Mille Lacs Lake

All of this hot water talk promted me to tell yall about a trip i took last week. I had the opportunity to go to a Walleye meeting in Isle Minnesota last week on Mille Lacs Lake. This lake was 130,000 acres and is know for its Walleye. Air Temps ranged from 78 - 50, with water Temps around 74. I can see why people live up here in the summer and go south for the winter. Fortunately for me, I was able to work in a little fishing with some biologists who brought a boat. Unfortunately, the Walleye fishery was closed, very long story. We did find some good Smallmouth and Rock Bass. This lake is currently under some huge changes due to several factors. This has caused the Walleye to decline and Smallmouth to really explode. If you are ever in this part of Minnesota, look up McQoids Inn. Great people and pretty good accomidations. Attachment 270833

great fish

Hey,
Thank you Kindly for a really neat post.
Jim-dandy smallies........Don't you love the way they fight?

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Originally Posted by Snagged again

Hey,
Thank you Kindly for a really neat post.
Jim-dandy smallies........Don't you love the way they fight?

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Yes! People who know me, know that I am a creek Smallmouth fisherman at heart. Hard to beat. But not many Smallmouth in central Arkansas and crappie taste better anyway.

Those are some nice fish .

That looks like some fun Matt

Nice fish. I would love to see those temps right about now.

I wish we had some monster smallmouths in the Natural State. Nice smallies Matt. The goggle eye is huge. It would be sweet if Greers was loaded with 2-6 pound smallmouth.

thanks for sharing Matt. Glad to see you showcasing them Hogs up north :ThumbsUp

Those are really nice smallies and I would imagine that cooler weather felt great.

Nice! I lived up there all of last year. This heat makes me miss it. Yankees love their deer hunting and walleye fishing.

Nice fishes, them folks up there make fun of the way I talk,:biggrin

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Originally Posted by Lkconwayguru

I wish we had some monster smallmouths in the Natural State. Nice smallies Matt. The goggle eye is huge. It would be sweet if Greers was loaded with 2-6 pound smallmouth.

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That Rock Bass weighed 1.4 pounds! It fought as hard as the Smallmouth. I wish Greers was loaded with football Smallmouth too but unfortunately it is lacking in productivity. Not much we can do to fix that.

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Originally Posted by ibmack

thanks for sharing Matt. Glad to see you showcasing them Hogs up north :ThumbsUp

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I always do when I go out of state!

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Originally Posted by Lawnmowerman43

Nice fishes, them folks up there make fun of the way I talk,:biggrin

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I was the only biologist from the southeast at the meeting. There were a few guys from southern Missouri but that was it. It was hard for me to understand a few of their accents and I'm sure they definitely thought I sounded funny.

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Originally Posted by JonW

Nice! I lived up there all of last year. This heat makes me miss it. Yankees love their deer hunting and walleye fishing.

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They sure do love their Walleye! I listened to almost two straight days of presentations on Walleye management before it was my turn to present Arkansas (more specifically Greers Ferry) Walleye data. The take home message is that their priority up north is Walleye management. They have huge data sets on Walleye because they sink so much resources into it. They put as much effort into managing Walleye, like we do black bass and crappie down south. It was really eye opening.

Matt,
I'm sure you have heard it many times before, Thank You Wholeheartedly for what you do and have done to enhance and protect the resources of the state along with the rest of AGFC...

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Originally Posted by Snagged again

Matt,
I'm sure you have heard it many times before, Thank You Wholeheartedly for what you do and have done to enhance and protect the resources of the state along with the rest of AGFC...

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You are very welcome and thank you!

Matt, having lived up north for all but two years of my life, I experienced some amazing walleye fishing. I have experienced first hand the results caused by the activity that is allowed on the lakes in the ceded territories. By "results", I mean reduced limits on certain waters. I don't know how much those activities affect the fishing, but do know they affect the limits allowed, if allowed at all. From what you have seen, what impact do you think it has on the walleye health in lakes?

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Originally Posted by Pool13_Jeff

Matt, having lived up north for all but two years of my life, I experienced some amazing walleye fishing. I have experienced first hand the results caused by the activity that is allowed on the lakes in the ceded territories. By "results", I mean reduced limits on certain waters. I don't know how much those activities affect the fishing, but do know they affect the limits allowed, if allowed at all. From what you have seen, what impact do you think it has on the walleye health in lakes?

