February 27th,2015

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