Walleye decline worrisome on Mille Lacs




No place in America pays homage to the walleye like Lake Mille Lacs, which is why the headline in the morning paper is as welcome to anglers as a fish hook in a finger. The headline says the DNR's test netting yielded a smaller than expected catch.

"It doesn?t look good the way they?re looking at it right now," says Mille Lacs fishing guide Mike Gannon after putting down the front page article in the Pioneer Press. "We don't need that kind of news down in the Twin Cities."

The news is the numbers, the lowest number of walleye counted by the DNR in September gill net sampling in 24 years.

"We just didn't have expectations this would be the case," says Rick Bruesewitz, DNR area fisheries manager. "On average we typically see around 29 pounds per net, and this year it was 12.8."

Bruesewitz says the previous low was 18.9 pounds per net, a number the DNR now considers its safe threshold. "We need to be more cautious of the fishery," he says.

The cause of the apparent decline in the walleye population is not clear, but warm summer water temperatures and the resulting stress placed on walleye is one possibility.

"We had our worst August ever since me and my wife have been in business together," says fishing guide Mike Gannon. He fears tighter Mille Lacs fishing restrictions.

In July the DNR imposed "slot limits" allowing anglers to keep four walleye: one trophy over 28 inches long, the rest between 14 and 16 inches long.

"For some reason Mille Lac has been a lake where people want to keep fish," says Gannon. "You can?t get a lot of people interested in catch and release."

As he put his boat into storage for the winter, Angler Ted Engen says he may find other lakes to fish next season.

"There?s nothing better than a good fish fry, but it's hard when you spend the money and the time and everything else to come up here fishing, and you can?t even have a fish fry when you go home."

The DNR is advising anglers not to jump to conclusions; saying more analysis is needed before next year?s limits are set.

But what?s already known doesn?t bode well for Lake Mille Lacs and the fish that made it famous.

http://www.kare11.com/sports/sports_article.aspx?storyid=267151

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