As you can tell if you looked at our webcam the ice is not going anywhere too soon.  As of this a.m. there is 2-4 inches of snow on it after yesterday’s sun, but there is 2-4 inches more forecasted tonight and tomorrow with below freezing temps at night for most of this next week.   What melting that might happen during the day will be froze again at night.  It’s going to be a late ice-out this year folks!

With all that has happened with the MN DNR poor management plans in reaction to “treaty management” that was put into place years ago after the Court Decision, and the Bands netting Walleyes during their spawning time has totally messed up Mille Lacs Lakes.  The one time “Premier” Walleye Lake of this State and the Upper Midwest is now one of the lowest on the MN DNR list for Walleyes.  How could they (the State of Minnesota and it’s DNR) let that happen?  It should be a crime!   With the millions of dollars spent on this lake in “monitoring” you would think they would have seen this coming 5 years ago when the Zebra Mussel “alarm” went off, if not earlier.  Always reactive, not proactive they are……….

The changes in regs they made now aren’t going to make any difference for 3-5 years in my opinion and won’t at all if the State doesn’t stop the Bands from netting the same Walleyes we are trying to protect by regulations during the spawning time in the spring.    The Bands have to work with the MN DNR to solve this problem, as they were as much a part problem with the drop in population numbers as anyone else.  It all started to decline since they started netting in the spring.   Cutting their allocation’s on paper isn’t enough.  Harvest numbers is what counts, not ink on paper!

Maybe this year Mother Nature is stepping in to do here part to help Mille Lacs by leaving the ice on it thru the Walleye spawning time!!

Keep a Tight Line!!

Eddy