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Jeff - great question with a complicated answer. The first half day of the confrence focused on Mille Lacs. I recommend calling the Minnesota fisheries biologists to get the full story. But since you asked, I will give you my take on it. Mille Lacs has been undergoing physio chemical changes for the last decade or so (maybe even earlier). This is due to several confounding factors. Some of the confounding factors are invasive species (zebra mussels, Chinese mystery snail, Eurasia milfoil, spiny water flea), improved angler technology, and increasing water Temps (climate change). When all of these things happen in a relatively short time frame, systems change. The zebra mussels have caused the water clarity to increase, reducing the optical refuge that Walleye need. The clearer water also allows the Eurasia milfoil to take off. The spiny water flea has completely eliminated some of the native plankton community in the lake. This effects the food chain from the bottom up. The zebra mussels are also starting to cover up some of the mayfly substrate in the lake. The clearer, warmer water is more conducive to Smallmouth Bass than Walleye. All of these things have lead to a decline in the Walleye population. Due to the declining Walleye population, the local politics of the area gets pretty heated. It sounds like you are familiar with the politics and this lake. I don't want to say to much about it because it isn't one of my lakes, or even in Arkansas. The bottom line is the decline is due mainly to non-political issues. Again, I am just speaking from 4 hours of presentations and no real hands on experience. I recommend calling the good biologists in Minnesota. They have collected tons of data on Mille Lacs and I'm sure they would be happy to discuss things with you. Hopefully my memory served me well for this answer and I'm not too far off base.

Looks like a great work trip to me! Those are beauties Matt! I would love to fish there. Thanks for sharing!

Chris

Thanks Matt, great read.

Very nice fish!!!!! Man I wanna head north soooo bad!

awesome

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Originally Posted by Lawnmowerman43

Nice fishes, them folks up there make fun of the way I talk,:biggrin

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Yup me too lol. First thing they always say after I said something was, "Huh?"

Wow them is some great Brownies Matt! Hope ya didn't get too cold up there, 50 in the morning sounds so good right now:pray

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Originally Posted by captcall

Yup me too lol. First thing they always say after I said something was, "Huh?"

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Yeah they would come up to me and say will you talk to my friend for me so they can hear the way you talk. Heck, I aint really that kountry sounding I don't reckon

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Originally Posted by D10

Jeff - great question with a complicated answer. The first half day of the confrence focused on Mille Lacs. I recommend calling the Minnesota fisheries biologists to get the full story. But since you asked, I will give you my take on it. Mille Lacs has been undergoing physio chemical changes for the last decade or so (maybe even earlier). This is due to several confounding factors. Some of the confounding factors are invasive species (zebra mussels, Chinese mystery snail, Eurasia milfoil, spiny water flea), improved angler technology, and increasing water Temps (climate change). When all of these things happen in a relatively short time frame, systems change. The zebra mussels have caused the water clarity to increase, reducing the optical refuge that Walleye need. The clearer water also allows the Eurasia milfoil to take off. The spiny water flea has completely eliminated some of the native plankton community in the lake. This effects the food chain from the bottom up. The zebra mussels are also starting to cover up some of the mayfly substrate in the lake. The clearer, warmer water is more conducive to Smallmouth Bass than Walleye. All of these things have lead to a decline in the Walleye population. Due to the declining Walleye population, the local politics of the area gets pretty heated. It sounds like you are familiar with the politics and this lake. I don't want to say to much about it because it isn't one of my lakes, or even in Arkansas. The bottom line is the decline is due mainly to non-political issues. Again, I am just speaking from 4 hours of presentations and no real hands on experience. I recommend calling the good biologists in Minnesota. They have collected tons of data on Mille Lacs and I'm sure they would be happy to discuss things with you. Hopefully my memory served me well for this answer and I'm not too far off base.

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It's all unfortunate, but is what it is. I appreciate your perspective on this! Thank you for your response. With regards to the political side of this, we as fishermen may not like all this, but the SCOTUS has spoken and we need to learn to adapt and move on. There are a whole bunch of walleyes in many other waters and we are free to go and find them and have a whole bunch of fun doing it!

Nice smallies. That's one heck of a goggle eye!