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Environmental News
Kirsti Marohn
Collegeville, Minn.

DNR to close Mille Lacs to walleye fishing Sept. 6

After the walleye are tagged and have recovered, they are released.
Researchers in July 2018 tag and release walleye into Lake Mille Lacs as part of an effort to monitor the population.
Paul Middlestaedt for MPR News file

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Updated: 12:10 p.m.

Walleye fishing on Lake Mille Lacs will close Sept. 6 so that anglers do not exceed a safe walleye harvest level, state conservation officials said Monday.

The combination of a busy fishing season and high catch rates in July and August when the water was warm led to an increase in fish that were caught and released but died anyway, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Mille Lacs' walleye population had fallen significantly in recent years, and officials have struggled to balance the demands of local businesses dependent on walleye fishing with the need to rebuild the fishery.

In 2016, the DNR went to catch-and-release only for walleye and banned the use of live bait, moves that angered anglers and resort owners. In 2017, the DNR closed the iconic central Minnesota lake to walleye keepers and stopped all walleye fishing for about a month in mid-summer. Last year's open water rules were essentially a continuation of 2017.

In February, the DNR said that walleye were now at a level that allowed anglers to start keeping some fish during the open-water season. The agency OK’d one daily walleye keeper during May. It’s been catch-and-release since June.

“It was excellent fishing. Some of our catch rates, particularly in mid June and early July, were the highest we've seen in many, many years, which is good,” said Brad Parsons, DNR fisheries chief. “And when people are catching fish, they keep coming back to the lake."

While anglers will not be able to target walleye when fishing on Mille Lacs after next week’s closure, the lake still offers opportunities for anglers to catch other species, including bass, northern pike and muskellunge, Parson said.

“The fall bass fishing can be excellent up there, and anybody who is looking at a trophy muskie has seen what that lake can produce,” he said. “I really encourage people to get up there and take advantage of it."

Parsons said the DNR will be doing test netting in September to help determine regulations for the ice fishing season. Those rules will be announced in November.