Limits may be reeled in Lawmaker proposes earlier opener
by Rob Passons Messenger Staff Writer
A new statewide four-fish walleye limit being proposed by DNR commissioner Mark Holsten would not affect anglers on Mille Lacs Lake. The big lake already has a four-walleye limit. But, according to the Star Tribune, Holsten acknowledges it would be an unpopular decision. "There would be a considerable amount of griping if we went to four," he said.
The DNR is exploring options for protecting statewide walleye populations while making bag limits simpler for both anglers and the conservation officers tasked with enforcing them.
There is currently a six-walleye statewide limit, but, many lakes that get a lot of angling pressure, including Winnibigoshish, Leech Vermilion and Lake of the Woods, have reeled that number back to four to protect the fisheries.
The DNR is taking steps to implement the new limit as early as 2009.
Opener moved up?
State Senator Satveer Chaudhary contacted Holsten about moving the fishing opener up a week.
The Minnesota fishing opener has fallen on Mother's Day for 13 of the last 18 years.
"Not only would moving the opener up by one week avoid the conflict with Mother's Day, it makes sense biologically," Chaudhary said in a recent press release. "The spawn is happening earlier due to climate change. Combined with a walleye limit reduced from six to four, this would be a prudent conservation move, while resolving an all-too-common source of family tension."
Wisconsin's fishing opener already falls a week earlier, and Chaudhary said change would make economic sense, especially for border resorts.
DNR large lake specialist Tom Jones checked his records and found that ice outs for Mille Lacs Lake, which affect walleye spawn, have moved up an average of eight days since 1980. Jones said his concerns for an earlier opener focus less on the spawn and more on the overall harvest allocation. "May and June are the best months of fishing," he said. "Over half the walleye are harvested during those months, and if you add a week in May we'd have to make the protected slot wider so the harvest at the end of the year doesn't change. If we fish longer, the regulations have to be altered.
"There could be some space conflict if the Band is still netting when the anglers show up, too," he added.
For more on this story, see the Jan. 2 issue of the Mille Lacs Messenger.
