Fish & Wildlife Today: Minnesota DNR

Photo: A new regulation on Lake Winnibigoshish requires anglers to keep only small walleyes in the hopes of improving the size of fish anglers catch.

Cut Foot Sioux Lake: Al Warren motored up to the docks at Eagles Nest Resort late on a sun-drenched August morning with two grandchildren and six walleyes riding along in his fishing boat.

“They aren’t big walleyes. But they’ll make a nice meal for us tonight,” said Warren of Somonauk, Ill. “And they’re below the slot.”

That’s exactly what Minnesota DNR officials want to hear.

Warren’s fish, all between 12 and 14 inches, were well below the new length limit imposed this summer on all lakes in the Winnibigoshish chain.

Warren had caught one fish within the new slot limit--17 to 26 inches--in two hours of fishing and quickly released it back into the lake.

“Yeah, that’s tough. It hurts a little to let those nice ones go back,” Warren said. “But, you know, with all the technology... and all the people fishing, if we don’t do something, this and all the other lakes will be fished out... and it teaches these kids conservation.”

That’s exactly what area resorters want to hear -- customers who not only understand but accept why the slot size limit was put into effect. They hope those customers keep coming back despite tighter regulations and, perhaps, fewer fish to take home in their coolers.

Resorters, guides, conservation groups and others pushed the DNR into action on Lake Winnibigoshish last winter. After three years as one of the most productive -- if not the most productive -- walleye lake in Minnesota, many of the lake’s biggest supporters were worried.

How long could Big Winnie hold up under the heavy harvest? Other than a statewide regulation allowing only one fish over 26 inches, it had no special regulations.

The DNR at first balked, saying the lake didn’t really need much help. But the agency was nudged into action by some pressure from state Sen. Bob Lessard, DFL-International Falls, who wanted to see the resource protected.

The people who earn their livelihood off the lake weren’t sure how the public would react. Many local anglers complained, and some are still grumbling. But for the most part, anglers seem to be grudgingly accepting the new regulation.

“Most people seem to be accepting it. Some people wish it were a little longer, say 18 inches. But most of our customers understand it,” said John Humphries, owner of High Banks Resort on Big Winnie.

“But I’ve had cancellations. I have had people say, ‘Oh, you have a slot limit now? Then we’re not coming,’” Humphries said. “There are some people who want to catch and keep and they don’t want any regulations in the way... But that’s OK. We’re in this for the long haul and I think it will pay off with better fishing. I just hope I can hold on that long.”

Humphries said his business is down about 15 percent from last year. He’s not sure how much is due to the new slot limit and how much is due to the lake’s poor angling and cold, windy weather in May and June.

Humphries and others also concede that not all years can be as good as 1998 and 1999, when anglers were catching easy limits of walleyes and word spread across the Midwest, filling resorts around the lake.

The 2000 walleye season got off to a slow start, and word spread just as fast that Big Winnie was dead. Since July 1, the lake has been red-hot, according to anglers, guides and DNR officials.

The length limit regulation is keeping a good share of fish out of livewells and frying pans.

Fishing guide Tom Neustrom said his customers are told when booking their trips that all fish “over 16 and 7/8 inches have to go back,” Neustrom said. “And you know, I haven’t lost any business. More and more, people are coming to catch fish and have fun, not just to put meat in the freezer.”

Exactly how many fish are being released is unclear. The DNR is taking a creel census all summer as part of a long-term study. Preliminary evidence suggests about 1 in 4 fish are released. Others say it’s as few as 1 in 8.

Al Johnson of Barnum, who spends his summer on the lake as a campground host, said about half the fish he catches are between 17 and 26 inches. He’s heard some complaints but he thinks most people are abiding by the law.

“I think most of the guys are staying below that 17 inches. They don’t like it. They’d like to see it 18. But they’re doing it,” Johnson said. “It’s hard for people to turn that nice 22-incher loose, though, especially if it’s the first fish of the day. Or after you’ve fished three hours without a bite.

