The cold spell has finally broken and barometer is dropping.  The last couple days the best reports were Perch and most were small except for the
“Tullibee Hole” had some nice ones caught out there.  They are there but the trick is to get them to bite.   Smaller Tullibees are showing up also in the catch and that is a sign of late winter activity.

Last evening the DNR held their Mille Lacs Input Group Meeting. What is coming for regs are uncertain yet for Walleyes, but the outlook is not looking too good.  Once again Mille Lacs and it’s fishery decline will be in the news and more negativity will surround all of us here trying to make a living on the lake.  Once again our State government and DNR has buckled to “treaty management” and pretty much totally ignored what was the root of the problem in the first place.  And in “my” opinion..was the harvest of Walleyes on,…,and the disturbance of spawning grounds for the last 15 years.  The MN DNR biologists have sidestepped that reason and found every other excuse to explain the decline.  Including the “blue ribbon panel” that was hired by the State.  Yes, I agree that water clarity, invasive species, cannibalism, and other factors have a part of it.  But when you find out that you might get “fired” if you speak up against “treaty management” by your superiors in State government sets off an alarm to me.  And that is really sad because Minnesota has some of the best fisheries biologists in the United States in our backyard.

What it boils down to in my opinion is our “billionaire” Governor Dayton and the AG’s office are getting untaxed casino lobbying monies along with the rest of the legislators. They don’t care about Minnesota’s resources or it’s anglers’ that pay the license fees year after year….It’s all about “their” money I guess.  And what is really sad is that so many of you fishermen just let it ride. Until people that care stand up and do something about it besides us up here that are living it…. that is what you will get…..Maybe think about that next time you decide to cast your vote or get the guts to voice your opinion … Instead like some of who I’ve known abandoning Mille Lacs to go somewhere else to fish just because they could..

Keep a Tight Line!

Eddy

Today we finished moving houses around for the weekend rentals and getting them ready for the weekend.  I left a couple extra out in case someone would like to rent for the weekend yet. I have some in Perch and Pike waters and some in Perch and Tullibee spots.  It will be our last weekend with houses on the lake. But we will have roads out for a long time yet with the amount of ice we have.  I would think we will will see some wheelhouse traffic as the month goes on.  Remember you can stay out overnight in a house after March 2nd. as long as it is occupied.  And sometime nighttime action for Tullibee can be alot of fun.

Keep a Tight Line!

Eddy

Sunday/Monday I was out of town at a funeral for a family member so no report.

We started pulling permanent and lining them up on the roads close to shore. Starting this afternoon we will be bring them up and placing them in the summer storage lot. We are also placing rentals for the last weekend on they can be left on the ice.  Some are going down by the islands for Northern and Perch and some will be going out to the east side of the Tullibee Hole for Perch and Tullibee.  We still have some openings for the weekend so give us a call.

The “big” news is  the Mille Lacs 2015 safe harvest levels for Walleye were set which supposedly are less than last year.  I’m going to attend the Input Group meeting Thursday evening and find out more.  It just amazes me that with harvest levels down to less than 1/10th of what MIlle Lacs used to produce and maintain..That the State doesn’t call and argue the conservation issue that they can according to the courts decision. They could argue that disturbance of spawning grounds hinders the productivity of the Walleyes, (much like they will not allow anglers to fish for Walleyes during the spawning season).  I would think every egg that could hatch whether it survives or not would be a plus in helping the recovery of the Mille Lac’s  Walleye population. ( Especially with all the things that even the DNR can control like invasive species, climate change, water clarity)  Too much politics…too much untaxed tribal money paid out to our legislator’s… too many statistics on Mille Lacs that are not accurate…, in my opinion are the main problems that we can change.  And what is missing most that we need is common sense….

I’ll let you know more Thursday evening what I hear……

Keep a Tight Line!!