Mille Lacs Lake, MN – Zero Harvest on Walleyes: Good or Bad?

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Meet Bill Lundeen of ‘Lundeen’s Tackle Castle’ and Terry Thurmer of ‘Terry’s Boat Harbor Marina’ on Minnesota’s effort to restore the walleye population in Mille Lacs Lake.

Below was copied from WCCO TV of Minneapolis website, article by Nina Moini:

From May 14 to December 1, anglers fishing for walleyes on Mille Lacs must use artificial bait and immediately release any walleye caught.

Last year, people were only allowed to keep one walleye, but the anglers quickly went over the lake’s harvest limit and the season was shut down early.  The DNR says its main goal this season is to continue providing world class fishing at one of Minnesota’s premier vacation destinations.  In order to do that, the DNR fishery experts say they had to make this season catch-and-release and put restrictions on bait.  “The number one request that we had was to really try to minimize the probability that we might have to close the walleye fishing season” said Don Pereira, the DNR Chief of Fisheries.