Soooo…I wasn’t planning on doing a whole Target Walleye only talking about Mille Lacs (MN) walleyes, but I got to typing and just couldn’t stop. Please excuse any typos in this one because I was slapping the keys with some sass:

Here goes nothing everything…

Mille Lacs fall netting results (part 1 and part 2) said that walleye numbers, “plumpness,” and forage are all down from 2022….🧐 Huh?!

I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I just can’t let this go because what I’m seeing on the water is so very different from the survey results (which limits, slots, seasons, closures – literally everything – is based off). So I am going to comment item-by-item on some of the things that have been said over these past few months….

Population decline?

> From here: “Data presented at citizens advisory meeting shows 10% population decline in walleyes, warranting stricter limits for anglers on one of state’s most popular lakes.

Decline? What decline?? Between this fall and winter, I’ve been experiencing some of the very best walleye fishing I have ever had on Mille Lacs compared to the past decade(s). Catching tons of fish, multiple doubles, it’s just silly good. This whole fall felt like we were fishing at some Canadian fly-in trip.

And it’s not just one big class of fish – there’s a nice mix of year classes right now. Lots of younger 9-11” that the survey said didn’t exist 🙄 and 15-17”…then 20-21”, 22-23”, and this fall/winter has been very good for those larger 23-26” fish. The odd 27+ incher has also been showing itself, which I hadn’t caught as many of the last few seasons.

Data collection

> From here: “The agency said the overall population decline of walleyes in the 207-square-mile lake was detected three different ways: By computer modeling, fall netting surveys and a once-every-five-years population estimate by an independent expert.

Okay then clearly something isn’t working with these methods because the lake is literally crawling with walleye. Just talk to anyone who actually fishes it!

Computer modeling…. 😅 Here, I can whip up a computer model, too:

Who is this “independent expert” that’s doing the population estimates? How is he/she singlehandedly determining how many walleyes are in a 207-sq-mile lake??

Who is influencing them or paying them off (lol) to say walleye #s are down???

And they’re done once every 5 years? A lot can change in that amount of time…so what happens in-between??

Some more on the fall netting surveys…

> From here: “There are 52 nets in total. 32 are the original inshore nets that have been used since 1983 and the 20 newer offshore nets that went in use in the late 90s. Jenson said there was a fairly sharp decline in the catches overall in both sets of nets. Both net sets also fell well below the median catch rate established over the last 40 years.”

Okay so there’s not as many walleyes being netted in the same locations they’ve been putting nets for 40 years, eh?

Or where the “newer” offshore nets have been placed for 24+ years??

Well, a lot of walleyes are doing different things, in different places, than they maybe did years ago.

Shoot, maybe walleyes are smart enough nowadays to not swim into a net or trap with the clearer, zebra-mussel infested water?

Maybe more walleyes are suspended in the water column – off of structure – than ever before…places nets don’t get set. I can absolutely tell you I’m seeing a TON of that on my electronics on all lakes.

I don’t know much about the scientific side of sampling walleye populations from a specific system…but what I can tell you as someone who spends a ton of time actually fishing on Mille Lacs, there’s a bazillion walleyes in there!

Maybe we need to start sampling fish #s with a combination of Side Imaging and LiveScope?

Rig a boat up with FFS ‘ducers shooting out both sides, the front and the back. Scan around the entire lake like they do when creating LakeMaster maps.

Or go with a different guide in each corner of the lake and scan around with ‘em. Not sure if those are walleyes on the sonar? Let ’em cast out and catch one and show you they are lol.

Sorry this is such a blurry, dirty, bad example…but I didn’t know at the time I was going to need to bring forth evidence. But this is just a quick snap I took of my Humminbird MEGA 360 after dropping it down at 12:47 pm on a November day and being absolutely surrounded by walleyes:

All of those little black dots are shadows from fish that are up off bottom (fish tighter to the bottom don’t show shadows). And this is just a little sliver 40-60’ away from my boat – it was literally like this for miles. Only stopped fishing long enough to send a pic to a buddy before going back to catching.

I wish I would have taken screenshots or recorded some of the bigger schools of fish – it was unbelievable. And yes, those were walleyes – we caught the snot out of them.

Creel/angler surveys

> From here: “The catch rates are derived from creel interviews at the major access points on the lake whether they are public or private (like a major resort).

Guess what: I’ve fished Mille Lacs hundreds and hundreds of times, and I have only ever been part of a creel survey 1 time. 🤷‍♂️ Just 1 time! And that was 4 years ago.

> …creel data taken in late August and early September. The definition of this is all anglers that caught walleyes while fishing on the lake – including incidentally (it was noted bass anglers made up to 40% of survey) and anglers actually fishing for walleyes.

So 40% of the people that were surveyed weren’t even targeting walleyes…that chunk of data was based on guys throwing tubes, football jigs and chatterbaits in shallower smallmouth spots and still catching some walleyes on accident? 😅

The other 60% must’ve been folks who were just out to enjoy the sunset, or who didn’t want anyone to know they were catching ‘em.

