03-08-2004, 10:27 PM
BAUDETTE, Minn. - It's all just discussion for now, but fisheries staff from the Department of Natural Resources are talking with resort owners on Lake of the Woods about options for tightening walleye and sauger regulations on the big lake.
The discussions result from high walleye and sauger catches on Lake of the Woods the past couple of years and the exponential increase in the popularity of winter fishing. According to Mike Larson, area fisheries supervisor for the DNR in Baudette, creel surveys indicate anglers this winter logged 1.5 million hours on the ice between Dec. 15 and Feb. 23 a 20-year high.
Larson said discussions with resort owners about more conservative regulations have been ongoing over the past year. During the most recent meeting two weeks ago, Larson said, resort owners asked the DNR to draft a list of options and their associated savings by species including one to reduce the harvest by up to 30 percent.
"There is no DNR proposal at this point," Larson said. "We're in the process of doing some modeling of potential regulations and going back to this group and getting their feelings. We're just meeting with the groups to see what direction to go, if it's even viable to propose something at this point.
"We'd like to have them be the lead."
High harvest a concern
With an aggregate limit of 14 walleyes and saugers of which no more than six can be walleye Lake of the Woods offers the most generous winter fishing package for the two species in the Midwest. The DNR's target walleye harvest on Lake of the Woods the level managers feel the lake can sustain without harming the population is 450,000 pounds annually. Last year, anglers kept 784,000 pounds of walleyes, including a record winter catch of 402,000 pounds. They also kept 284,000 pounds of saugers.
Larson said high catch rates through December and early January have set the stage for another exceptional harvest this winter. Preliminary estimates put the winter sauger harvest at 418,000 pounds and the walleye take at 278,000 pounds.
"We should be anticipating more pressure for both fisheries," Larson said. "Lake of the Woods is being found by more and more anglers."
Points of discussion
Based on discussions so far, Larson said resort owners would like to see regulations that better spread the harvest throughout the winter instead of concentrating the take during the first couple of months. During a good day in January, one resort owner along the south shore reported his guides cleaned 1,000 fish mostly walleyes and saugers. Considering that's only one resort out of more than 30 on the south shore, the numbers of fish leaving the lake on a good day are staggering.
"There's just fewer fish available during February and March," Larson said, "and that's one of the concerns the resorters are looking at."
According to Larson, slot limits and reduced daily limits are among the proposals being discussed. One proposal, he said, calls for a summer walleye and sauger aggregate limit of six, of which four may be walleye; and a winter limit of eight, of which four may be walleye.
Larson said the resort owners also asked the DNR to look at extending the two-walleye limit, in place March 1-April 14 on the Rainy River, to Lake of the Woods; shorter seasons would be another option.
"That would be the hardest pill for everybody to swallow," Larson said. "There was a lot of support for a protected slot."
Maintaining quality
The discussions now under way represent a proactive effort to retain a high-quality fishery. Walleye populations and to a lesser extent, sauger remain healthy on Lake of the Woods.
"That's one advantage of making a change at this time," Larson said. "The system isn't broken. Even though there's a desire to cut back the number of fish that people could have in possession, they're still going to have a high quality size structure, good catch rates."
That's something resort owners can market.
"When things are broken, it's pretty hard to get people to come through their doors," Larson said.
What's next
Larson said the DNR is scheduled to meet with resort owners again Wednesday to further discuss the proposals. After a posting filled with erroneous information about the regulations discussions surfaced on a popular fishing Web site, Larson said Friday that the location of the meeting was in question.
Whatever happens, Larson said, any changes would have to go through the DNR's formal rule-making process, a procedure that includes public hearings and comment periods. While some resorts would like to see new regulations in effect as early as the spring of 2005, Larson said, any changes would require widespread public support to make a difference.
"To make a regulation go, it's got to have public support. It's got to be good for the fish, and it's got to be enforceable," Larson said. "That's why we have to work with the groups. If there's enough naysayers out there on the regulations, it's not going to happen."
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The discussions result from high walleye and sauger catches on Lake of the Woods the past couple of years and the exponential increase in the popularity of winter fishing. According to Mike Larson, area fisheries supervisor for the DNR in Baudette, creel surveys indicate anglers this winter logged 1.5 million hours on the ice between Dec. 15 and Feb. 23 a 20-year high.
Larson said discussions with resort owners about more conservative regulations have been ongoing over the past year. During the most recent meeting two weeks ago, Larson said, resort owners asked the DNR to draft a list of options and their associated savings by species including one to reduce the harvest by up to 30 percent.
"There is no DNR proposal at this point," Larson said. "We're in the process of doing some modeling of potential regulations and going back to this group and getting their feelings. We're just meeting with the groups to see what direction to go, if it's even viable to propose something at this point.
"We'd like to have them be the lead."
High harvest a concern
With an aggregate limit of 14 walleyes and saugers of which no more than six can be walleye Lake of the Woods offers the most generous winter fishing package for the two species in the Midwest. The DNR's target walleye harvest on Lake of the Woods the level managers feel the lake can sustain without harming the population is 450,000 pounds annually. Last year, anglers kept 784,000 pounds of walleyes, including a record winter catch of 402,000 pounds. They also kept 284,000 pounds of saugers.
Larson said high catch rates through December and early January have set the stage for another exceptional harvest this winter. Preliminary estimates put the winter sauger harvest at 418,000 pounds and the walleye take at 278,000 pounds.
"We should be anticipating more pressure for both fisheries," Larson said. "Lake of the Woods is being found by more and more anglers."
Points of discussion
Based on discussions so far, Larson said resort owners would like to see regulations that better spread the harvest throughout the winter instead of concentrating the take during the first couple of months. During a good day in January, one resort owner along the south shore reported his guides cleaned 1,000 fish mostly walleyes and saugers. Considering that's only one resort out of more than 30 on the south shore, the numbers of fish leaving the lake on a good day are staggering.
"There's just fewer fish available during February and March," Larson said, "and that's one of the concerns the resorters are looking at."
According to Larson, slot limits and reduced daily limits are among the proposals being discussed. One proposal, he said, calls for a summer walleye and sauger aggregate limit of six, of which four may be walleye; and a winter limit of eight, of which four may be walleye.
Larson said the resort owners also asked the DNR to look at extending the two-walleye limit, in place March 1-April 14 on the Rainy River, to Lake of the Woods; shorter seasons would be another option.
"That would be the hardest pill for everybody to swallow," Larson said. "There was a lot of support for a protected slot."
Maintaining quality
The discussions now under way represent a proactive effort to retain a high-quality fishery. Walleye populations and to a lesser extent, sauger remain healthy on Lake of the Woods.
"That's one advantage of making a change at this time," Larson said. "The system isn't broken. Even though there's a desire to cut back the number of fish that people could have in possession, they're still going to have a high quality size structure, good catch rates."
That's something resort owners can market.
"When things are broken, it's pretty hard to get people to come through their doors," Larson said.
What's next
Larson said the DNR is scheduled to meet with resort owners again Wednesday to further discuss the proposals. After a posting filled with erroneous information about the regulations discussions surfaced on a popular fishing Web site, Larson said Friday that the location of the meeting was in question.
Whatever happens, Larson said, any changes would have to go through the DNR's formal rule-making process, a procedure that includes public hearings and comment periods. While some resorts would like to see new regulations in effect as early as the spring of 2005, Larson said, any changes would require widespread public support to make a difference.
"To make a regulation go, it's got to have public support. It's got to be good for the fish, and it's got to be enforceable," Larson said. "That's why we have to work with the groups. If there's enough naysayers out there on the regulations, it's not going to happen."
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