“But people know they needed to do something,” Johnson said. “This lake couldn’t hold up with all those fish going out like the last three years.”

Conservation Officer Ken Soring agrees anglers are obeying the law. So does Todd Schultz, who is conducting a summer-long creel survey for the DNR.

“We’ve had very good compliance. I checked 67 boats on the opener and had only one violation. (Conservation officer Tom Chapin) has written a few, but not many considering all the contacts he makes,” Soring said. “I think the acceptance has been better than most people expected.”

The busts that have been made, Soring said, have been clear violations, usually several inches over the limit.

“We had one guy (who received a citation) and who was so angry that he said he was going to slit the bellies of all the big fish he had to turn loose,” Soring said. “But you’re going to get a few hotheads like that no matter what you get them for.”

Chris Kavanaugh, DNR area fisheries manager, thinks it was best to impose the regulation during a boon period on Winnie and nearby lakes. While some anglers questioned why the agency was trying to fix something that didn’t seem broken, the DNR said it was easier to ask people to release some fish if they were catching more.

The slot is expected to protect spawning-age female walleyes, the key element in the species’ reproduction. Female walleyes begin to spawn at about 17 inches, Kavanaugh said.

Anglers this summer appear to be catching a lot of fish just over the slot, but also many in the 10- to 14-inch category. Those smaller fish will be nice -- and still legal -- “keepers” next summer, Kavanaugh said.

“We’ve heard complaints that 17 is too short. But that’s what makes biological sense. Those are the fish we want to protect,” he said. “And if we made it 18, some people would want it 19 inches.”

The DNR has three ambitious goals for the new regulation.

First, the agency wants anglers to catch more fish. The goal is to increase the average fish-caught-per-angler-hour from .15 to .22.

Second, it wants to see the average fish size increase. About 20 percent of Winnie walleyes caught in DNR test nets measure 19 inches or more. The goal is to double that to 40 percent.

Most importantly, Kavanaugh said, the DNR hopes the slot limit will “stabilize the fishery.” Like some other big, naturally producing walleye lakes in the state, Winnie goes through boon and bust cycles. The driving force is how each year’s new walleye crop fares.

By keeping more big fish in the lake spawning, the chances of better “recruitment years” increases.

While the new regulation is officially called “experimental” and set to be reviewed after five years, almost everyone expects it to become permanent.

It’s part of a growing trend toward more lake-specific regulations to manage walleyes. Resort owners and lake associations as well as conservation and sporting groups are asking the DNR to create more slot limits for more lakes. They believe the rules will create better fisheries, as evidenced on Rainy Lake, the St. Louis River and other lakes with special regulations.

In some cases, resort owners said, anglers are actually looking for lakes with slot limits because they assume those lakes will have better fishing.

“We might have some information on the impact after five years. But, biologically, we can’t tell much after five years. We’ll really need 10,” Kavanaugh said. “`Clearly, this is a big deal to the people involved. But we really think it’s going to make this a better fishery, and a more attractive lake to fish. In the long run, it’s going to mean more anglers catching more and bigger fish. That’s the goal.”

The new slot limit on Lake Winnibigoshish and connected waters requires anglers to release all walleyes between 17 and 26 inches and allows an angler to keep only one walleye longer than 26 inches.

The regulation applies to Winnie and all connected waters including the Cut Foot Sioux, Little Cut Foot Sioux, First River flowage, Egg Lake, Deer Lake, Sugar Lake, Pigeon River flowage, Third River flowage, Dixon Lake, Raven’s flowage, Rabbit’s Lake, Raven’s Lake and the Mississippi River inlet upstream to Knutson Dam.

Any walleye harvested from these waters must have its head, tail, fins and skin intact while on the water so it can be measured. Once walleyes are on shore, in a cabin or vehicle, they can be filleted.

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