Or maybe walleye fishing is tougher for the average Joe/Joette in late-August as a ton of walleyes are out roaming the abyss?

What I can’t wrap my head around is all the talk about “skinny” or “not plump” fish… 🙃

> From here: “Jenson then noted that over the last several years the walleye condition (plumpness) has gone down below the median that has been recorded since 1986. He said, “Our fish aren’t getting as plump as they used to get….”

> From here: “Fall netting crews also detected a decline in walleye plumpness by measuring length and weight of netted fish and comparing them to past ratios.”

> From here: “..noticeable by a prevalent skinny body condition….”

What lake are they on? Because it’s not Mille Lacs. Most all of the fish we’ve been catching have been perfectly healthy, and in fact quite plump.

Of the last 200-ish Mille Lacs walleyes that have been caught with me between fall and winter fishing, I only recall maaaaybe 3 of those that looked to be what I would possibly consider skinny.

That’s from a mixture of fish caught as shallow as 5-7’ out to about 26-28’ – fishing sand, rocks, weeds and mud – from the very north end of the lake down to the SW corner.

I mean 98.5% of these things have been thicker than a Snicker lol?!

If that one ^ was any more “plump” it would’ve squirt 💩 in my face.

Bait shortage?

> From here: “Advisory committee members were told that Mille Lacs walleyes are challenged by a shortage of baby perch, a key fish on which they forage. The hungry state of the fish (noticeable by a prevalent skinny body condition) ignited high catch rates in the fall, and the strong bite has continued this winter.”

ˆI’m also seeing no signs of a bait shortage on my electronics. Everywhere I go and scan there seems to be lots of forage. Mostly tons of perch, but also shiners and then some tullibee.

Do we even need to talk about the miles and miles of bugs that hatch in soft-bottom areas? Did you know that walleyes eat those, too? You don’t see crayfish or sculpin on your electronics, but I do see walleyes coughing them up at the edge of the boat before they hit the net….

But, back to perch…they’re literally exploding out there! Can’t drill a hole anywhere that doesn’t have those pesky little critters darting around your spoon but they’re too small to eat it.

Not all of the perch are tiny, little bait-peckers tho…there’s also a big crop of keeper-size perch out there now – something we haven’t seen in forever! Jumbo perch simply don’t grow to be fat 12-15” with poor diets in non-healthy water….

Trying to say that the only reason the walleye bite has been so dang good is because they are starving from a bait shortage is wild. And there just aren’t enough skinny fish to even try and correlate that.

I’m not as concerned as others about the slots and limits as I personally haven’t kept a walleye from Mille Lacs in several years. I just thoroughly enjoy catching and releasing a lot of fish with quality bites mixed in.

The most frustrating thing for me is when the lake closes down so we can’t even target walleyes even though I’d be putting all of ‘em back anyways.

But I do definitely understand the importance of allowing folks to keep some fish for a meal for them to think it’s “worth their time” and the local businesses that depend on those folks coming to town.

Mille Lacs is by far the best walleye fishery in our area. Go to any other lake around here and on a good outing you maybe catch 2-3 fish, unless you’re really dialed in on the current bite or know the spot-on-the-spot.

It kills me seeing all the constant negativity spread about the health of the fishery, and it has me feeling especially bad for the local businesses that depend on it to make a living. Because Mille Lacs is absolutely chock full of healthy walleyes that are just waiting to be caught, but folks are being pushed away…and for what reason?

Anyways…just some random thoughts and observations from someone who spends a ton of time fishing on Mille Lacs because the walleye fishing is so good that it can even make a poor fisherman look like they know what they’re doing. 😅

Another update:

StarTribune: The DNR explains the paradox of declaring the Lake Mille Lacs’ walleye population to be shrinking when catch rates are sky high.

Very, very interesting read that I need more time to digest.

Back with the regular ‘News’ section next week.

Want to catch more walleyes?

Try going to Mille Lacs…. That’s it. Thank me later.

Where did you get those clothes survey results? At the toilet store?? 🤣

“Zebra mussels were first found in the lake in 2005 and have been blamed by officials for causing the [walleye] population to drop.”

Ohhhh we’ve got ourselves another Mille Lacs scapegoat!

It’s actually the zebra mussels causing all of this ruckus…the ones that have been in Mille Lacs for nearly 20 years. 👀

Just another super skinny, non-plump 🫣 Mille Lacs walleye caught by Abbey Rabine THIS WINTER fishing with Ice Camp Outfitters. What a giant! Wait, I mean…someone get that fish a bacon forageburger?

The face you make when you hear for the 47th time how skinny and not healthy these Mille Lacs walleyes are from people who aren’t actually fishing for them… 🥴

Alright, thanks for putting up with me and letting me vent! I’ll be back with the “normal” Target Walleye emails next week. 👊 I hope you have a great + safe weekend!

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026