MILLE LACS, Minn. — A lower ice fishing harvest means anglers will have the opportunity to catch and keep one walleye from Lake Mille Lacs during the spring and fall of Minnesota's fishing season.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that from Saturday, May 15 through Monday, May 31, and again from Thursday, September 16 through Tuesday, November 30, anglers can keep one walleye between 21 and 23 inches, or one more than 28 inches.
Walleye fishing will be catch-and-release only between June 1 and September 15, with a two-week period from Thursday, July 1 through Thursday, July 15 when Mille Lacs will be completely closed to walleye fishermen to reduce hooking mortality.
"Lower walleye harvest this winter is allowing us to offer some open-water walleye harvest this year,” said Brad Parsons, fisheries section manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “We’re glad Mille Lacs anglers will have the chance to keep a walleye on opening weekend and Memorial Day weekend — two of the most popular times to fish during the year. We also hope to be able to allow some harvest this fall.”
After opening weekend, fishing hours on Mille Lacs Lake will be 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for all species. Beginning Saturday, June 5, muskellunge and northern pike anglers using artificial lures or sucker minnows longer than 8 inches can fish after 10 p.m.
While the fall one-walleye limit is currently on the books, that could change depending on catch rates, fishing pressure and summer weather. "We want people to recognize that the fall harvest will depend on how much of the state’s 2021 walleye allocation remains as we approach September," Parsons explains. "As always, we will monitor the factors that determine the state’s walleye take throughout the open water season.”
The state of Minnesota and eight Chippewa bands that have treaty fishing rights agreed Mille Lacs could sustain a state harvest of up to 87,800 pounds of walleye this year, unchanged from 2020. Last year state-licensed anglers took 66,748 pounds from the big lake, and tribal fishing took 33,113 pounds.
This year’s winter walleye harvest was about 16,000 pounds, about half of what it was in 2020. Fewer people fishing through the ice combined with a lower catch rate caused winter harvest to return to normal levels after a big spike last year. The drop in walleye taken gave the DNR fisheries managers more flexibility to enact a one-fish limit during the early season, and plan one for the late season.
More information about fishing regulations on Mille Lacs Lake, ongoing management and research on the walleye population, and Mille Lacs-area recreation opportunities is available on the DNR website.