I agree. I can't decide if this is good or bad at this point. I thought they would go tighter to conserve, but if there are a lot of fish they could crash the forage like 2002 and that was terrible. 30" fish weighing 5 lbs! They looked terrible. The lake was pretty screwed up for a while after that. I guess we will see what happens. The bite will drop off at some point in July I would think as forage increases.
Hopefully they know what they are doing... but think about how many 18-19" fish you have released since opener.......I know I have had a TON compared to recent years. I can only imagine, the 16-17 7/8" fish are getting pounded/harvested heavily.....this might alleviate some of that. I am sure it is a balancing act...... like said, just so we don't stumble like in 2002.....
DNR to relax Lake Mille Lacs walleye regulation July 15 (Released July 8, 2010)
Anglers who fish for walleye on Lake Mille Lacs will be able to keep larger walleye effective July 15 when a new mid-season regulation takes effect, according to the Minnesota Department of the Natural Resources (DNR).
The new regulation will require anglers to immediately release all walleye 20-28 inches in length. Currently, anglers must immediately release all walleye 18-28 inches in length.
Mille Lacs’ four-walleye limit remains in place. Only one of the four walleye an angler may keep can be longer than 28 inches.
The DNR broadened the harvest opportunity because angler harvest and hooking mortality is below the threshold necessary to maintain the current and more protective slot limit.
As of June 30, angler harvest of walleyes was less than half of the state’s annual allocation of 411,500 pounds.
This year, the DNR instituted a policy on a trial basis that calls for relaxing the walleye regulation when harvest and hooking mortality is low, restricting the regulation when the harvest and hooking mortality is high, and keeping the regulation the same when the harvest is not significantly high or low.
“This new change addresses the request of the Mille Lacs Lake Fisheries Input Group,” said Dirk Peterson, DNR fisheries section chief. “It provides a good balance of resource protection and angler opportunity, while at the same time pursuing the need for consistency in regulations from year to year.”
The walleye size limit will revert back to the 18-28 inch protected slot limit on Wednesday, Dec. 1, for the winter angling season. The possession limit will remain at four fish.
If it werent for Indian netting I would rather they just keep it at 18 as I prefer the 15-17 inchers for the fryn pan anyway.But as long as these are the ones that are going to get stuck in the nets anyway take all you want.I sure wont be throwing any back.I would rather give them away than have them end up in Wisconsin.
