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Positive trends in the fish population of Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota are prompting the state Department of Natural Resources to allow anglers to keep two walleye this winter.

The DNR announced this week that state-licensed anglers on Mille Lacs Lake will be able to take home two walleye 18-20 inches long, or one 18-20 inches and one longer than 28 inches. The winter regulations start Dec. 1 and last until Feb. 23.

The DNR’s annual fall netting survey revealed good numbers of adult and juvenile walleye. The lake also has plenty of perch and tullibee, which are important food sources for walleye, said Brian Nerbonne, regional fisheries manager for the DNR. 

The plentiful forage is likely to carry over into the winter, which probably will lead to slower catch rates for anglers, Nerbonne said. That makes it safer for the DNR to set a two-fish limit, he said.

“The walleye are going to have plenty of natural foods out there to eat,” Nerbonne said. “They just aren’t going to be as hungry, and less likely to bite.”

The DNR sets the total harvest for the fishing year with eight Ojibwe tribes that retain treaty fishing rights. The state and the tribes set regulations to stay within their share of the harvest.

As of Sept. 30, state-licensed anglers had harvested 29,891 pounds of walleye, out of the 91,550 pounds they were allocated for the 2024 season.

The two-fish limit is a continuation of the walleye regulations the DNR set for Mille Lacs Lake in August. Anglers, resort owners and other businesses around the lake have urged the DNR to allow a more relaxed limit.

“We’ve heard pretty clearly from our anglers that they want to see harvest opportunities when possible, and so we’re going to do everything we can to offer that if we’re able to,” Nerbonne said.

In 2023, there was a relatively low amount of forage in Mille Lacs Lake, which led to high catch rates, Nerbonne said. He said it’s not entirely clear what caused the higher numbers this year.

“Basically the conditions lined up, weather-wise and food-wise, so that those young perch and young tullibee, when they hatched, had what they needed to eat,” he said. “So they grew well and survived well and had good numbers going into the later season, when they get to the size that the walleye are interested in eating.”

One factor in the positive trend signs could be a decline in invasive zebra mussels from a decade ago, Nerbonne said. Zebra mussels filter tiny zooplankton that young walleye, perch and tullibee eat. 

Nerbonne said last winter’s poor ice conditions and a rainy early summer, along with the slower catch rate, likely kept many anglers away from Mille Lacs Lake this year, contributing to the smaller harvest numbers.

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Kirsti Marohn

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Positive trends in the walleye population of Mille Lacs Lake are prompting the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to allow anglers to take home two walleye within a certain size.

The walleye population is of great concern to the surrounding communities.

Mille Lacs Lake anglers can keep two walleye this winter

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