing anglers' catch rates andincreasing the number of larger walleyes in a population.
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'It gave us a more quality fishery and initially it preservedmore spawning fish,' said Barry Woods, a guide on Rainy Lake,about that lake's slot limit.
It's almost hard to remember that in the mid-1990s, when theslot was established on Rainy, catch-and-release fishing forwalleyes was still a new concept. Now anglers are accustomed tomeasuring the fish they catch and throwing some back. Resorts haveadapted to the change and now draw fishing clients who are lessconcerned about taking home a pile of frozen fillets.
'There's been an evolution,' said Tim Goeman, Department ofNatural Resources regional fisheries supervisor at Grand Rapids.'It's almost a prestigious thing to have a walleye slot limit onyour lake.'
Al Maas has been guiding anglers, mostly on Leech Lake, for 41years now.
'We have an 18- to 26-inch slot, and you're allowed one over26,' Maas said. 'With a four-fish limit. People are perfectlyhappy with that.'
The regular statewide walleye limit is six fish, but four-fishlimits are in place along with the slots on Leech, Rainy and MilleLacs.
'If we look back, over the years I've guided, it used to bethat if you didn't limit out, you had a bad day,' Maas said.'Those days are gone.'
Anglers still hope to catch enough walleyes for a shore lunch ora meal, but almost nobody is taking pictures of big stringers offish anymore.
Still, one segment of anglers remains bitter about slot limits,Sundin said.
'Most of the guys who were opposed to them are still opposed tothem, even though they can be shown evidence that it has beenbetter for their lakes than they think,' he said.
But young anglers, especially, embrace slots, Sundin said.
'It doesn't represent anything that has been taken away fromthem,' he said.
The slot limit on Lake Winnibigoshish came up for review lastfall. Although DNR officials offered to relax the Winnie slot to 18to 26 inches from the current 17 to 26 inches, public testimonyfavored leaving the slot at 17 to 26 inches.
'I never dreamed people would want that,' Goeman said, 'butfor the last 10-year period, fishing has been better than ever onWinnie, and people can catch fish to eat.'
Creel surveys show anglers are still keeping as many walleyesper hour as they did before the slot limit, said Chris Kavanaugh,DNR area fisheries supervisor at Grand Rapids. But they're catchinga lot more walleyes.
Sundin agrees.
'We're keeping the same number of fish we used to keep, but thecatch rate has improved,' he said. 'It isn't that we're keepingsmaller fish. It's that we're not keeping that odd big one.'
Why not more?
Kavanaugh said he gets a good number of calls from people whowould like to see slot limits placed on their lakes. But theregulation isn't right for every lake, DNR officials say.
It isn't right on lakes where stocking is used to support thewalleye population, such as Pokegama Lake near Grand Rapids.
'The best return to the angler is when those fish reach acatchable and keepable size, and people are keeping them,' Goemansaid.
When slot limits are established, they are made as experimentalregulations and reviewed after 10 years. Sometimes, the regulationsneed tweaking.
Rainy Lake's slot was expanded after several years to protectmore fish because biologists had thought too many fish were leavingthe system.
The slot on Mille Lacs lake is watched closely each summer, andit sometimes is relaxed, if overall harvest is low, to allowanglers to keep more fish.
Maas says lots of Leech Lake anglers would like to see LeechLake's slot limit replaced by a four-walleye limit with just oneover 20 inches, similar to the statewide regulation that allows sixwalleyes with one over 20.
Woods has some concerns that Rainy Lake may have too many largerwalleyes in its population now. He hopes the DNR will be flexibleenough to revise the slot limit if necessary.
The DNR's Goeman says that's one thing that biologists try to beaware of with a slot limit.
'There's some potential for stockpiling older, bigger fish,'Goeman said. 'That can suppress recruitment of young fish comingin.'
Imposing a slot limit on a lake is one thing. Getting anglers toabide by them is another thing.
Most anglers will play by the rules - once they know them.
'It takes a couple of years for a slot limit to catch on andpeople to understand it's in place,' the DNR's Goeman said. 'Forabout the first two years after a slot limit is put in place, wehave pretty significant noncompliance, about 20 to 30 percent.'
Even a small amount of noncompliance can be significant, hesaid.
Mn Dnr Walleye Slot Limits
'We've determined that if there's 10 percent noncompliance withany length-based regulation, it's the same as that regulation notbeing there,' Goeman said.
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Mn Dnr Mille Lacs Walleye Slot Limit
Information from: The Duluth News Tribune
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in coverage from our reporters across the state, stories that connect us, and conversations that provide perspectives. Help ensure MPR remains a resource that brings Minnesotans together.
