mille lacs lake

Fisheries managers have changed course and decided to allow live bait on Mille Lacs Lake this season after all. The Department of Natural Resources had planned to bar most anglers from using live bait as part of a package of restrictions aimed at reviving the popular lake's struggling walleye population.

Resort owners around Mille Lacs Lake had hoped for a strong winter walleye season.

Minnesota's wildlife officials are making sweeping changes at Mille Lacs Lake to restore trust with locals after shutting down the lake's walleye fishing season.

A new group hopes to mount a legal challenge against letting tribes use gill-netting during walleye-spawning season on Mille Lacs Lake. The group, called Save Mille Lacs Sport Fishing, wants to raise $50,000 to mount a legal challenge against the state Department of Natural Resources.

One of Minnesota's most popular fishing lakes is likely to see tight restrictions this summer to help its walleye population recover. Officials from the Department of Natural Resources presented options to a packed meeting Wednesday night of residents and business owners in the Mille Lacs Lake area.

State fisheries officials meet with Mille Lacs Lake area residents and business owners near Garrison on Wednesday to discuss how to cut the walleye harvest this year. State and tribal officials agreed last month to slash the maximum catch in half because of data suggesting that walleye numbers in the popular lake have dropped to a 40-year low.

The walleye population in Mille Lacs Lake has fallen to its lowest levels in 40 years, while the lake's larger walleyes may be having trouble finding food. Officials aren't sure what's happening to Minnesota's most popular walleye fishery. But Department of Natural Resources fisheries research manager Don Pereira sats they're concerned.

U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack says he wants to put an end to federal authority over some activities on Mille Lacs Lake. Coast Guard regulations in 2010 determined that Mille Lacs is a "federally navigable" body of water.

A group of people fishing on the ice of Mille Lacs Lake in Aitkin County found themselves stranded when a huge piece of ice broke away.

The walleye population in Lake Mille Lacs seems to be smaller than fisheries managers expected. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says recent netting assessments turned up fewer and smaller walleyes than last year.