Walleye Regulation Proposals for 2005

As the winter winds on and things on the ice fishing scene quiet down temporarily, I am into my “political mode”. This is the time of every season when news about future regulations and other important fisherises issues get into the public eye.
This year the big push is to oraganize a group of 3 Walleye regulations that will generally apply to the majority of lake types in Minnesota. It sounds like the regional fisheries manager in Grand Rapids is ready to give the go ahead on posting several “Grand Rapids Area Lakes” this spring (2004)with a notice of proposed slot limit regulations for 2005. The postings at the lake accesses are intended to give the public time to respond to the DNR proposal during the fall and early winter. If the public comments are not overwhelmingly opposed to the regulations, the slot limits will go into effect in 2005.
The list of lakes is currently not complete, but some of them on the drawing board are Round Lake, Sand, Jessie, Bowstring, Split Hand, Trout and several others.
It’s generally accepted by many of us in the area that the slot limit is helping on Winnibigoshish and I believe it will help on some of these other lakes too. The DNR is still accepting ideas for lakes that we think may benefit from these specials regualtions. If you have a lake in mind, please let me know and I can pass this information along.
I want to encourage you to get involved with these processes. You have a lot more influence than you think, but not if you don’t speak up.

Jeff,
Are they thinking about putting one on Pokegama? If not I would like to see Pokey added to the list. Thanks for the info on this and keep us informed on the latest with this.

I remember discussing Pokegama, but I’m not sure if it’s actually on the list. One of the keys to making the choice is whether or not the lake has good reproduction naturally. If a lake’s Walleye fishery is maintained primarily by stocking and there is little or no natural spawning, a slot limit doesn’t really do anything except slow the harvest rate, we need to contact the Grand Rapids area fisheries manager and ask if Pokegama has plenty of natural reproduction or is primarily maintained by stocking.