Walleye management on Mille Lacs Lake is conducted cooperatively with the Tribes signatory to the Treaty of 1837. A safe harvest level for Walleye is determined annually and is based on information collected through various sampling programs. The State fishery portion of the safe harvest level is 91,550 pounds. By agreement, neither the Tribal nor State fishery harvest may exceed their respective quota. Fishing regulations are selected that offer the maximum opportunity to participate in the fishery (minimize likelihood of closures) and to offer opportunity to harvest, when possible, while staying within the quota.
Anglers should expect to catch Walleye ranging in size from 12 to 24-inches long due to above average numbers of fish from the previous year classes. Anglers will also likely see good numbers of smaller Walleye around 8-10 inches.

Yellow Perch were highly abundant in a recent survey with relatively strong numbers of 10-to-12-inch fish from the latter two year-classes. We have observed some anglers picking up these larger fish during the; however, catch rates remained relatively weak, overall. We expect additional fish from all year-classes to continue to grow.

 
Smallmouth Bass are managed to provide a high-quality fishery, and they are the second most common fish species that anglers pursue on Mille Lacs Lake. Current Mille Lacs regulations require anglers to release Smallmouth Bass longer than 17-inches.

Northern Pike are managed to provide a high-quality fishery. Pike are managed with a 30-inch maximum size limit. Northern Pike are sampled in the spring, during spawning. We have found that very few male pike grow longer than 30-inches, while older females will grow to be longer than 40-inches, with the largest just over 45 inches. About 18% of the fish we sampled were over 30-inches long, and 2% were trophy sized at over 40-inches in length.

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